Tag Archives: Pure360

Marketing, PR and SEO

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

Marketing, PR and SEO

Twice as many consumers prefer email over any other marketing channel

Email is still the most popular marketing channel, according to consumers surveyed in the ‘Consumer Email Tracker 2020’ report released today.

The research, conducted by the DMA and supported by Pure360, delves into consumers’ perceptions, preferences and dislikes when it comes to email. The survey asked over 2,000 consumers their opinion about the email addresses they have, how they use them and the emails they receive from brands.

The data reveals that email remains the best channel across a range of contexts and the number of people that prefer email is almost twice as much as any other channel: 46% stated this compared to 26% for post, and 24% for either text or face-to-face.

In late 2019, consumers estimated the number of emails they receive, on average, as 54.9 per week to their personal inboxes, down from 73.3 in 2017. Around half of respondents (56%) also believe more than half of these emails are marketing messages from brands.

However, despite the importance and preference for the channel, just 13% of people said that over half the emails they receive are useful to them. The most cited reason for unsubscribing from a brand also remains receiving too many emails (57%).

“It’s clear from our findings that email remains at the heart of brands’ ability to communicate with customers, but they also highlight key areas where marketers can improve, such as relevancy and frequency of contact,” said Tim Bond, Head of Insight at the DMA.

“Whether they’re considering a purchase, have just made one or need some help, our latest findings showcase email’s ability to help brands engage across the customer journey.”

Komal Helyer, VP of Marketing, Pure360, said:

“What’s clear is that email marketing remains core to the multi-channel experiences available to brands. These latest figures highlight how consumers believe email to be the best channel in a range of different contexts, and as a marketing communications channel, it continues to provide brands with a unique opportunity to create valuable and meaningful experiences for consumers.”

What do consumers want from brand emails?

Content-wise customers like a clear transactional link behind the marketing emails they receive, such as discounts or offers (65%), email receipts (59%) and advanced notice of new products/services or sales (43%). In other words, customers are looking for practical content that’s able to facilitate their interaction with brands.

The main reasons given for signing up to receive emails from a brand echo this, with ‘Discounts & offers’ (48%) coming top. However, loyalty also clearly plays a role, as simply being a regular customer already (43%), being sent email receipts (40%), or joining some form of loyalty programme (40%) are also key drivers.

Helyer concludes:

“Offering recipients more control on top of balancing frequency and relevance could be a trend we see growing over the next few years, further cementing email’s position as a powerful communication channel that has a variety of applications when it comes to customer engagement.”

To read more about the DMA and Pure360’s research, including the full ‘Consumer Email Tracker 2020’ report, visit: https://dma.org.uk/research/consumer-email-tracker-2020