JupiterResearch: Social networking, SMS use impact effectiveness of email marketing

JupiterResearch has found that rising popularity of social networking sites and other forms of communication including text messaging and mobile phone use are beginning to impact the effectiveness of email marketing, particularly the numbers of consumers that say promotional messages inspired purchases.

According to a new report titled “The Social and Portable Inbox: Optimizing E-mail Marketing in the New Era of Communication Tools,” emerging forms of communication are leading to diminished use of email:

• 22% of email users said they use social networking sites instead of e-mail, with scores more indicating they have used instant messaging, text messaging, and mobile phones instead of email.
• In 2007, 51% of users said email inspired at least one online purchase, and 47% said the same for off-line purchases. However, in 2008, the share of email users fell to 44% for online purchases and 41% for off-line purchases.

According to JupiterResearch’s David Daniels the reason for this is that nowadays people receive such a high volume of email that they are unable to pay attention to every message. “It is so important for marketers to be relevant and succinct when they send messages to consumers’ inboxes,” he added.

Finally, David concluded that marketers need to be aware that consumers are using other forms of communication and must ensure their strategy adapts to consumers’ changing behavior.

The complete findings of this report are available to JupiterResearch’s website.