Brits lead the world in loving email

Opt-in emails are second only to recommendations from friends and family as the most trusted form of advertising in the UK, with almost two-thirds of Brits saying emails are most likely to spur them on to make a purchase.
And according to Nielsen’s Global Survey of Trust in Advertising, consumers are becoming even more receptive to email; trust in the medium has increased five percentage points since 2007.
However, this is not a worldwide phenomenon; email marketing ranks only 11th globally in terms of trust.
Way out in front are word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family, with a whopping 81% of Brits saying this is the most trusted way of finding out about a product or service.
The study polled more than 29,000 Internet respondents in 58 countries to measure consumer sentiment on 19 formats of “earned”, “owned” and “paid” advertising.
After opt-in emails, the next most-trusted form of advertising is editorial content (62%) – such as newspaper articles – followed by consumer opinions posted online (61%). However, of the 13 formats covered in both the 2007 and 2013 surveys, consumer opinion online is the only one to experience a decrease in trust among Britons – down four percentage points.
“When it comes to advertising, third party endorsements – a personal recommendation or other people’s opinions posted online – and welcomed emails have the strongest influence on consumers’ decision-making,” said James Oates, UK managing director of media at Nielsen. “This finding reinforces how vital it is for companies to focus on the quality of their products and customer service in order to drive adoption and attract positive proponents willing to market on their behalf.”
When it comes to “paid” advertising, TV ( on 60%), radio (57%) and in newspapers (56%) lead the way. Advertising in cinemas (53%) has increased 11 percentage points in the last six years – the joint largest increase of the 13 formats covered in both the 2013 and 2007 surveys.
More than half (56%) of UK respondents say they trust company websites – another form of owned advertising, a rise of four percentage points on 2007.
“UK marketers should be encouraged to see the increased trust in owned advertising, such as websites and emails,” says Oates. “It emphasises how important it is for advertisers, particularly in a social media world, to manage their brand messages and to deliver a user experience that they control that resonates with their target audiences – a crucial component if they are to be effective.”
Mobile (30%) and text ads (25%) are the least credible of the 19 formats covered in the UK, although mobile text ads have seen the third highest increase in trust in the UK, up 10 percentage points.
“Increases in the trust of paid online and mobile advertising justify the growing importance and confidence marketers have in these formats,” says Oates. “However, the results show that UK advertisers still have work to do to reach the levels of trust that consumers have in these formats around the world. Here, though, there is still the potential that online and mobile ads are seen as more intrusive – particularly given the increasingly personal relationship consumers have with their tablets and smartphones.”

1 Comment on "Brits lead the world in loving email"