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No, your customers probably aren’t reading your emails—they’re getting way too many

by | Aug 20, 2020 | Public Relations

In case you haven’t noticed, consumers are overwhelmed with emails from brand and business—and as a result, they open just a fraction of them. New research from business-texting software and API provider Zipwhip finds that nearly 4 in 10 (39 percent) consumers have more than 100 unread emails in their personal inbox, with 20 percent of people saying they have over 1,000. It’s no surprise that unread messages pile up, given that more than half (56 percent) of consumers estimate they receive between 25 and 100 emails a day in their personal inboxes, and most (74 percent) read fewer than just 10 emails per day.

The data confirms some of marketers’ worst fears about their one-sided attachment to email—that their main route for communicating with customers is missing the mark. While consumers describe their email inboxes as “cluttered” and “overwhelming,” many businesses still use email as their primary method of outreach.

How would you say your excitement toward email has changed over the years?

No, your customers probably aren’t reading your emails—they’re getting way too many

In order to further evade marketers and unwanted emails, most consumers (77 percent) have two or more personal email accounts, and 62 percent have an email address they use solely for accounts with businesses or to sign up for promotions. An email address is one of the first pieces of information a business captures, but this finding shows that it may be less useful than what was previously thought.

How many personal email, accounts do you have?

No, your customers probably aren’t reading your emails—they’re getting way too many

While consumers have multiple email addresses and silo their communication according to priority, most only have one cell phone number and respond promptly to texts. Eighty-three percent reply to text messages from a business within 30 minutes or less, and texts generally have a 98 percent open rate. That’s part of why most consumers (51 percent) say they trust text messages most when it comes to receiving important messages at any time of day, compared to 35 percent who prefer email and 14 percent who prefer phone calls.

How many unread emails do you currently have in your primary personal email inbox?

No, your customers probably aren’t reading your emails—they’re getting way too many

“You have to ask yourself if you’re using the communication medium that your customers prefer or the one that you were told 20 years ago works the best,” said John Lauer, CEO at Zipwhip. “Businesses need to get creative about their communication strategies and pay attention to what both research and lived experiences are showing us—that there is a time for email but it’s not the catch-all communication medium it used to be. If you want to reach your customers, you need to broaden your horizons.”

How many of those emails in your personal inbox do you estimate you actually read each day?

No, your customers probably aren’t reading your emails—they’re getting way too many

When email debuted, it changed the world and the way we communicate. However, oversaturation on the part of businesses has led to its speedy decline. The feel-good days of receiving a new email message in your inbox are well behind us with 51 percent of consumers stating they’re less excited to receive emails than they used to be.

Download the full report here.

How often do you unsubscribe from emails?

No, your customers probably aren’t reading your emails—they’re getting way too many

Richard Carufel
Richard Carufel is editor of Bulldog Reporter and the Daily ’Dog, one of the web’s leading sources of PR and marketing communications news and opinions. He has been reporting on the PR and communications industry for over 17 years, and has interviewed hundreds of journalists and PR industry leaders. Reach him at richard.carufel@bulldogreporter.com; @BulldogReporter

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