Moms and E-Mail Marketing

Enid Burns | June 8, 2005 | 0 comments

Moms determine the majority of household spending. A study conducted by Lucid Marketing and EmailLabs identified mothers’ email habits, as well as tactics to reach that target audience.

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Researchers say 63 percent of the mothers surveyed receive one to five newsletters or promotional emails from online retailers. While 33.1 percent of respondents place a relatively high (6 to 7 out of 10) rank on the importance of commercial email, a majority (39.3 percent) said they only subscribe if an email address is requested as part of the purchase or registration process. Only 21.8 percent look to subscribe without being prompted.

Given the choice to opt-out of mailings on a pre-populated opt-in form, Moms consider the email’s perceived value 59 percent of the time before un-checking the opt-in box during a registration process. A healthy 30.6 percent say they always un-check a pre-checked box to avoid newsletters; 8.1 percent leave the box checked and receive the email.

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The vast majority of Moms surveyed, 86.6 percent, said they sign up for newsletters and promotions in order to receive coupons or special discounts. Special offers in the subject line are most compelling triggers for maternal recipients to open an email. Price discounts spur these women to open their email 72.5 percent of the time, while 60.1 percent of respondents said an offer for free shipping gets their attention.

The study identifies a direct approach as best for this market. Kevin Burke, president of Lucid Marketing, said mothers have limited time to deliberate over emails and consider products they may want to purchase. "Make sure your messages are clear, concise, and serve as a convenience to moms," said Burke.

For the study, Lucid polled 695 Moms from a national retailer’s customer list. The sample included both working and stay-at-home mothers of young children.