It appears that marketers must walk a tightrope when it comes to email: they need to use it as consumers’ preferred communications channel, but they also need to be careful not to abuse it by sending too many messages. According to results from a Lyris-sponsored Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) [PDF] study of consumers in the US and UK, an overwhelming 80% said that one of their top 2 frustrations about companies’ use of online communications was too many unwanted email messages. But, when asked how they prefer to be introduced to a new consumer product (other than through mass-market advertising), respondents pointed to email first.
Specifically, given a list of ways in which to initially learn about consumer products and asked to select their top 3, consumers chose email (37%) first, followed by printed catalogs (35%), personal referrals (33%), and referrals by a trusted website (30%). Read the rest at MarketingCharts.
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