Email more likely to distract and engage than social

In their survey of more than 4,000 UK shoppers, conducted in November this year, Give as you Live found that almost two-thirds of consumers were more likely to be distracted and engage with an email link from a retailer than they are social media posts or advertising on social media.

While 64% of consumers said they were engaged by direct email marketing, just 10% said the same of social media posts, and 10% by social media advertising.

Steff Lewis, head of consumer insights at Give as you Live was surprised to find that direct email marketing outstripped social, particularly in light of the sheer volume of email messages today's consumers receive and the significant role of social media in everyday lives.

"But it's at least good news for marketers and communications teams running these websites," said Lewis.

The website category most likely to distract with direct email marketing is fashion, cited by 42% of consumers, followed by travel (28%) and DVD/gaming websites (25%).

Just as email hits all the right notes with consumers, so it does with marketers. A recent study from Campaigner found that six out of 10 marketers rank email marketing as their leading producer of ROI compared to just 26% who cited social.

Image via Shutterstock

Tags: ecommerce, email, marketing, UK