• More than half of those surveyed in the U.S. check their personal email account more than 10 times a day, and it is by far their preferred way to receive updates from brands.
• 76% of consumers agree that retail brands are sending relevant, accurate emails which reflect their shopping preferences, location or purchase history.
• Across verticals, the top reasons consumers will open an email from a brand are personalization and discounts. Consumers are just slightly more inclined to open an email offering a discount (72%) than one with a personalized subject line (62%).
• Millennials are far more likely to take action on a relevant email than any other age group. Across verticals, the largest gap was in donating to nonprofits. 58% of millennials “always” or “most of the time” donated to a nonprofit based on an email while just 18% of respondents 55+ did the same.

Key finding: There is no doubt, consumers still love email. More than half (52.7%) of those surveyed in the U.S. check their personal email account more than 10 times a day, and it is by far their favorite way to receive communication from brands.

When asked to rank their preferred way to receive updates from brands, email was consistently ranked highest in the “preferred a lot” category (compared to direct mail, mobile apps, social media, push notifications, and mobile wallet).

Here is a breakdown of how email preference ranks across verticals:

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATIONS
FROM RETAIL BRANDS

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATIONS
FROM TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY BRANDS

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATIONS
FROM ENTERTAINMENT BRANDS

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATIONS
FROM NONPROFIT BRANDS

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATIONS
DIGITAL MEDIA & PUBLISHING BRANDS

Key finding: 76% of consumers agree that retail brands are sending relevant, accurate emails which reflect their shopping preferences, location or purchase history.

AGREEMENT THAT BRANDS ARE
SENDING RELEVANT EMAILS ACROSS INDUSTRIES

Companies across all industries are delivering on the promise of personalized emails — communicating timely, relevant information that satisfies their audience and increases open rates. But, retail remains on top by a wide margin, beating the travel, entertainment, nonprofit and media industries when it comes to personalization.

Overall, consumers overwhelmingly prefer to receive personalized emails across verticals.

PREFERENCE OF EMAIL PERSONALIZATION
FROM BRANDS ACROSS INDUSTRIES

When looking at email personalization preferences among millennials versus baby boomers across verticals, millennials prefer it by a wide margin.

PREFERENCE OF EMAIL PERSONALIZATION
FROM BRANDS BY AGE GROUP ACROSS INDUSTRIES

Key finding: Across verticals, the top reasons consumers will open an email from a brand are personalization and discounts. Consumers are just slightly more inclined to open an email offering a discount (72%) than one with a personalized subject line (62%).

CONSUMER PREFERENCE BY EMAIL ATTRIBUTE
ACROSS INDUSTRIES

Marketers are beginning to deliver on the promise of personalization, and customers are taking note. Just as powerful, however, is their response to a specific type of email – discounts – that ranks as one of the top reasons for subscribing to an email newsletter, engaging with brands and grabbing consumers’ attention with subject lines.

Key finding: Preferences based on personalization and type of content received from brands did not vary widely among age groups. However, when it comes to taking action based on an email, millennials are far more likely to do so. 58% of millennials “always” or “most of the time” donated to a nonprofit while just 18% of respondents 55+ did the same.

Even with the variety of customer communication channels, including social media, email remains the most engaging method for communication among millennials.

Personalized marketing makes email an even more powerful tool for this demographic that is quick to make an impulsive donation to a nonprofit or book a trip — an impossible task to achieve without the data necessary to create relevant campaigns at scale.

When it comes to purchasing something from a brand or donating to a nonprofit based on an email, here’s how often each age group “always” or “most of the time” decides to take action (like make a purchase or donation) based on a brand’s email.

PROPENSITY TO TAKE ACTION BY AGE GROUP
ACROSS INDUSTRIES

The bottom line? Marketers must know their audience to run a successful campaign. Consumers prefer when brands personalize their email marketing campaigns, across age groups and verticals, and are seeking more of it. Brands have an opportunity to segment and personalize email campaigns to drive even more success and engagement, particularly with millennials. This trend will continue over time, as email continues to reign as one of the most effective tools to engage with consumers in a personalized way, at scale.