ExactTarget research reveals email remains consumers’ top marketing channel, brands experience increases in Facebook fans

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images.jpgConsumers’ want marketers to invest more in email, Facebook and the Web, according to a new study by global interactive provider ExactTarget.

                    

Featured in ExactTarget’s Marketers from Mars study released today, the study found 33 per cent of consumers want marketers to invest more in email, 24 per cent want marketers to invest in the brand’s website and 22 per cent of consumers want marketers to invest in creating a better Facebook experience.

To download the complimentary research, click here.

To download a complimentary copy of the study, click here.

Says Jeff Rohrs (pictured), ExactTarget’s vice president of marketing: “Consumers are moving from single channel interactions into multi-channel relationships. Our Marketers from Mars research provides exclusive insight into consumer expectations, offering marketers exclusive new insight on how to avoid the pitfalls of personal biases or becoming a ‘focus group of one’ when creating marketing strategy.”

 

Key findings of the research include:

Email

  • 45 per cent of marketers prefer to interact with brands on email compared to 36 percent of consumers with a smartphone, and 49 percent of consumers who do not own a smartphone
  • 93 per cent of marketers and 49 percent of consumers have made a purchase as a direct result of an email marketing message
  • 93 per cent of consumers subscribe to at least one brand’s email, remaining consistent compared to 2010

Facebook

  • 21 per cent of marketers prefer to interact with brands on Facebook compared to 31 percent of consumers with a smartphone and 26 percent of consumers who do not own a smartphone, making it the second most common place both marketers and consumers look to connect with brands online
  • 58 per cent of consumers have “Liked” a brand on Facebook, a 20 percent increase since 2010
  • 41 per cent of marketers report they have made a purchase as the result of a message they saw on Facebook, compared to 21 percent of consumers

Twitter

  • Among those actively using Twitter, 58 per cent of marketers and 46 per cent of consumers follow brands to receive advanced notice about new products
  • 61 per cent of marketers Follow at least one brand on Twitter
  • 12 per cent of consumers Follow a brand on Twitter, a 7 per cent increase since 2010

 

Based on a survey of more than 1,200 U.S. consumers and more than 400 U.S. marketers, the study is the latest in ExactTarget’s Subscribers, Fans & Followers research series. The series provides exclusive insight into how consumers interact with brands online based on a series of primary focus groups, interviews and surveys.

 

The launch of ExactTarget’s Marketers from Mars follows the release of a new commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of ExactTarget that found 35 percent of marketers ranked managing marketing campaigns across multiple marketing point solutions as one of their greatest challenges – despite 78 percent who said they believe cross-channel marketing is important or very important to their business.