Marketers and consumers agree on email’s importance across the customer lifecycle

According to the latest insights from the Data & Marketing Association (DMA), most marketers believe ‘Discounts and offers’ (49%) and ‘Advice, information or tutorials’ (45%) are the types of email content that help achieve their campaign goals.

The figures come from the ‘Marketer Email Tracker 2020’, part of the DMA’s annual series of studies into the channel, in partnership with Pure360. They reveal email’s multi-faceted role in communicating with consumers across all stages of the customer lifecycle – not just as a transactional channel, but one that can be used to inform and build long-lasting relationships.

“The importance of email to a business cannot be understated. It remains the primary channel that both marketers and consumers prefer across all stages of the customer lifecycle. It’s able to assist brands to enhance customer experience across each stage of this journey like no other channel”, said Tim Bond, Head of Insight at the DMA.

“During these challenging times for many people, we are seeing email used as a key medium for organisations to communicate with their customers. Brands are using email as the primary way to provide customers with advice, reassurance and updates.”

Comparing consumer preferences with what marketers believe is the most effective email content reveals both influence and opportunity. Emails influence as a means to share engaging content and the latest information with customers is clear, moving it far beyond simply a channel to share ‘Discounts and offers’. However, there remain potentially missed opportunities for brands in ‘Email receipts’ and ‘Access to other benefits’, with both having a significant disparity between consumers liking this information in emails and marketers seeing them as effective.

What types of email message/content helps you to achieve this email campaign objective? (Select all) & [Consumer] How much do you like or dislike the following in emails you receive brands? [Sorted by difference]

Email’s role across the customer journey

This year’s figures also reveal that email continues to lead all other channels for most marketers, across the contexts and touchpoints that the DMA queried. Although, notably, social media is being increasingly used to inform customers of for ‘New products or services’ (61%), ‘Discounts, offers or sales’ (54%), and ‘Advice, information or tutorials’ (52%).

Meanwhile, phone calls are still seen as useful for ‘Customer Service’ (53%) and online ads offer opportunities when it comes to ‘New products or services’ (40%), and ‘Discounts, offers or sales’ (38%).

Mark Ash, CEO at Pure360, added:

“Email continues to evolve to meet the challenge of an integrated digital world by providing a more diverse range of messages than ever before and delivers impact across every stage of the customer lifecycle. With customer experience now being the driving force behind marketing effectiveness, email marketers need to focus their energies on understanding how we can properly maximise its effectiveness in the right way to add value to the customer experience.”

Which of these does your organisation use for the following types of content/message when contacting customers? (Select all)

To read more about the DMA’s new research, visit the DMA website: https://dma.org.uk/research/marketer-email-tracker-2020