Email ain’t dead yet.
When they wake up, 59% of consumers check their email account before anything else online, according to new research from ExactTarget (disclosure: client), in a sweeping survey of 400+ Americans. (play with the data in the super cool interactive tool below)
This correlates well with a similar, but far less statistically rigorous poll I conducted one year ago asking Twitter users what they checked first in the morning, and email was preferred by 77%.
The full ExactTarget research is available for free here, and includes several other interesting discoveries:
- People who check email first tend to be motivated to interact with brands online for the sake of deals (why you need a deal before you’ve even had coffee, I’m not sure)
- People who check Facebook first (11% of total respondents) tend to become fans of brands for entertainment purposes, or to show support (the concept of social badging).
- 39% of the people that check email first still use Facebook daily, but their motivation for doing so remains deal-centric.
Moo. Don’t Treat Fans Like Cattle
To me, the key insight is less about who checks what first (although it would be interesting to see the impact of smart phone ownership on the results). The key insight is instead the fact that motivations for brand interaction are widely divergent. You cannot presume that your subscribers, fans, or followers pay attention to your brand for reasons that are anywhere close to homogenous. They are not a faceless heard. They have motivations that are specific, particular and important.
This has enormous implications for social segmentation, content creation, tonality, and appropriate success metrics. We all need to start thinking about how we can mine social and email data to create not just one list of subscribers/fans/followers, but multiple lists based on what people want from our brands, and how likely they are to respond to information of a particular type and context. If we’re not using the available data (made even richer by the coming ubiquity of “like”) to boost relevancy of our social and email communication, our fans will gravitate toward companies that are. Because relevancy = respect.
For many companies (but by no means all), “batch and blast” email whereby everyone on the subscriber list gets the same message is a thing of the past. It’s time to start thinking about social media the same way. Programs like ThinkGeek‘s @thinkgeekspam that includes only deals and offers may need to become the rule, not the exception.
I’m going to write more about my thinking in the area of social segmentation this summer, but for now what do you think?
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle: Email ain’t dead yet.When they wake up, 59% of consumers check their email… http://bit.ly/dgGwcu
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Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://bit.ly/dgGwcu #ConvinceandConvert
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://bit.ly/dgGwcu
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://bit.ly/dgGwcu
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://bit.ly/9aqVVm
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle | Email Marketing Advice … http://bit.ly/dgxSZD
This may be useful: Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://bit.ly/cCuool
Jay Baer Blog: Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://bit.ly/9viTsR Full http://bit.ly/a7qk1n
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle – Email ain't dead yet. When they wake up, 59% of consumers check their email… http://ow.ly/17WoQO
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Social Biz: Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://ow.ly/17WqQ1
Social Biz: Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://ow.ly/17WqQ1
Social Biz: Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://ow.ly/17WqQ1
Jay, you make some amazing points here and I think you are spot on. One of the greatest benefits in the emergence of social media communication and marketing is that now every consumer has a voice that can be heard.
It's not like the “old days” where TV/radios advertisements and marketing campaigns had to appeal to broadly defined targets markets. If you want to reach out to your customers who like to dress up in viking garb and sing showtunes on the weekends, social media has now given you that opportunity.
I know Facebook has made strides to advertise to people based on their interests and I see our culture moving in that direction, more to a “what do you have that I personally would be interested in” type of marketing.
Another great post, I look forward to reading every day. I actually linked to your page in the blog I'm posting later, gotta get the word out about Convince and Convert! (As if you need my help, haha, keep up the great work)
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://ff.im/-mWTec
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://ff.im/-mWTec
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://ff.im/-mWTec
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://ff.im/-mWTec
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://ff.im/-mWTec
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://ff.im/-mWTec
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle http://ff.im/-mWTec
@jaybaer – "Email ain't dead yet" – http://bit.ly/aGpjYC
#Indispensable, comment les gens commencent leur journée infographie http://bit.ly/axZdd6
#Indispensable, comment les gens commencent leur journée infographie http://bit.ly/axZdd6
#Indispensable, comment les gens commencent leur journée infographie http://bit.ly/axZdd6
#Indispensable, comment les gens commencent leur journée infographie http://bit.ly/axZdd6
#Indispensable, comment les gens commencent leur journée infographie http://bit.ly/axZdd6
#Indispensable, comment les gens commencent leur journée infographie http://bit.ly/axZdd6
#Indispensable, comment les gens commencent leur journée infographie http://bit.ly/axZdd6
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle – Email ain’t dead yet. When they wake up, 59% of consumers check their… http://ow.ly/17WuID
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle – Email ain’t dead yet. When they wake up, 59% of consumers check their… http://ow.ly/17WuID
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle – Email ain’t dead yet. When they wake up, 59% of consumers check their… http://ow.ly/17WuID
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle – Email ain’t dead yet. When they wake up, 59% of consumers check their… http://ow.ly/17WuID
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle – Email ain’t dead yet. When they wake up, 59% of consumers check their… http://ow.ly/17WuID
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle – Email ain’t dead yet. When they wake up, 59% of consumers check their… http://ow.ly/17WuID
Are You Treating Your Fans Like Cattle | nice perspective from @jaybaer Convince & Convert http://ow.ly/25byY
Pretty good reasons why social media isn't such a simple thing after all and can't be "optimized". – http://bit.ly/dwfuw9
What's key in spurring brand interaction? What's your audiences' first online morning activity? Insights with @jaybaer http://fb.me/yS6w8Upa
Sweet graphic, Jay! I was at dinner last night with a colleague who has been thrown into creating a social media program for a large international company. She, as is, sadly, too often the case, doesn't know a whole lot about social media.
So she asked me: How can we use social media to reach our customers? I asked questions like: Which customers are you trying to reach? And: What is your goal in reaching them?
She looked at me with a perplexed stare, as if to say: Wait, you mean we have to have different strategies/programs to accomplish different things?
Well…duh! The funny thing is I met her through a graduate program in integrated marketing communications, which preaches, among other things, behavioral segmentation with the goal of moving closer to one-to-one interaction. Makes you wonder…
Sweet graphic, Jay! I was at dinner last night with a colleague who has been thrown into creating a social media program for a large international company. She, as is, sadly, too often the case, doesn't know a whole lot about social media.
So she asked me: How can we use social media to reach our customers? I asked questions like: Which customers are you trying to reach? And: What is your goal in reaching them?
She looked at me with a perplexed stare, as if to say: Wait, you mean we have to have different strategies/programs to accomplish different things?
Well…duh! The funny thing is I met her through a graduate program in integrated marketing communications, which preaches, among other things, behavioral segmentation with the goal of moving closer to one-to-one interaction. Makes you wonder…
Sweet graphic, Jay! I was at dinner last night with a colleague who has been thrown into creating a social media program for a large international company. She, as is, sadly, too often the case, doesn't know a whole lot about social media.
So she asked me: How can we use social media to reach our customers? I asked questions like: Which customers are you trying to reach? And: What is your goal in reaching them?
She looked at me with a perplexed stare, as if to say: Wait, you mean we have to have different strategies/programs to accomplish different things?
Well…duh! The funny thing is I met her through a graduate program in integrated marketing communications, which preaches, among other things, behavioral segmentation with the goal of moving closer to one-to-one interaction. Makes you wonder…