UK consumers have become more welcoming towards email communication from marketers, according to new research by customer insight specialist G2 Data Dynamics.
G2 found that 57% of consumers agree that email is their preferred channel of communication, with 60% of men veering towards email compared to 54% of women. The survey was conducted among the G2 Dynamics ViewPoint panel of 30,000 UK consumers.
Post was the second most popular choice of marketing communication with 34% of respondents opting for traditional mail over its online equivalent. In fact, 18 to 24-year-olds seem to prefer a combination of email and postal communications, with almost half (47%) of respondents in this age group favouring each of these channels.
In contrast to this, consumers still find home telephone, mobile phone and text messaging too invasive, with only 3% of respondents preferring this method.
Alan Thorpe, Commercial Director, G2 Data Dynamics, said: “The combination of shifting consumer preferences and the lower cost of email provides marketers with some good news during the current downturn: happier consumers and lower communication costs.
“However, marketers should not neglect the need for a multi-channel approach to get their message across via a mix of channels. For example, 18 to 24-year-olds enjoy receiving post just as much as emails.”
Research from Ball State University and ExactTarget published last year found that 18 to 34-year-olds in the US are more influenced by email and direct mail than marketing messages via social networks (see Younger People Prefer Email Ads).
At the start of 2008, JupiterResearch forecast that e-mail marketing spending would grow from $1.2 billion in 2007 to $2.1 billion in 2012 (see E-Mail Marketing Spend To Top $2 Billion by 2012).
