Study: Email, not Facebook, drives consumer engagement among brands

Despite social media’s growing presence in many consumers’ lives, it is not the ideal platform for brand interaction.



That's according to the “2017 Generational Marketing Insights Survey,” from Campaigner, the email marketing brand of j2 Global. According to findings, less than a quarter (24%) of online shoppers use social media as one of their preferred channels for brand interaction. And it seems that not all social media channels are created equal.



For example, only 5% of respondents use Snapchat, somewhat of a newcomer for brands, as their go-to platform when connecting with their favorite brands. Image-heavy Pinterest and Instagram tied for second place, each garnering 18%.



Facebook is the place to be for brands that want to get the most bang for their social buck, with over half (54%) of shoppers using the social media giant to follow brands. Only 3% said they utilize Twitter for this purpose.



In sharp contrast to social media, email still proves to be the most efficient marketing channel for brands. In fact, email ranks as one of the most preferred digital marketing platforms for brand interaction (44%), and 75% of online shoppers are either somewhat or very likely to open email from brands.



However, when it comes to this medium, too much of a good thing can be bad for customer engagement. Online shoppers’ top complaint (49%) about marketing messages is that they simply receive too many of them. Most recipients (29%) prefer to hear from a brand less often than once a month, while only 11% prefer to get brand messages more than once a week.



“The findings signal that in this day and age, consumers both expect and appreciate email messages from their favorite brands,” says EJ McGowan, general manager, Campaigner. “However, savvy marketers must do their due diligence to research and determine what cadence of email is most effective for their audience. Acting on these insights will ensure that campaigns are successful from the perspective of both sender and recipient.”



Millennials are the most likely generation to engage with marketing emails. Nearly a quarter (22%) said they are very likely to open an email from a brand, compared to just 15% of the group surveyed overall.



After their digital preference of email (51%), 47% of Millennials said they utilize social media to interact with brands. While Facebook is still their top social choice (65%), Instagram is another favorite, with 37% saying they use it to interact with brands. Millennials are nearly three times as likely to use Snapchat to engage with brands as the average online shopper (14%).



When it comes to Generation X, this group is more receptive to a higher frequency of email than the rest. For example, 27% think receiving emails from brands once a week is ideal.



Meanwhile, those born in the Traditionalist and Baby Boomer eras prefer interacting with brands in physical stores compared to the average shopper. In fact, 73% of Traditionalists and 67% of Baby Boomers prefer to interact with brands in-store, compared to 65% of the group overall.



Additionally, Traditionalists appreciate helpful tips and short reads more than the average online consumer, at 28% versus 13% overall, so content marketing may be most impactful for this group, the study said.