A new report by Forrester Research predicts we’re going to get 40% more marketing messages in 2021, and it’s all because we’re doing less shopping in-person. Consumer Reporter Susan Hogan reports.
If you feel like you already get too many marketing emails and text messages, just wait.
A new report by Forrester Research predicts we’re going to get 40% more in 2021, and it’s all because we’re doing less shopping in person.
When the pandemic hit earlier this year, many of us were bombarded with emails, texts, and push alerts from businesses, mostly alerting us to closures and safety protocols. Don’t expect them to stop once the pandemic is over.
“If we’re not strolling by and remembering, ‘Oh yeah, I love this store, I haven’t been in it in a while,’ the brands have to find other ways to engage with us,” said Stephanie Liu of Forrester Research.
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Forrester Research says those nagging marketing messages will become even more personalized and localized in an effort to win our business. And expect to see more companies pushing us to sign up for loyalty programs and shop on their apps.
Doing so allows them to collect more information about us and our shopping habits, which they’re going to need. Apple and Google are rolling out changes limiting the amount of data companies can collect, impacting how mobile advertisers track users.
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To minimize the number of marketing push alerts you receive on your mobile phone, turn off notifications. You can do this for individual apps through your phone’s settings.
You can also manage notifications on your desktop through the system settings, look for “notification controls.” Most browsers allow you to manage notifications from specific websites.
And of course, you can always unsubscribe from marketing emails and text messages.
On the flip side, getting personalized messages can actually be helpful. You’ll be notified of sales, or alerted if your favorite store is closing.
