The IAB – in partnership with its email council and iCD Research – asked a nationally representative sample of 1000 people their attitudes towards email marketing, levels of usage and preferred layout, to inform the email marketing strategies of UK brands. The results revealed that whilst email marketing is arguably the oldest form of digital communication it still resonates with consumers, with a third of people having become interested in a brand or product they weren’t previously aware of as a result of an email.

1. Email Marketing Research AUGUST 2010

2. Agenda Research Objectives Methodology Executive Summary - Qualitative & Quantitative Quantitative Research Summary

3. 1. Objectives

5. Establish preferred communication and/or barriers to marketing methods

6. Determine importance of email marketing to consumer

7. Ascertain consumer email behaviour

8. Identify preferred style/tone of email marketing

11. iCD Research Qualitative omnibus – Omnichat

12. 12 respondents recruited (min 6 participate) from iCD Qualitative Panel – Qualitative Opinions (spread age, gender, region)

13. Group 1 Email marketing (19th May) n = 9

14. Group 2 – Social Media (9th June) n = 11

15. Quantitative Research

16. iCD Research Quantitative Omnibus

17. Nat Rep sample (age, gender, region) n=1000

19. 3. Quantitative Executive Summary More likely to open email if subject line ‘contained an offer/incentive’ and/or ‘promised money off’ Not surprisingly with internet penetration near saturation point in the UK - 83% (and research sample), e-mail communication is seen to be important as a personal communication tool Majority of people that have a personal account use email everyday, furthermore 7 in 10 people who have a work email account use it everyday for personal reasons Email is predominately used for communicating with friends and family; followed by 3 in 5 people using email to receive information/offers from my favourite brands A third of people have become interested in a brand/product (not previously aware of) as a result of an email Receiving offers and loyalty to the brand are the key drivers to registering to brand marketing emails Mostly short text with click through and some images is the preferred format to receive email marketing However, the majority of people have deleted emails from brands without opening them… Irrelevant subject lines and non subscription to brand are the main reasons emails are deleted without being read

20. 3. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

21. Nearly two thirds are using e-mail to receive information/offers from favourite brands Importance of email Communication Tool Not all important Very important Base: All those with an e-mail account n=964 Email Usage Work /Personal Account Personal Email Work vs. Personal Account Source: IAB/iCD Research, July 2010

22. Subject lines outlining an offer or money off are most likely to be opened Communication Brand subject lines more or less likely to persuade consumer to open email Mean Score 3.86 3.85 3.77 3.34 3.35 3.10 2.48 Source: IAB/iCD Research, July 2010

23. Of those who deleted emails without opening them, irrelevant subject lines and not subscribing to a brand were the main reasons Delete emails from brands without opening them ... Yes - 87% Note: There are no significant differences among different demographics (age / gender) Why do emails get deleted with out being opened Base - those who have deleted e-mails Mean Score 4.31 4.21 4.07 4.09 3.50 Source: IAB/iCD Research, July 2010

24. A third had become interested in a brand they were not previously aware of as a result of e-mail Like hearing from brands because... Interest in brand as result of email Brands not aware of previous to email.... Base: All mentioned one or more brands they like hearing from via e-mail n=382 Base: All those with an e-mail account n=964 Source: IAB/iCD Research, July 2010

25. Industry/Brand Marketing Expect to receive email marketing from... Industries/Brands Brand Email Marketing Brands like to hear from via email.... Insert Wordle Source: iCD Research Weekly Quantitative Omnibus Images created by the Wordle.net web application

26. Creative Preference Mean: 1.89 % Rank 1st: 39% Mean: 2.33 % Rank 1st: 31% Mean: 2.35 % Rank 1st: 20% Mean: 3.42 % Rank 1st: 10% Mostly images / minimal text / click through options “More eye catching and easy to find what is relevant to me” “Clearer message” “Don’t really have time to read large bodies of text” “A picture is worth a thousand words” Text Only “Gives all the detail I need to know” “I want facts not pictures” “Illustrations take too much of my PC space and bandwidth” “Less likely to contain a virus” Mostly short text / click through / some images “More attention grabbing” “It is more attractive to the eye” “Easier to understand and navigate “Gets straight to the point and gives you the option to find out more if you want” Mostly Text / Some Imagery “I like a quick indication of what’s on offer with more detailed text to back it up” “Easy to read, doesn’t takes ages to download” “Imagery makes it more colourful & appealing, but having mostly text helps get to the point quicker” Source: IAB/iCD Research, July 2010

28. Consumers are drawn to email offering promotions or money off with 66% stating that they like to hear from brand because they have good offers

29. Subject lines showing an offer or incentive, or money off were also the most likely to persuade consumers to open the e-mail, 70% and 69% respectively

30. Over half (52%) liked to receive e-mails from products and services that they already pay for

31. 33% had become interested in a brand not previously aware of as a result of receiving an e-mail

33. Email Marketing Research AUGUST 2010