• by Ray Schultz , November 24, 2017

Consumers are wedded to email, but that doesn’t mean they think marketers are good at it, according to a study by the UK DMA.

Of 1,063 consumers surveyed, 60% don’t think brands are doing email well.

In addition, 49% have to recognize the brand before they will even open a message. And 44% have dedicated email accounts for marketing messages.

That said, people do see email as central to their existence. Eight out of ten are in a “serious, long-term relationship” with their initial email address. And almost ten of of ten check their email very day — up to 20 times, the DMA reports.  

And consumers think email marketers are good at order confirmations (83%), delivery updates (82%) and receipts (78%). Online retailers are rated most highly in this regard. The DMA observes that Amazon is notable “both for the volume of emails it sends to its customers and its use of email.

As to what kind of content they like, consumers prefer discounts (63%) and rewards (51%). In addition, 48% welcome free gifts and free delivery (46%).

None of this means email marketers will get a pass on privacy. Of those polled, 37% demand an accessible preference center, while 37% apiece rate trust and clear privacy policies as must-haves.

“With GDPR looming, data privacy should be top of every marketers’ to-do list,” says Jenna Tiffany, founder and strategy director of Let’sTalk Strategy and a member of the DMA’s Email Research Hub. “It’s vital to ensure the consent of your subscribers, and to include details of where they subscribed in your email content.”

Meanwhile, experts say email messages should be crisp and precise.

“Offer short copy,” states Marcus Gearey, analytics manager at Zeta Global. “Write interesting subject lines. Don’t pack the email with content. Have a concise message, with clear calls to action.”

The survey was conducted with a YouSay consumer panel.