Consumers open to email marketing
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In a poll of consumers on the circumstances in which they would be most willing to supply a company with their e-mail address, the research revealed that more than half (57 per cent) of Great Britain consumers would be prepared to include their e-mail address when placing an order through a catalogue and more than 43 per cent through placing an order in response to direct mail. In spite of this willingness, however, just 10 per cent of consumers said that a retailer had asked them for their e-mail in a catalogue order form and just 6 per cent had ever been asked via direct mail.
The 2009 Acquitention Survey, which polled the views of a representative sample of 2,049 British adults, highlighted the importance of “acquitention,” the idea that acquiring the e-mail addresses of existing customers is more cost-effective than purchasing new lists. This approach is based on the principle that the more channels by which a customer is contacted, the higher the lifetime value of that customer across all channels. The impact of this multi-channel strategy was clearly illustrated in the research by the fact that nearly a third (27 per cent) of consumers claim to have been motivated to make a purchase in a high street store after being alerted to a product in a marketing e-mail.
Simone Barratt, MD e-Dialog UK noted that the success of the approach has been realised by many of e-Dialog's clients “One of our clients collects e-mail addresses for customers who use the call centre to make reservations and sends them confirmation messages containing opt-in links for promotional mailings. Through this effort, the company increases its customer reach and ability to build loyalty without having to spend on buying lists or assuming the challenge of converting customers from unsolicited e-mail messages.”
The survey revealed that one of the most important factors in a customer's willingness to share their e-mail details was brand recognition. When asked in which circumstances consumers would be prepared to provide their e-mail address, 34 per cent said that they would only be prepared to share their details with an established brand whilst 69 per cent said they would share their e-mail address with a brand if they were an existing customer.
Whilst there is a clear willingness to share their details in the right circumstances, when asked what reasons they would cite for not sharing their details, just over three quarters (76 per cent) of consumers expressed concern that they would receive irrelevant marketing messages.
Most revealingly though, 37 per cent of respondents said that they would be reluctant to share their e-mail addresses with brands as they do not see what they stand to gain by doing so. This attitude is most notable in the most computer literate and internet savvy age brackets of 18-24 and 25-34 (46 per cent and 47 per cent respectively, according to the survey).
Barratt said: “It is imperative that brands understand that in order to acquire consumers' e-mail addresses they need to communicate the benefits—such as personalised offers, exclusive previews of products or extra loyalty points—which those consumers will receive as a result of sharing their e-mail address. Why would anyone be prepared to give you their contact details unless you give them a good reason for doing so?”
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