• by daniel.c , Melinda Krueger , April 3, 2007

The Email Diva takes a detour from answering your questions to help spread the word about new research from the Email Sender & Provider Coalition and research partner Ipsos that is a "must read" for every email marketer.

The survey was conducted with a representative sample of email users to provide insight into their behaviors and attitudes. The results call for a paradigm shift in how we think about the typical email reader. Recipients are now sophisticated users looking for better tools to manage their in-boxes -- no longer confused newbies who don't know the "real" meaning of spam and are afraid to use the unsubscribe feature.

Just as consumers are participating in everything from product reviews to DIY advertising, email readers are both willing and able to participate in the email feedback loop. Ninety percent would appreciate a client-side unsubscribe button and 80% would like to see a "report fraud" button added to their email programs as well. (I thought the term fraud, as opposed to spam, was particularly brilliant since the latter has become a general term that can mean anything from an annoyance to a felony in popular usage.)

Bad news for companies looking to increase their visibility through acquisition email: almost 80% of respondents use the "report as spam" button when the email sender is unknown, and that decision is made without opening the email for most respondents.

Good news, however, for email reputation and deliverability vendors: over half of the respondents are in favor of third-party certification of their email and would be more likely to open email with an icon indicating legitimacy.

There are many more jewels to be mined from this important and timely survey. Check out the Executive Summary and see for yourself.

Good Luck!

The Email Diva