Traffic to web-based e-mail services has dropped in the past year, down 6% from 153 million in November 2010 compared to a year ago, while people accessing e-mail on mobile devices has risen 36% to 70 million.

That’s according to new data from comScore. “Digital communication has evolved rapidly in the last few years with an ever-increasing number of ways for Internet users to communicate with one another,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile.

“From PCs to mobile devices, whether its e-mail, social media, IM or texting, consumers have many ways to communicate and can do so at any time and in any place. The decline in web-based e-mail is a byproduct of these shifting dynamics and the increasing availability of on-demand communication options.”

The trend seems to be people taking cyberspace with them, rather than journeying thought cyberspace as an alternative to the real world. It wasn’t too long ago that we had to fit ourselves into the confines of the web’s virtual reality, but now we have technology which allows us to apply the web more easily to real life.

Younger people are moving away from web based e-mail services the fastest and are most active in mobile e-mail. The 25 to 34 age group were 60% more likely to access e-mail than an average mobile user, with 18 to 24 year olds 46% more likely to. In contrast those 55 and over using web based email services went up by 15%.

Cross-channel marketing to serve the multi-channel consumer

The explosion of smart phones and the impact this technology is having on communication channels and thus, marketing has been lightening quick.

According to comScore, mobile e-mail has reached 78% of the smart phone population which is similar to the penetration of web-based e-mail among internet users.

According to comScore, these findings demonstrate just how fast channel shifts can occur and why it’s essential for brands to have a strong presence in multiple channels.

It would appear to be yet another good reason for companies to focus on cross-channel marketing and put the time and effort into building an approach which serves those channels with equal effectiveness and allows the customer to choose when and which suits them best.