Email Wins Consumer Marketing Survey

The findings of a new study suggest that it’s time for small business owners to buy ergonomic keyboards and stick their phones underneath dust covers.  At least one group of consumers vastly prefers to receive advertising offers through email instead of from telemarketers.

smartFOCUS surveyed people in the Boston area, and said afterwards in a statement, "When asked to rank their preferred methods of receiving marketing messages from vendors, the majority of respondents (62%) said that e-mail was their preferred channel of communication, followed by direct mail (23%), then social media (13%)."

What’s more, email isn’t preferred just because it puts a "delete" button within easy reach.  Apparently "e-mail communications frequently trigger purchases, with three-quarters (75%) of respondents indicating that they had bought products or services as a direct result of receiving an e-mail from a vendor."

Meanwhile, 80 percent of the survey’s respondents said that telemarketing is their "least preferred way to be contacted," and so, although no additional stats were given, it’s reasonable to assume that not too many purchases resulted from it.

These findings should provide a few things for you to think about as we head into the holiday season, at least.