Our friends at e-Dialog recently carried out a study of 13,000 consumers to determine attitudes towards digital marketing. The study was an international study that includes consumers in Europe, the USA and Asia Pacific. The key findings of this study show that email remains an indispensable communication tool across the 13 countries. Of the nearly 13,000 consumers surveyed, 96% of them have a personal email account. This almost ubiquitous adoption underscores the permanent fixture that email represents in the consumer’s life. Moreover, the data indicates that email is a strong driver of accelerated offline purchase behavior as well as social networking and mobile device adoption.
Here are some of the Key Findings from the Survey:
The majority (58%) of global consumers surveyed say that email marketing messages have driven them into an offline store or to phone the call center order desk. While some regions are more pronounced than others, marketers have a tremendous opportunity to move beyond the immediate online click by promoting and driving offline consumer purchasing behavior. Email is a clear connection point to both online and offline commerce, underscoring the need for email marketing professionals to be equipped with the necessary resources to execute plans to the fullest of these opportunities.
When asked about their mobile email usage, using email while on the move appears to be nascent. However a majority (68%) of consumers globally are using their mobile devices to manage their personal email while they sit at their desktop PCs. The small screen is quickly becoming an indispensable multitasking tactic as the desktop computer crunches numbers and/or becomes an entertainment device. Beyond the rendering and call-to-action implications on the small screen for the email marketer, an increasing number of consumers across regions are using SMS to purchase products and services.
Overall, 66% of consumers stated they conducted further research on a brand and their products, and 57% stated they make a recommendation to a friend based on their email inspired purchase. Email is the consumers’ digital fingerprint, giving them a connection to online social networking activity. Overall, 42% of respondents across borders stated that email was the primary driver to their social networking usage. Roughly half of consumers have clearly indicated that they are willing to act as brand advocates in order to connect email content to social networks. Marketers must embrace email to social networking connections and those that avoid such a tactic do so at their own peril.