The DMA UK has just released their annual DMA / fast.MAP “Email Tracking Study”.

(Sponsor AlchemyWorx is offering a free download of the report for a limited time)

• One of the key findings in the study is that consumers are not feeling overwhelmed by marketing messages they want to receive. The number of people who find "50% of their emails relevant or interesting" has rocketed from 9% to 30%.
• Also, the majority are happy to enter email relationships with brands they trust - and are happy about the frequency, when the information is relevant to them.
• Interesting to note too that survey responders indicated they “hold on to emails to refer to for later use” – a significant percentage mentioning returning a week later to retrieve a commercial email.
• It’s clear that email can drive traffic to websites - 22% of consumers are inspired by emails to go to the company's website via provided urls (So, don't forget to design your newsletter template to feature an embedded link to your website!)

Very encouraging news - it shows how valuable permission-based list building is - but reminds us that the information sent has to be timely, targeted and relevant.