Intelligent SME.tech Issue 05 | Page 36

// EXPERT PROFILE //

BRAND
RECOGNITION IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN EMAIL EFFECTIVENESS ,
BUT THERE IS A BALANCE
TO STRIKE ON HOW OFTEN TO COMMUNICATE
WITH AUDIENCES . check it at least once a week and up to 37.3 % interact with spam email once a day .
Why do certain emails get opened and others don ’ t ?
Nineteen per cent of Americans receive 50 or more emails a day , but hardly anyone is opening them all . If a recipient recognises an email ’ s sender , they ’ re much more likely to open and read – 88.7 % of respondents say a familiar sender is ‘ somewhat important ’ or ‘ very important ’ for them . Having time to read the email was the second most important factor .
Subject lines are a big deal , too . The survey data points out that a subject line showing the content is personalised to the recipient ’ s interests matters more than discount codes or sales . This varies somewhat by age , though . Younger respondents say they are more motivated by promotions than their older counterparts . One thing that doesn ’ t seem to change , however , is the way people scan their inboxes . ‘ From top to bottom ’ was by far the preferred method ( 53.4 %) of scanning inboxes .
What makes an email effective ?
For email to be effective , it needs to be opened and read . We ’ ve covered why certain emails are opened over others , but what factors make people actually want to spend time clicking through the content ? The data suggests that discount emails are less likely to be ignored . Up to 50.2 % of respondents say they would click through to learn more about an offer or use the promo code , while only 21 % of respondents would do the same thing with abandoned cart emails .
What do people expect from brand email communications ?
Of course , brand recognition is also an important factor in email effectiveness , but there is a balance to strike on how often to communicate with audiences . Almost 80 % of respondents want to hear from the brands they love at least once a week and 52 % of them actually prefer receiving brand communications more than that .
The main reason people want to hear from brands more often is to snag regular or oneoff special offers . In addition , our study found that email is still the number one preferred method for all types of brand communication , even over SMS .
Over the past year , email has played a key role in helping brands stay in touch with customers throughout a period of unprecedented challenges and uncertainty . With an increase of emails in contacts ’ inboxes , maintaining good email engagement levels requires careful monitoring and dedication .
It all starts with understanding what their customers ’ habits are and then being able to effectively tailor email marketing campaigns to better reach them . We ’ re hopeful that the lessons from The Path to Email Engagement in 2021 study provides email marketers with information to better position their brand to stay in touch with its customers . �
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Intelligent SME . tech