• by Jess Nelson , October 20, 2016

A new study released Monday by Mapp Digital suggests that Millennial U.S. consumers are becoming more accepting of email marketing content in their inbox, and even prefer email over other marketing channels.

The digital marketing company partnered with Flagship Research to survey a panel of 1,765 U.S. consumers, ages 18-64, in the company’s fifth annual Consumer Views of Email Marketing report. 

While email was the most preferred marketing platform for Millennials, 8.5% preferred social media and 4.5% preferred text messages over alternative marketing channels.

Millennials are also less likely to have a separate email address for marketing emails according to the report, saying that Millennials with a separate email address is on the decline, decreasing from 40% to 30% since 2015.

This may be because Millennials are also more likely to subscribe to fewer email campaigns than their elders. Only 38% of Millennials admit to subscribing to seven or more brands’ emails, compared to 44% of the general population.

Nearly half of Millennials polled by Mapp Digital expressed that a love for a specific brand was a major influence when deciding to join an email list.

“Email marketing is still very relevant to brands, specifically for the hard-to-reach 18- to-34-year-old audience,” states Mike Biwer, CEO of Mapp Digital. “The survey results suggest that this group of consumers are engaging with fewer brands on a more intimate level.”

Overall, 72% of consumers check their email by mobile device, according to Mapp Digital’s study. More than 90% of consumers ages 18-24 and 83% of consumers ages 25-32 check their email by smartphone.  

A recent study of 1,500 Millennials by marketing company BrightWave supports this argument, as respondents selected email as their most preferred marketing channel. Millennials were most likely to engage if an email rendered correctly on their mobile device, according to the report.