Commentary

Just Show Us The Deals -- You Can Keep The Content

The DMA Marketer Email Tracker is a fascinating read. There are a lot of statistics in there for everyone, but one that really stood out for me underscores a quandary that the DMA recently highlighted in email marketing -- namely, that nearly every marketer views email as important or very important, yet only one in ten thinks they are always sending out relevant content.


You could be positive and say that one in ten is quite a low statistic, but that would be missing out on the revelation that emerges from looking at the stats a little more closely -- and there's a big shock in there. What consumers want and what marketers think they want from email marketing are two very different things. There is a massive disconnect that is shocking when you see it in graph form.

So it's well worth checking out the research for yourself, and when you do you'll notice that nearly a half of email marketers -- 47% -- reckon that the public is dying for some exclusive content from their brand. The actual figure is just 4%. The expectation is moving down from 60% in 2015, but that is still a massive disconnect however you look at it.

When b2c is singled out, so we're no longer dealing with b2b and its content-heavy approach of offering downloads for emails, we still find a gulf. Some 41% of b2c email marketers think exclusive content is where it's at, but again, just 4% of consumers agree.

So what do they want? Well without getting into listing a bunch of statistics, the main takeaway from this research is that it's the stuff you would imagine. Money-off offers are way out in the lead as the number one thing they are looking forward to from an email campaign with free samples and free delivery making up the podium positions.

I have to be honest and say that for a generator of content like me, this is the last news I would be looking to shine a light on -- but it's there, it's a report from the DMA and the findings need to be discussed. Sometimes there are lessons from research which you weren't hoping you would have to take on board but that doesn't mean they should be ignored.

The inescapable takeaway is that when the DMA asked email marketers what consumers want, they totally overrated the importance of their content and completely underestimated how self-serving consumers are. They're not so bothered about your finely crafted content. It's the money off deals, free samples and inclusive delivery that will get them excited enough to open and engage with your campaigns.

It's a commercial relationship after all, I guess, so we can't be too surprised. It's saving money that turns people on, not so much your carefully crafted prose and exclusive insights.
 

1 comment about "Just Show Us The Deals -- You Can Keep The Content".
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  1. Peter Rosenwald from Consult Partners, February 12, 2017 at 11:43 a.m.

    Very uaseful drilling down, Sean. Thank you.

    Even if we didn't live in an increasingly 'me, me, me' world, every great marketing professional has preached that benefits, preferable tangible benefits like saving money, are what the consumer is looking for. How they are packaged in content matters but as the research proves, it's not the wrapping paper but what's inside that really counts. 

    Paraphrasing Frank Johnson's dictum for presenters of 'tell them what you are going to tell them' then tell them, then tell them what you told them, we might say 'tell them the benefits they are going to get, explain and amplify those benefits, tell them how they can get those benefits now'.

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