EMAIL MARKETING

Audiences now spend an average of only 10 seconds reading an email

By our News Team | 2021

New study gives an overview of the ever-decreasing average time that consumers spent reading an email between 2011 and 2021.

The time spent reading an email has fallen 15% to just 10 seconds over the past year. Email marketing campaigns, therefore, have an even shorter amount of time to engage their audience. This is according to data from email marketing company Litmus.

The 10 seconds average seen this year is down 15% from 2020’s average and is 25% shorter than in 2018.

Email marketing has grown in importance for many brands as a valuable way to reach, target and personalise communication in the absence of third-party data. It is also a cost-efficient way of enhancing first-party data.

Consumers are most likely to engage with an email if they recognise the brand, the email is relevant, or discounts are included, the Litmus study found.

Yes, email marketing is still important

Email marketing

Photo by Brett Jordan @ Unsplash

But, as other digital marketing strategies have evolved, a question that keeps coming up is: “is email marketing still important?”

Creating a strong email marketing strategy helps you reach and connect with your target audience. It is a personalised tool and can increase sales at an affordable cost, Litmus claims.

According to the company, email marketing can help your business in nine ways: 

  • Stay in contact with your audience: Consumers can check their email when it is convenient for them. 
  • Reach customers in real time: According to Litmus, 54% of all emails were opened on a mobile device. 
  • People engage with emails: Emails have been around over 40 years, and fast became one of our main choices of communication. Over 25% of sales last year were attributed to email marketing.
  • Email marketing is easy to measure: Most email marketing tools offer the ability to track what happens after you have sent out your email campaign. 
  • It’s affordable: The cost per (possible) conversion is low with email marketing.
  • Allows for targeted messaging: Potential customers are at different stages of the buying cycle. Customers need information to move them to the next buying cycle stage.
  • Increase brand awareness: Possessing a customer or prospect’s email address means one thing: they showed a level of interest in your business. 
  • Everyone (almost) uses email: A Hubspot survey states that 91% of consumers use email. 

 

Source: Litmus

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