77% Prefer Email Promotions rahman Email tops the charts when it comes to effective marketing. Don't believe me? A new study from Exact Target reveals when it comes to marketing communication 77% people prefer email. _________________________________
Sponsor: You Are Not Alone Struggling Are you fed up with promoting products, services and MLM - yet you aren't getting paid for all the hard work that you are doing? I've got great news for you. We've made over 4 million dollars collectively and we've only been in business for 4 months. Go here to see how: http://legitworkfromhome.info _________________________________ All other forms of promotional communication polled far behind email. Interestingly, age does not matter when it comes to email. Teens through seniors all selected email promotions as their preference for marketing messages. Direct mail came in a distant second with only 9% of consumers preferring letters, catalogs and postcards for promotions. The ExactTarget study - The 2012 Channel Preference Survey - reveled some terrific gems of information about emails dominance that I'll highlight. 1) Email - Top for Personal Communication Not only was email preferred for promotional messages, it also was selected by many, 45% overall, as their top choice for personal communication. 2) Email - Top for Daily Checks 91% stated they check their email at least daily. Social networks and text messages were checked by 57% daily. Texting and social networks, however, were shown to be preferred as personal communications avenues rather than promotional channels. 3) Email - Top for Influencing Purchases Email was also shown to influence purchase decisions. 66% of consumers stated they have made a purchase as a result of a marketing email message they received. Again, direct mail, was the only competitor to email. 65% said a direct mail message resulted in a purchase. All other communication channels - phone, social networks, texts, mobile apps came in far behind email as purchase influencers. 4) Email - Top for Deals When asked where a consumer would look to get a deal from a company, email was their first choice. 44% selected email as the best place to get a deal. Amazingly, only 4% thought following a company on a social network would provide good deals. 5) Email - Top for Sharing Content With all the emphasis on how great social networks are for sharing, the discovery that email is how most people choose to share content with friends and family was shocking to me. 63% stated email is how they most often share content with others. Post it to Facebook came in second overall with 33% choosing that channel to share information. 6) Email - Top for Customer Service Consumers prefer to privately address their customer service needs. 76% preferred to use email to contact a company directly with questions. I was surprised to see that telephoning the company came in a distant 3rd. Only 4% choose to call a company for assistance. 10% opted to send a direct mail letter to a company. Using social networks to contact a company with questions was also infrequent. Only 4% said Facebook was their preference. 7) Email - Top for Transactional Messages Send receipts, confirmations, travel alerts, financial updates all by email! The majority of consumers stated they would prefer to receive all such notices by email. 77% of consumers prefer to get receipts and confirmations by email. If you've been sending receipts by direct mail, consider an email alternative. People are tired of all the paper and would prefer more email messages. Wow! People really do love email. Yes, you absolutely should continue to build your email list send marketing promotions to your subscribers. You might ask, but should I even bother with all the social networking or is it just hype? The ExactTarget survey did show that social networks, while not as dominant as email communication, are still growing in popularity. About 20% of consumers said a company's marketing message on a social network had influenced their purchase decision. And 33% of consumers said they do share content on Facebook. The fact remains, however, that consumers state they prefer to use social networks for interacting and engaging with others - not for receiving marketing material. Take note of these findings. Yes, your business should participate on social networks. Just don't push promotional material to your fans and followers. Instead feed content to your social networks to expand your audience base. It's been shown that Twitter followers create online content 2 to 6 time more than others. These individuals are reviewers, bloggers, commentors and influencers! When you share content with your social networks those individual then share that content with other. Thus social networks expand your online reach! Email does not work to contact those you do not know - that's called spam! You need permission to email. All these study results are based upon permission email marketing. Social networks on the other hand do introduce your business to people that don't know you. It's your followers that make the introduction and as a result expand those following you. You then encourage your social followers to join your email list! You use content to expand your social network and you then market by email. It's a powerful strategy that works! ### Abbie Drew DEMC Editor
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