‘Big switch off’ looms as consumers desert brands that send annoying marketing emails

A growing number of businesses are turning their attention to the quality and relevance of their email marketing communication, as consumers are leaving brands in favour of others due to spam, a report has found.

A 'big switch off' looms as brands lose touch with customers over email marketing communication, according to a new survey

Email newsletters are becoming increasingly annoying to customers to the point where they are deserting some brands in favour of others, according to new data from customer relationship management software company Hubspot.

Poor email marketing communication is not only a catalyst for customers clicking on the “unsubscribe” button with feverish haste – it can impact business growth.

The report found that 46 per cent of consumers said brands that “spam” them with irrelevant marketing communications could weaken their relationship with a brand; 36 per cent of consumers would consider switching off entirely and taking their business elsewhere.

Overall, customers aren’t particularly happy with their experiences with brands, citing problems including poor customer service, low-quality products and being spammed with irrelevant marketing. The data shows 89 per cent had a negative experience with the brands they engage with.

The trend is being exacerbated by decreasing consumer spending; 46 per cent of decision makers reported this was one of the biggest challenges they’re grappling with. Additionally, both existing and prospective customers are also increasingly difficult to reach and engage with, according to the report.

Email inboxes are cluttered spaces, and brands face steep competition to earn and retain the attention of customers.

Author and marketing expert Seth Godin wrote in a recent blog post titled The Reluctant Spammer: “The reason that our attention has been strip-mined is that the system that evolved seems to reward short-term players that take the direct, easy, and lazy way out. While it seems like we have no choice, in fact, we have a very obvious one.”

He then argued that brands need to consider the content of their newsletters more carefully, and use the channel to create more meaningful connections with customers.

“It turns out that finding, connecting and respecting a small group of supporters and customers always outperforms the hustle for more. And that if you can create a remarkable story that’s worth spreading, it’ll spread. Not because you need it to, but because your customers do.

“Reluctant or not, spam is still spam. If you can’t imagine wanting to receive it, don’t send it,” Godin wrote.

It’s advice brands would do well to heed. As the new Hubspot research suggests, newsletter marketing has reached an inflection point, as a “big switch off” looms.

Hubspot’s APAC marketing director at Kat Warboys told The Growth Agenda: “The term ‘the big switch-off’ is really a signal coming from consumers that says that brands have really missed the mark when it comes to how they’re communicating and engaging with their audience.”

Ms Warboys said effective communication should be driven by quality, rather than quantity.

“The biggest mistake is probably just doing the same things we’ve always done before. Brands are trying to send more to get cut-through, and it’s not working.”

However, customers aren’t necessarily fatigued by the abundance of digital content altogether, but rather the relevance of that information, Ms Warboys explained.

“The fatigue is in the lack of personalisation, because so many more businesses than ever have access to technology,” she said.

The Covid pandemic also drove rapid digitisation for many businesses. Almost overnight, businesses needed to pivot to a “multi channel” approach to reach their customers online. This was especially relevant for small enterprises that had previously built customer relationships and loyalty via a bricks and mortar presence, Ms Warboys added.

Brands need to think more carefully about the quality of the content they serve up to customers, she said.

“The problem is 100 per cent the quality of how we are engaging our audience, both from a personalisation perspective, but [also] I think from a personality perspective”.

That newsletters should have “personality” refers to the idea of using the channel to connect with customers on an emotive and rational level.

Toilet tissue brand Who Gives A Crap has found success via email marketing and conversion to “clicks”, but not at the expense of building its brand and emotional connection with its customers. It uses a highly distinct, humour-led tone of voice and infuses its newsletter communication with the same bold, colourful identity that is used across every touchpoint with its brand, from its packaging to its advertisements.

Some of the brand’s emails are more sales-focused, while others offer lifestyle tips such as “3 easy ways to boost your mood” and on Valentine’s Day this year, it invited customers to “Flush your ex”. It asked customers to send the brand paper correspondence (aka love letters) from loves past, which the brand would recycle into toilet paper – a genius way to tap into the emotional tumult of getting over an ex love, while at the same time communicating its recycling process (a key selling point).

The business of customer relationship management, or CRM, is growing. Advertising agencies in Australia are also reporting increased demand from brands to improve the customer experience across different digital touchpoints.

Creative advertising agency BMF says it has seen significant growth in CRM services over the past 18 months.

BMF executive director digital and direct strategy Irina Hayward said that brands must use channels such as newsletters to tell stories that are relevant to their audiences.

“That’s really important. And that’s what gets shared,” she said.

“In this space, to lead and exceed you need to move away from that ‘spray and pray’ one-size-fits all mentality … From a creative perspective, it really needs to be single-minded, it needs to connect with the audience, it needs to engage, it’s got to be personal.

“It’s not about bombarding your audience with that unwanted cyber spam, but really creating that two-way relationship,” Ms Hayward added.

Over the past year, Publicis Groupe-owned agency Team One has also expanded its customer relationship management team to keep up with a growing scope of work.

Publicis Team One’s head of digital and customer relationship management Nadine Wieczorek explained: “CRM is a powerful tool for creativity, but it looks different to other channels. It involves challenging the status quo and embracing emerging technologies and strategies to deliver exceptional value to customers.”

Team One sends Lexus “Insider” newsletters quarterly. The agency says it has, on a regular basis, a higher than average open and click-through rate. The newsletter includes content about its benefits program, Encore, and offers content about vehicle-specific announcements.

“And with every new newsletter, we try to create more personalised content to stay relevant to Lexus customers,” Ms Wieczorek said.

“The power of CRM lies in our ability to personalise and to create immersive and interactive customer journeys, using predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs and issues before they arise. We’re not asking everyone to flock to the same idea but instead to respond to a message specifically made for them. Done right, you’re giving people something you know they want. Done poorly, you’re bombarding them with stuff they don’t. Data is the engine that drives this intelligence.”