Email prompts offline purchase, say four in ten
Receiving a marketing email has prompted an offline purchase – in the High Street or by phone – among 43 per cent of British consumers. According to new research by e-Dialog, digital marketing has an important cross-channel effect, with 47 per cent of consumers saying email would prompt offline purchases in the future.
Simone Barratt, managing director, e-Dialog International says: “Brands that are simply using email as a direct sales tool are missing an opportunity. Yes, it is a great means of driving online sales, but as the data shows, its influence reaches so much further than the inbox. Marketers need to reassess their ROI from the email channel.”
The findings come from the e-Dialog Global Email Attitudes Survey among 13,000 consumers in 13 developed countries. Receiving marketing messages by email would lead to 60 per cent of UK consumers to research the brand or product. Just getting an email would prompt a click-through, even if there was no intention to purchase.
Another key finding is the role email plays in driving brand advocacy and sharing via social networks, with 26 per cent saying they have signed into a social networking site after getting a marketing email. This compares favourably with 27 per cent who sign into such sites without prompting.
“We know that e-mail drives a high proportion of online revenue for our clients. But judging an e-mail campaign on online sales figures alone does not provide an accurate reflection of its wider impact,” says Barratt. “A brand that has the mechanisms in place to draw people to a social network has the added advantage of being able to prompt viral conversation and foster advocates who can spread the campaign message much further than an individual inbox.”
