Recent research shows e-mail marketers are getting better at what they do, but most people still have a love/hate relationship with e-mail.
There is something people value about it. We know because recent studies by Forrester Research indicate that e-mail marketing continues to regularly rank as one of the most effective digital marketing tactics.
On the other hand, 42 percent of U.S. online adults say they delete most of their e-mail advertising without reading it.
According to a post at RetailWire, it’s better than it once was. It’s an improvement from the 44 percent deletion stat in 2012 and the 59 percent logged in 2010. In addition, the percentage of consumers saying that most e-mail ads they receive “don’t offer anything that interests them” fell by three percent points from 2012 to 38 percent in 2014.
Indeed, there is evidence of improved attitudes, as more consumers agree that e-mail offers are a great way to find out about new products or promotions. Now, fewer complain of receiving too many e-mail offers and promotions.
But despite these hopeful e-mail marketing signposts, it’s nonetheless true that e-mail marketers face challenges.
The Forrester Research study, based on a survey of 33,546 U.S. online adults, also indicated that younger adults report an above-average inclination to often make purchases through promotional e-mails — and that approximately one in eight (13 percent) of respondents have manually turned on the images in a promotional e-mail during the past 12 months (down from 18 percent in 2012).
