Email is arguably the lifeblood of modern business. Small business consumers still prefer longer form, more intimate email messages from brands. Sixty-one percent of consumers report preferring to receive offers via email as oppose to other communication methods like Slack and Snapchat. So says a recent Adobe Campaign consumer survey. This figure represents a 24 percent increase over last year.
Consumers Prefer to Get Small Business Messages via Email
Even among millennials (young consumers between ages 18 and 34) who are considered digital communications trendsetters, email remains a favorite.
According to the third annual Adobe Consumer Email Survey Report 2017, email is the preferred communication channel at work. The report surveyed more than 1,000 white-collar workers in the U.S. to learn the relationship between consumers and their inboxes, and how this relates to brands.
Consumers are spending a lot of time — 5.4 hours each weekday — checking email. However, more of them are cutting back on checking email compared to last year as they seek a better life-email balance.
Consumers are Seeking Better Life-Email Balance
“We’ve seen a 28 percent decrease in consumers checking email messages from bed in the morning (though 26 percent still do it),” wrote Kristin Naragon, Director of Email Solutions at Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), in a post on the company’s blog. In a post announcing the study findings, Naragon added “More than a quarter of consumers are even waiting until they get to the office to peek at their inboxes.”
One in five consumers apparently will never check email outside of normal work hours, and nearly half don’t check (or only rarely do) while they’re on vacation, Naragon explained.
All of this suggests that your small business needs to adopt a more robust email marketing campaign, and give consumers the type of promotional email they want.
4 Types of Promotional Email Consumers Want
Based on the Adobe Campaign consumer survey, consumers want promotional email from brands that is:
- Personalized. 34 percent of consumers said they get frustrated when brands recommend items that don’t match their interests.
- Informative. 40 percent of consumers said they want email content that’s less promotional and more informative. Don’t sell too hard!
- Mobile optimized. 21 percent of consumers who check messages on mobile devices get annoyed waiting for images to load or resent being forced to scroll too much. Optimize your messages for mobile.
- Paced. Half of consumers say they are frustrated by emails from brands that arrive too soon, so pace your messages appropriately.
Images: Adobe