Shortening consumer attention spans mean a quarter of shoppers now ‘tune out’ to marketing communications, such as emails and SMS messages, from retailers, according to a new Intuit Mailchimp report.

White noise

A poll of over 6,000 global shoppers spanning the UK, North America and APAC in its ‘Art of the Opt-In’ report showed that seven in ten (71%) now receive more marketing emails and texts. However, only 40% pay attention to the increased volume of brand communications they receive, with a quarter admitting they tune out to interaction on these channels more than they did a year ago.

Of those customers who opt-in and stay subscribed, over half (56%) want content that adds value to their shopping journeys and a further 40% expect messaging frequency not to feel like spam.

“As tracking and re-targeting become more complex, the opt-in stands out as one of the few moments when a brand can earn a direct relationship,” Matt Cimino, Product Manager at Intuit Mailchimp commented. However, he added “most opt-ins come up short” because they “only think about what the business needs, not what the customer actually wants.”

Relevance comes from clarity, not volume

While UK shoppers were the most likely to opt in to email communications, they were also the most sceptical; 40% said they don’t trust brands with personal data and a further 55% would unsubscribe if they found the content was irrelevant after opt-in.

“UK consumers are willing to engage if there is clarity and clear value delivered,” said Sarah Logan, Head of Agency Partnerships EMEA at Intuit Mailchimp. “Putting these aspects at the centre of an opt-in strategy is critical for achieving sustained success.”

Despite rising demand among shoppers for more relevancy, research from over 2,000 global marketers in the report showed that turning access to data into value remained a key challenge. Only 30% currently use preference or frequency insights within their customer engagement strategies and just 29% use browsing behaviour data, even though these represent some of the strongest drivers of relevance.

“Relevance comes from clarity, not volume,” said Diana Williams, VP of Product at Intuit Mailchimp. “When data is fragmented, even the best intentions fall short.”

She advocated brands triangulate behaviour signals, automation and omnichannel insights to build relevancy and trust into customer engagement to drive long-term growth.