Strategies for E-Mail Marketing to Teens and 20-Somethings
The e-mail marketing firm eROI recently conducted a survey of 283 high school and college students, as well as recent college graduates representing 29 states to find out how to market online to this demographic. The report outlines which online channels, including which social networking sites, this group prefers, and generally makes the case for using e-mail as just one approach to reach this market.
It's no surprise that today's high school and college students are hardly newcomers when it comes to e-mail. The mean number of e-mail addresses per student surveyed is 2.4, the survey says, and most college students have had an e-mail address for about eight years, with the average student getting an initial e-mail address at the age of 13.
But how do you reach them? The report says: "When students choose a primary e-mail service, Gmail is the clear favorite. Thirty-two percent of college students use Gmail as their primary e-mail address, 19 percent Yahoo, 18 percent MSN/Hotmail and only about 17 percent use their school e-mail address as their primary address. If you're looking at marketing to this group through online channels, Google's advertising network is one to seriously consider."
Which Channel Will Work?
Staying on top of constantly evolving trends is the key to gaining trust and staying relevant to the student market, but another challenge in reaching them, according to the study, is knowing which channel will carry and present your message most effectively. "Students, on average, read marketing e-mails on a 'rarely to never' basis, with 61 percent falling into this category. Only 16 percent are reading marketing e-mails on a frequent basis, while 66 percent of students rarely or never take action on marketing e-mails," according to the survey.
Students in the survey said they take action upon receiving an e-mail primarily because they are interested in the product (60 percent) or attracted to a special offer (47 percent). E-mail design is much less of a factor, with only 11 percent of students taking action because of the design. This means that marketers should focus on doing a more effective job of personalizing their messages and marketing products that relevant to the demographic, the study says.
How Do Social Networks Work in the Mix?
It's clear that students have adopted e-mail, but students were also among the earliest adopters of social networks. Are students moving away from e-mail and toward social networks as their preferred method of online communication? Articles published by DMNews, Bokardo, and a joint study by Skype & Harris Interactive have reported that e-mail is a dying channel, especially among students, according to the study.
It goes on to say that, "These reports have speculated that social networking has taken over and that students are now using e-mail primarily to sign up for social networking sites and receive e-mail alerts. Our survey found that only about 36 percent of students use email alerts to keep up to date on what's happening on their social networks and only about one-quarter of students originally got an e-mail address for social networking purposes.
"Approximately one-quarter got an e-mail address for the ability to buy online. The majority of students (81 percent) got an e-mail address for communicating with family and 52 percent for communicating with friends."
We know that students are on social networks, but where exactly are they spending their time? Eighty-three percent of college students use Facebook, 65 percent use MySpace and 21percent use LinkedIn, according to the study. " With over one-fifth of college students using LinkedIn, this is one area of opportunity for marketers to reach students where their competitors may not be," the report advises.
Finally, the report says, "We've seen that it's important to send the right message through the right channel, but besides email, what channels are students using most? Preferred means of communication for college students are text messaging (37 percent), e-mail (26 percent), social networking IM (15 percent), instant messaging (11 percent) and social networking email (11 percent). Only about 12 percent of students check e-mail on a mobile device. We see mobile device usage increasing, however it is still not at a mass adoption rate."
The Bottom Line: Use Personalized E-Mail as Part of the Mix
Overall, e-mail plays an important role in college students' life as a personal communication device, but not as a major marketing channel. The report says that, ultimately, e-commerce site owners need to "consider e-mail in their marketing mix to college students, but creating a comprehensive marketing plan that is made up of social networking, e-mail marketing and text messaging is going to be the most effective way to reach your audience and gain mindshare." You can find a complete download of the study at this page at eROI.com.
Michelle Megna is managing editor of ECommerce-Guide.com
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