Analysis of activity by CRM platform HubSpot’s customers has revealed UK consumers opening more marketing emails this month than at any other point during the pandemic.
HubSpot’s Covid data report, which tracks activity on its platform used by over 100,000 businesses across the world, shows that 56% of all marketing emails sent in the UK were opened in March, the highest opening rate in regular retail times since the crisis began.
After an expected dip in customer interactions over the Christmas 2020 period, HubSpot data shows that UK marketers have been cautiously ramping up their efforts to start 2021, with a 21% increase in the amount of marketing emails sent between December 2020 and March 2021.
Further data shows that website traffic in the UK is at its highest level since the start of the pandemic, with an increase of 40% between December 2020 and February 2021. Live chat usage has also been growing consistently over the past three months, going from 128% of the pre-Covid average in December 2020 to 168% in February 2021.
Inken Kuhlmann-Rhinow, EMEA Marketing Director at HubSpot, said: “Our latest data gives hope to UK marketers, but also a number of important lessons on how to create effective customer experience strategies in the new world. While announcements on the loosening of lockdown measures in the UK have generated more interaction with marketing emails and websites, this may be a temporary halo effect. The simultaneous rise in customer support conversations indicates that there are longer term challenges to be addressed: now is the time for customer experience leaders to ensure they’ve properly invested in the tools and infrastructure needed to support the new normal.”
The Hubspot data also revealed that the proportion of deals created and closed has been growing steadily over the past 12 months, with the number of deals created growing from 0% in February 2020 to 39% in March 2021, its highest ever rate – while the number of deals closed grew from -6% in February 2020 to 34% in March 2021.
