E-mail Remains Preferred Channel For Marketers

Mobile and social are all the rage nowadays but being relatively young, the two channels have yet to prove their true worth for marketers. Sure, there are numerous reports suggesting that this is already happening but an equal number claim the opposite.

Good old e-mail, on the other hand, seems to have held firm in the face of emerging rivals. It remains the number one choice for marketing campaigns and is a significantly better performer in terms of return on investment (ROI), Message Systems has found.

The messaging software developer has published its maiden “Marketing Channel and Engagement Benchmark Survey,” according to which 97% of its poll participants named e-mail their preferred marketing channel. Besides being the most popular marketing tool, e-mail also trumped mobile and social in terms of success rate and profitability, with 63% stating that the channel delivered the best ROI. In contrast, only 10% said the same for social media.

But while some doubts still linger, social media is gaining in popularity and 70% of the international group surveyed by Message Systems said that they were using the channel for marketing purposes. The majority of customers still prefer e-mail as a contact option but social media is being increasingly used by marketers to interact with customers. Message Systems found that 64% of survey participants had embraced social media in the past year.

The study also established that 44% planned to prioritise social media investment in the year ahead as part of their customer engagement strategies. The proportion stood at 40% for e-mail and 22% for SMS.