Spain has topped the list of nosy nations as confidential information spurs a 48% increase in clickthroughs, according to new research. Independent analysis from the Mailjet test centre of 20,000 consumers worldwide also revealed a hesitance among UK consumers around confidential content as just 1 in 5 Brits will open a confidential message not intended […]
Spain has topped the list of nosy nations as confidential information spurs a 48% increase in clickthroughs, according to new research.
Independent analysis from the Mailjet test centre of 20,000 consumers worldwide also revealed a hesitance among UK consumers around confidential content as just 1 in 5 Brits will open a confidential message not intended for them, suggesting the countries users have become far warier of phishing emails than its European counterparts.
Key points from the analysis included:
• Email tests conducted among 20,000 consumers worldwide reveals just 1 in 5 Brits will open confidential messages not intended for them
• By contrast, nearly half of EMEA recipients will open an email marked ‘For Your Eyes Only’, representing as much as a 48% increase in open rate
• UK respondents are still 28% more likely to open an external email marked ‘MANAGEMENT’
• Open rates rose to 45% in France and 34% in Germany, when receiving exclusive ‘For Your Eyes Only’ (FYEO) messages
• Brits were 28% more likely to open an external email marked ‘MANAGEMENT TEAM’, which also produced the highest results among US recipients
• There have been some fantastic cases of ‘leaked information’ driving engagement, such as Krispy Kreme’s memo to launch its Nutella doughnut
Conducted via a series of tests among Mailjet’s database of over 20,000 subscribers, the research found open rates rose to 45% in France and 34% in Germany based on receiving exclusive ‘For Your Eyes Only’ (FYEO) messages. By contrast, only 18% of British recipients engaged with test messages playing on their sense of confidentiality and exclusivity, perhaps indicative of Brits being warier of phishing emails than their European counterparts.
The nosiest country according to the report is Spain. Measuring the percentage increase in engagement, the 48% boost generated by FYEO emails in the Spanish market is closely followed by France, which saw a 29% leap through the same tactic. The UK came a very close third with increase open rates falling just 1% short of the jump seen in the French market.
FYI – management team
While UK respondents were less likely to engage with FYEO messages, mock-up internal emails intended for a third party immediately caught the eye of a much larger proportion of study recipients. In this second test, UK respondents were 28% more likely to open an external email marked ‘MANAGEMENT TEAM’. This tactic also produced the highest results among US recipients, with a 9% increase in open rate.
Josie Scotchmer, UK marketing manager at Mailjet, comments; “Over the years there have been some fantastic use cases of ‘leaked’ information to drive engagement. Take Krispy Kreme, their launch campaign for a new Nutella doughnut involved the mass distribution of a ‘confidential internal memo’ for store managers. The fake leak had the brand trending on Twitter within an hour as people speculated about the supposed mishap and began congratulating the brand on a successful launch.”
Authenticity trumps gossip
This contrasts with gossip related subject lines such as “You’ll never guess what happened last week?!” which appear to lose impact with recipient, generating a mere 3% increase in open rate in the UK and 5% in the US. Shortcomings here suggest a savviness among recipients to the clear marketing intent of these messages and disengagement at the use of exclamation to drive urgency.
Josie continues, “While the well travelled paths of ‘behind-the-scenes’ hints and tips have run their course with some EMEA audiences, the reverse psychology of unintentionally sharing a genuine opportunity with the consumer is a welcome reminder that it still takes human emotion to market effectively to audiences. This is why automation solutions are at their best when they are paired with great creative inspiration.”
Methodology
The study was conducted in February 2017 among Mailjet’s proprietary database of over 20,000 subscribers.
uk.mailjet.com
