• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 11, 2014

According to a new MessageSystems survey, summarized by Barbara Burlington, responding to the Brand need to interact with their audiences to find an edge in using email to draw more clicks, get more eyeballs and create more user engagement, 50.08% don’t want any interaction/notifications!

Of those that indicated a notification preference, the majority preferred email. For all the hype that social marketing has gotten in recent years, just above 5% of respondents actually prefer seeing ads or deals in their social channel over anywhere else.

If half of consumers don’t even want to see deals or offers come through, then marketers likewise should not want to see those names on their target lists, opines the report. When someone unsubscribes, you’re creating a more refined list of recipients that actually care and are more willing to engage.

Consumers will always want options to connect with a company when there are any issues, says the report, but email is the top choice (32%) for them to initiate contact when they need to get in touch. When they do reach out, they have an expectation that they’ll hear back in a reasonable time. It’s important that your email systems are integrated with those of your service department so they get an automatic reply of acknowledgement, followed then by a more personal note, suggests the report.

At the same time, 29% still prefer the human element via a phone call, but email can play a factor as well. Companies are increasingly introducing call-back features for their customer support, so that instead of waiting on hold, they place the burden on the company to call when a representative is available. Companies can create a process to deliver an automated email with an estimated call back time which can be valuable to the customer experience.

The majority of respondents (52%) have always gotten a digital receipt or other transaction confirmation when expected, but it is surprising that nearly 30% have experienced never getting that confirmation, observes the report. With some brands the receipt comes through your inbox within seconds. Others can take a minute, several minutes, or longer.

Today’s digital consumer expects online purchases to be instantaneous, says the report. 52% of respondents indicate their perception of a brand can be significantly impacted due to never receiving this simplest of transactions. Considering nearly 30% of consumers have faced this issue before, it’s something that every brand should be diligent in avoiding,

Consumers are nowhere near giving up on email for how they interact with brands – it’s what they want and what they expect the majority of time, concludes the report. But today, they have higher expectations for personalized, relevant content and instant results. As companies evolve their customer-facing processes of marketing, customer service, sales and user engagement, it’s important for them to integrate email in a way that matches or exceeds those expectations, or they’ll risk falling behind.

For additional information from MessageSystems please visit here.