This is why customers hate your emails

Chart of the Day: Digital offers can help drive shopping and brand engagement

Email campaigns are a great asset to generate traffic to your website and keep your customers informed about your latest offers. However, research from Adobe has revealed people’s most annoying aspects of branded emails and receiving too many of them comes top of the list.

Personalization was a big factor in email annoyances, with incorrect data (22%), already purchased product info (22%) and ‘creepy’ over-personalization (16%) also appearing high up the list. Too much personalization is a bigger issue than having too little, which garnered just 9% of responses.

You want your emails to be customized to the reader but still read like one human being speaking to another. The quality of this written communication was second-most annoying, with 23% of people saying they received emails that were too wordy or poorly written.

Be clear and concise in what your email says. Don’t throw too many options at the reader – it’ll only mean your email ends up in the trash. If you’re having trouble writing your emails, take our effective email copywriting Quick Win to get message clear and hone your writing skills.

Remember that many people use their smartphones to check their email. Optimize your emails for mobile reading and you’ll find yourself naturally avoiding overly-verbose text and confusing design because you don’t have the space of a desktop monitor or tablet screen to work with.

• Source: Adobe via marketing charts
• Sample: 1,001 US white-collar workers who own a smartphone, aged 35-64
• Recommended resource: Email marketing and marketing automation buyer’s guide