Despite social media's seeming importance to consumers (and certain brands), a new survey out from email marketing solution Campaigner reveals it may not actually be the ideal platform for brand interaction.
Campaigner's recently released
2017 Generational Marketing Insights Survey found that less than a quarter (24 percent) of online shoppers in general name social media as one of their preferred channels for brand interaction.
In stark contrast to social media, however, email has proven time and time again to be the most efficient marketing channel for brands, and the survey findings suggest this will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future.
Email ranks as one of the most preferred digital marketing platforms for brand interaction (44 percent), according to the Campaigner data, with 75 percent of online shoppers either "somewhat" or "very likely" to open email from brands. Consumers do have complaints about the email channel however.
Forty-nine percent of respondents, for example, indicated they receive too many marketing messages and many recipients (29 percent) said they actually prefer to hear from a brand less often than once a month, with only 11 percent preferring to get brand messages more than once a week.
The data from Campaigner also reveals that, of those consumers who do turn to social media to engage with brands, there are some clear under-performers. Snapchat and Twitter, for example, sees relatively low consumer-brand engagement according to Campaigner, with only five percent and three percent of respondents saying they use the platforms to keep in touch with brands. Pinterest and Instagram fare much better, each garnering 18 percent. Facebook was the leading platform for brands looking to engage -with over half (54 percent) of those surveyed saying they use the social media giant to follow brands on its platform.
The Campaigner survey also provides some interesting insight on marketing to millennials and generation X, as well as guidance on getting buy-in from boomers and traditionalists. Check out the infographic below for details.