Want to know a secret? Consumers are still reading your marketing emails. While working, while playing, while vacationing, while eating—consumers are keeping open rates high, spending roughly 5.4 hours a day checking their email.

How do we know? More than 1,000 blue-collar workers were polled in Adobe Campaign’s third annual consumer email survey, giving us insights into the love triangle between work life, personal life, and our inboxes. And for the most part, the relationship is healthy, happy and high maintenance (like any good relationship, right?).

 

A healthy relationship

Thirty-nine percent of consumers say they are still checking their email at least once an hour (with 26 percent of those checking it multiple times). However, more than a quarter say they take a morning email hiatus and wait until the office to open their inbox. Additionally, one in five consumers say they never check their email outside of normal work hours. So while still in a committed relationship with their inbox, consumers are keeping it casual.

The bottom line is that 73 percent of consumers say they feel like they check their email just as often as they should—not too cold, not too hot, but just right. It’s a positive evolution in our email-life balance.

And while email is still the most preferred communication channel among employees at work, most agree to stop hiding behind computer screens for the crucial conversations—like quitting your job or alerting your boss of an important situation—and choose to communicate face-to- face.

A happy relationship

Surprisingly, the fast-paced younger consumers (between ages 18 and 24) are the happiest in their email love affair with 32% saying they feel excitement when checking their email. They also find satisfaction (or maybe borderline OCD) in inbox organization. Half of respondents reach “inbox-zero,” meaning they’ve read, replied and organized every email in their inbox. Two fifths of the inbox-zero crowd feel that keeping their email neat as a pin is relieving, landing just in front of the 27 percent who say it feels amazing.

We might spam mail is the Achilles heel here, but consumers are telling us the opposite. They’re happy to see promotional offers land in their inbox, with 61 percent (a 24 percent increase over last year) saying they prefer it over a text, phone call, or snail mail. And when it comes to online shopping, two-fifths of consumers (particularly females) say that receiving a brand’s promotional emails gives the ladies an additional incentive to purchase. (But don’t over do it. Few respondents say they wished their favorite brands would email them daily. No surprises there.)

And a little high maintenance

But don’t get fooled, our consumers hold a high standard for their inboxes, and they certainly aren’t shy about it. About half think being emailed too often by a marketer is the most annoying aspect of opening their inbox. On top of that, 34 percent say they get frustrated when brands recommend items that don’t match their interests, and 40 percent of consumers say they wished email content was less promotional and more informative.

They hate when email isn’t optimized for mobile, when they have to wait for images to load, and when they have to scroll too much. They hate when there is a lack of personalization, when they get sent promotions for products they’ve already purchased and when offers are already expired. They really, really hate when they’re name is misspelled.

But they still love email

However, this doesn’t mean marketers can take a load off and send whatever they’d like. Brands need to focus on their customers in order to know their customers in order to please their customers. 82 percent of work emails and 60 percent of personal email get opened. Of those, 83 percent of work emails and 64 percent of personal emails get read.

So hold up your end of the relationship and collect those read receipts. Because they’re still reading.

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