JupiterResearch has determined that the rising popularity of social networking sites and other forms of communication, including text messaging and cell phone use, are beginning to have an impact on the effectiveness of e-mail marketing.

 

This impact is considerably more noticeable with the numbers of consumers that say promotional messages inspired their recent purchases. As these numbers continue to change, they will not only impact the use of e-mail marketing, they will also have a considerable impact on marketers to ensure that their messages are effective enough to grab the attention of the consumer.

 

The new report, “The Social and Portable Inbox: Optimizing E-mail Marketing in the New Era of Communication Tools,” noted that the emerging forms of communication are leading to diminished use of e-mail.

 

In fact, 22 percent of e-mail users reported that they use social networking sites instead of e-mail. Scores within the report indicated that these consumers use instant messaging (IM), text messaging and cell phones instead of e-mail.

In 2007, 51 percent of e-mail users indicated that e-mail inspired at least one online purchase. Another 47 percent said the same for off-line purchases. However, for 2008, the share of e-mail users fell to 44 percent for online purchases and 41 percent for off-line purchases.

"Consumers' confidence in e-mail has become shaken by irrelevant communications and high message frequency, which are top drivers of subscribers' churn and channel skepticism," explained David Daniels, vice president, research director and lead analyst of the report for JupiterResearch.

"People receive such a high volume of e-mail that they are unable to pay attention to every message. It is so important for marketers to be relevant and succinct when they send messages to consumers' inboxes,” added Daniels.

According to David Schatsky, president of JupiterResearch, "Marketers need to be aware that consumers are using other forms of communication and must ensure their strategy adapts to consumers' changing behavior."

To ensure that their messages reach the intended audience and stand out within this heavily saturated media, marketers will have to get creative and inventive, while also paying close attention to such reports to ensure they are sending the message by those means used most frequently by their potential customers.

The complete findings of this report are immediately available to JupiterResearch clients online at http://www.jupiterresearch.com.