Email marketing can boost brand engagement

by Stratton Craig

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Although email marketing is traditionally seen as belonging mostly to the realm of direct marketing, innovative businesses have been using it for an entirely different purpose – brand building.

According to the latest report from the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), consumers´ approval of the channel is growing and currently 43% of them receive emails from more than ten brands. Almost two in three users say that obtaining information about sales and bargains is their primary motivation to subscribe, while more than half do so hoping to get discounts and vouchers.

Those figures might not surprise many marketers, but Marketing Week claims that a more careful look into the report might reveal a different picture. Some 40% of consumers say they have signed up to receive emails because they “like the brand” and one in three say they want to keep up to date with the latest news from brands, which is a clear indication of engagement.

Furthermore, over one in five consumers admit they subscribe to brand emails because they want to have access to exclusive content. Customers seem to be increasingly open to content that does not necessarily focus on price, such as product reviews and user guides, the report finds.

With these findings in mind, brands can capitalise on building relationships with consumers by alternating between price-based emails and communication that does not push products directly, Marketing Week suggests.