Asking permission reaps major benefits, finds survey
??The benefits of permission-based email marketing campaigns extend far beyond e-commerce transactions and have a significant impact on purchasing behavior and consumer loyalty in the bricks and mortar world, according to survey research from Epsilon.
The majority of consumers responding to Epsilon’s permission-based email branding survey said the receipt of emails makes them feel better about a company and increases chances that they’ll make a purchase, online or off-line.
Key survey results by the numbers:
– 57% of consumers feel they have a more positive impression of companies when they receive email from them;
- 40% said that simply receiving email has a positive impact on their likelihood to make a future purchase a company;
- 71% remember email communications when making purchases at the sending company’s web site;
- 50% said they’re more likely to buy products from companies who send them email, whether their purchases are online or at a place of business;
- One-third said they usually visit sites directly instead of clicking on an email link.
The survey showed particularly strong feelings when applied specifically to financial services, demonstrating that permission-based email from financial services companies effectively elicits online consumer action. As a direct result of receiving email:
– 82% of respondents accessed their account via online customer service; - 71% researched a specific offer online; - 63% clicked a link in the email to learn more; - 58% gathered competitive information; - 42% typed or copied a URL directly into their browser. Permission-based emails also influenced offline activities by consumers:
– 31% contacted their financial advisor via phone; - 25% visited their local branch or office; - 25% contacted their financial advisor via email. The research also revealed why consumers subscribed to receive email from financial services companies and the type of content that is most valuable. The top reasons consumers subscribe to permission-based email from financial services companies were to receive e-statement notifications (75%) and to receive account alerts such as statement-ready, fraud protection, overdraft, etc. (74%). Over two-thirds (69%) want to receive personalized content based on their website activity, past investments, etc. Key survey results by the numbers:
– 58% of respondents are hesitant to click on links in emails from financial services companies because they don’t always trust where they are coming from; - 32% agree instead of clicking on a link in the email, they usually go directly to the company’s website; - 21% of respondents forwarded an email to a friend as a direct result of receiving an email from a financial services company; - 85% agree that they like receiving email from companies they’ve registered with; even if they don’t always read it, it’s good to know it will be there when they’re ready for it; 70% agree if they’re in the process of making a purchase decision, an email from a company with related products/services helps influence that decision.
“The consumer insights from our Branding Study demonstrate the importance of email marketing as part of a multi-channel communication strategy. Email builds loyalty and brand awareness and drives on- and off-line behavior,” said Kevin Mabley, senior vice president, Epsilon Strategic Services. “While many elements of digital and email marketing are measurable, there are other impacts that cannot be represented by merely by click-thru rates or online purchases.”
It is never easy to analyse exactly how well a loyalty scheme is performing, but analytics companies are taking away some of the guesswork. UK company Loyaltynet has launched its Advanced Analytics service to evaluate member activities, programme usage, and reward preferences, as well as give a detailed breakdown of sales status for each new business opportunity logged in an incentive programme.
This data will help towards an understanding of how an incentive programme is performing, and therefore their return on investment (ROI), while at the same time providing details about individual members and their associated sales leads and new business activities.
Clients choose how this information is segmented so that, for example, a high level view of overall programme performance can be supplied to senior management, while individual member activities can be made available to the relevant partner account managers.
Fujitsu Siemens Computers, a Loyaltynet customer since 2006, is already using the service to analyse an incentive programme with around 1,000 partner sales staff participating, allowing FSC to better understand the levels of partner activity, and the types of sales opportunities being registered. These are then segmented by product type, sales value and win ratio.
Ian Leigh Channel Development Manager at Fujitsu Siemens Computers said, “profiling the programme members in this way is a significant factor in ensuring we deliver maximum value to channel partners. Loyaltynet’s Advanced Analytics enables us to regularly review activity on our partner programmes and helps us to easily identify where to focus our efforts”.
Phil Thomson, Managing Director at Loyaltynet, said: “Our mantra has always been that any successful programme has to be grounded in the generation of incremental sales revenue. In other words, avoiding rewarding members for activities that they would have undertaken anyway. The objective has to be to encourage members to put in additional effort and reward the associated results.
”Our new analytics service allows us to help clients focus on such an approach, identifying where the extra effort is being made and where the programme is helping effect behavioural change”.
More info: www.loyaltynet.co.uk