Email 'more popular than social networking'

A new study has indicated that young people would abandon social networking before email or text messaging.

Research conducted by the Participatory Marketing Network has offered a positive outlook for the future of email marketing campaigns, by suggesting that this mode of communication is indispensable to many.

While 26 per cent of interviewees said they would be least willing to give up email communication for a week, only nine per cent were most concerned about maintaining access to networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Michael Della, co-founder and executive chairman at the Participatory Marketing Network, said the results may be surprising to some, but not if you consider the role email continues to play in the day-to-day lives of Generation Y.

He added: "As long as email remains the collection point for social networking updates, including alerts around new followers, discussion updates and friend requests, it will remain a powerful force in marketing and our lives."

Last week, Carrie Bendall, an expert from advice website Marketing Donut, claimed that third party email marketing providers can help support promotional campaigns.

Written by Mark Hainsby