Merkle: Consumer attitudes to permission-based email

A study measuring and tracking attitudes and behaviors towards permission-based e-mail among U.S. consumers has been published by database marketing firm Merkle.

by Helen Leggatt

The study found most consumers (88%) feel in control of their inboxes, up from 79% four years ago, and over half of consumers (58%) believe email is a great way for businesses to keep in touch.

“View from the Inbox”, Merkle's annual email marketing study, also discovered that half of respondents made a purchase online as a direct result of a permission-based marketing message, up 5% from last year.

Poor email practices cause consumers to be turned off, with around a third claiming to have stopped doing business with at least one company because of poor email marketing. Likewise, good email marketing programs influenced half of respondents to do business.

Relevancy is key, and the study found that consumer-centric messages were the ones that consumers considered most relevant, i.e. transaction confirmations (ranked number 1) and account summaries. Relevancy also plays a part in opting-out, with 73% of respondents doing so if the email content is not relevant.

“Consumers’ interaction with PEM has increased over time, and continues to present opportunities for marketers in defining their brand, driving behavior, and promoting long-term engagement and loyalty with customers,” writes Lori Connolly, Director of Research and Analytics at Merkle and author of the report.

“Marketers who continue to invest in quality email programs will recognize higher engagement and response rates, subscriber retention, and maximize value from their email relationship with customers,” she added.