Desktop king for email marketing

Email marketers risk losing consumer interest in their communications by becoming fixated on new devices and advances in email technology rather than content, claims a new study, which shows desktop still rules the roost.
According to the DMA’s 2013 Email tracking study, the number of consumers signed up to receive emails from brands they like and trust remains stable at 90%.
Consumer approval of email marketing has remain unchanged in the past 12 months, with one in four people (28%) saying that more than half of the emails they receive are relevent to them; 50% still find at least one in three emails ‘relevant or interesting’. Saving money remains consumers’ preferred form of email content for the third year in succession.
However, the impact of new technologies appears to be having little effect on the behaviour of consumers in response to email. Desktop remains the primary device for reading emails for 75% of consumers, with 57% saying they also access emails on a smartphone. However, most mobile users (68%) would wait until they are on laptop to buy a product they saw in an email on their phone. Just 7% say they would actually buy straight away using their phone.
Dela Quist, chief executive of Alchemy Worx, the report’s sponsor, said: “While marketers put a lot of effort into keeping up with advances in email technology – accessing email via mobile devices, changes to the inbox such as Gmail tabs and so on – email usage and purchasing habits are still broadly the same.
“What motivates people to interact with brands via email hasn’t changed. If they trust a brand and it consistently gives them value, they will find your content or make that purchase using the device that’s most convenient. That’s why, as the report confirms, email continues to be one of the most powerful levers driving online revenue.”
The Email Tracking Study surveys more than 1,000 UK consumers to monitor their perceptions, experiences and responses to email marketing. The study provides insight for marketers by comparing its results to those gathered in preceding years to highlight new and prevailing trends within the email marketing sector.