Today’s reader is overwhelmed with an excess of information at a fast pace. The average consumer is inundated with emails, online ads, television commercials, texts, app alerts, flyers, mailers, and on and on. It is really mind blowing the amount of information humans are saturated with daily. Many of our associates have shared that they would be fine with not receiving another offer to purchase, join, or attend another webinar. When consumers reach this point of frustration as a result of too much information, their decision making is affected. We, sometimes, have the tendency to want to share as much information as possible with every opportunity. However, how much is too much information; and when does ‘too much information,’ reach the point of being ineffective? Let’s examine some practical ways to determine the effectiveness of online communications.
The Determinant
The click through rate of an email, landing page, or site is a good way to determine the effectiveness of the communication. What exactly is the CTR? The click through rate is when a user/visitor clicks on a specific link in ratio to the number of total visitors who viewed the page. The CTR is used to determine the success of an email and/or online ad campaign. A click through rate is an indicator of how well the audience is influenced by the content to click on a link. It is also an indicator of what works in comparison to what does not. A low CTR rate is a strong indicator the information is missing either what your target audience is interested in or that you’re targeting the wrong audience. According to Campaign Monitor, an average open rate of an email is about 17.8% with an average click through rate of 2.6%.
The Effect
While content is likely designed to increase awareness of the brand; ultimately, the goal is to persuade the user to engage. What happens when there is content overload? Plainly, most of the content is ignored. The average attention span of a human is decreasing. In the year 2000, the average attention span was 12 seconds. According to a study conducted by Microsoft, it is now only 8 seconds. This is how much time the content of an email has to capture the attention of the reader and elicit an engagement. In an APA articled published in 2004, it discusses how consumers’ decision making is affected by an abundance of consumer options. Further it shares that, “how too many choices can overwhelm us to the point where we choose nothing at all.” Studies also indicate that decision making is affected negatively when there is information overload.
The Solution
There are a few items to take into consideration.
First, review your recent email open rates and click through rates. If the rates are below the industry average, you may need to make some changes. If the open rate is low (less than 20%), you may need to examine the number of emails you are sending. Check your unsubscribed rate as this could be an indicator that you are sending to many emails, and they are being ignored. Reports indicate consumers are complaining of receiving too many emails. Also, you may want to consider a personalized subject line which can increase the open rate as much as 20%. Time of delivery is also a determinant factor as to whether an email is opened. You may also consider that your emails are unopened because they are going into Spam. If this is the case, take time to research reasons why emails go to Spam and take corrective action if this is the case.
Second, review the click through rate. If the rate is 2.6% or lower, you may want to consider tapering down the amount of content in your emails. Remember, you only have a few seconds to capture the reader’s attention with design and power phrases. Consider the addition of web links when you have more than a few lines to communicate. Spreading your content over multiple emails is also helpful in increasing engagement. As proven, consumers read and make decisions best when they are not overwhelmed with too much content and options.
Finally, it’s not about the amount of content, but the succinct quality of content. Get your audience’s attention quickly, keep it short, optimize your branding, add call to actions in the middle, and focus the attention on specifics.
AllDigital4U 