According to the “Adobe Email Survey 2016,” written by author Tereza Litsa, writer for ClickZ Email Marketing, people are spending 17% more time on emails year over year, with the increase being even larger in work email. 45% of people use their smartphone to check for their work email, with the percentage rising to 63% for personal email.
Smartphones Grow As Go-To eMail Device | ||
Check eMail | Smartphone | Desktop/Laptop |
Regularly | 84% | 72% |
Work (primary) | 45% | 49% |
Personal (primary) | 63% | 29% |
Source: ADI Email Survey, October 2016 |
The time spent on work email has increased by 28%, reaching 4.1 hours, while personal email communication has increased by just 6%, reaching 3.3 hours. The combination of the two total of 7.4 hours per day, proving how we are experiencing the shift towards the “always on” email culture.
The “always on” culture creates a sense of urgency for a reply when receiving a new email message, with 16% of people expecting a response in just a few minutes, says the report. In fact, their expectations turn into reality, as 14% of people actually end up responding within a few minutes.
Work eMails That Require Response | ||
Response Time | Expected Response Time | Actual Response Time |
Within few minutes | 16% | 14% |
Within 1 hour | 33 | 29 |
One to 2 hours | 23 | 24 |
Within ½ day | 13 | 16 |
Within 1 day | 12 | 10 |
One to 2 days | 3 | 5 |
> 2 days | 1 | 2 |
Source: Adobe Systems, October 2016 |
There are many things that marketers need to improve when reaching consumers, but 47% of them find frequent branded emails annoying. Marketers need to find the right balance for the promotional messages, both in the number of emails, but also in the timing that they are sent to avoid being annoying (and probably unread) notes the report.
Most Annoying When Receiving eMail Offer From Marketer | |
Annoyance | All Respondents |
eMailed too often by brand | 47% |
Poorly written by brand | 25 |
Offer not relevant | 23 |
Already purchased | 20 |
Poor design | 16 |
Too much personalization | 16 |
Without video or images | 9 |
Too little personalization | 9 |
No “buy” button | 7 |
Source: Adobe Systems, October 2016 |
There are different issues to consider when creating an email for smartphone users, says the report, and as mobile usage increases, it is becoming crucial to consider what really annoys consumers. Although there isn’t a dominant trend annoying them in mobile emails, there are many of them in almost equal percentage, which could imply a series of problems. The most important ones are:
Consumers may be annoyed by many things when receiving branded mails, writes the report, but they still prefer them as the main form of hearing from brands. There is even an increase of 9% YoY on their preference, with direct mail being way behind and a brand’s mobile app coming third. Phone calls are the least preferred method of communication with brands, and the percentage is reduced since last year, which is a useful reminder for marketers who may still find the idea of direct communication appealing.
Preferred Method of Contact From Brands | |
Preferred Contact | % of Respondents |
49% | |
Direct mail | 22 |
Brand mobile app | 9 |
Social Media | 8 |
Text/SMS | 7 |
Phone | 6 |
Source: U.S. ADI Mail Survey, October 2016 |
Respondents also said that less than 25% of emails are interesting enough to open, indicating that marketers need to up their game. According to the survey, people only open 19% of their work emails and 23% of their personal ones. These are the ones that they consider interesting enough to actually open, meaning that there is a great number of emails that stay unread.
Concluding, Litsa opines that “…Email marketing is still effective and it’s encouraging that users prefer it as the method to receive messages from brands, but they are still demanding enough to expect relevant and interesting content…”
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