Congrats, your attention span increased
While technology is often blamed for shortening attention spans, email is not a culprit. In fact, the average time spent reading an email increased over the past years, according to an analysis of email opens between 2011 and 2016*. Did you know that the average email gets 11,1 seconds of our time? In comparison with the numbers of 2011, this is an increase of nearly 7%. Also, engagement increased:
22,4% of emails get less than 2 seconds of our time (glancing at)
20,8% between 2 and 8 seconds (skim reading)
and most emails - 56,8% - get more than 8 seconds (actual reading)
While email attention spans are increasing, they are still pretty short. Using compelling images, a mobile-friendly design and an effective subject line are just a few ways to encourage deeper reading.
