Specific products are the best way to catch an email reader’s attention

The average person gets 9,000 emails a year, and that number is conservative for many of us.¹ This stat underscores one of marketers’ greatest concerns: that it’s getting more and more difficult to break through cluttered inboxes.

We recently conducted a study to understand how retailers can best communicate with consumers through email. Three of the top drivers of engaging with retail emails are as follows:

• 91% of people tend to click on emails that have a specific product that catches their eye
• 72% of people tend to click on emails that have a private sale, designated for special customers
• 65% of people tend to click on emails that have a limited-time offer or promotion

The verdict is in. Users want specificity and exclusivity. This isn’t surprising, as we know today that consumers demand a greater level of personalization than ever before. According to MarketSherpa, 69% of people state that they would exchange their data for better, more personalized service.

The chart shown also underscores the power of brand names. Existing relationships with companies are also an important driver in grabbing an email reader’s attention.

Insights and observations

So what grabs a user’s attention when viewing retail emails? This chart identifies what gets a user’s attention and ultimately drives email engagement.

Specificity and exclusivity are two themes that surfaced in J&C’s Retail Communications Study as it relates to email engagement. Marketers should ensure they are fully leveraging behavior and other customer information to increase the relevancy of their email communications.

In order to achieve relevancy, retail marketers need to employ analytics. Analytics can uncover past buying behavior that can be leveraged to customize emails that deliver specific products (of interest). This chart did reveal that the communications don’t necessarily need to be as overt as recommendations based on past purchases. Retailers should find ways to increase relevancy through application of past buying and shopping behavior.

Marketers have reported challenges in executing behaviorally based programs. In J&C’s Marketing Trends Study, marketers reported lack of data as well as lack of data mining and analytical resources as key barriers to executing personalized communications.² Marketers may not realize that behaviorally based information is often at their fingertips and can be more powerful than applying outside information such as demographics.

Personalization can also be a path that marketers can consider to deliver on relevancy. Personalization can help deliver on the exclusivity and be married to deliver on the concept of a private offer.

Tips and recommendations

Mass emails are no longer an effective mechanism for marketers. Consumers are inundated with emails, and marketers need to increase exclusivity and specificity to deliver a more relevant experience.

Consumers want communications to be relevant and reflect their interests and their behavior. Two specific recommendations are as follows:

2. Deliver exclusivity.
Private sales and special access are themes that consumers identify as generating engagement. Create a series of special offers and messages for customers who deserve it. Revisit the fundamentals of CRM and loyalty marketing by rewarding those who deserve a special reward. Design a series of emails that deliver on exclusivity, private sales and special access – themes that consumers admit get their attention.

What’s next

In a recent study we conducted among marketers, three things surfaced as drivers of email engagement. J&C’s Retail Communication Preference Study demonstrated that people tend to click on emails that have a specific product that catches my eye, that promote a private sale for special customers and that highlight a limited-time offer or promotion. Consider if any of the tips above might help your organization. J&C also offers a number of workshops to help retailers optimize their email communications and increase marketing channel effectiveness.