Commentary

In Email We Trust: Gen Z, Millennials Are Primed For Relevant Newsletters

You can forget the mistaken notion that young people dislike email. 

On the contrary, 93% of millennials and almost 80% of Gen Zers check their emails several times a day, and widely prefer email for real-time alerts, according to Engaging Gen Z & Millennials, a study released on Tuesday by Jeeng, conducted by Mantis Research.  

Moreover, most will sign up for relevant email newsletters. 

Of the Gen Zers polled, over 50% subscribe because they are already reading the content on the publisher’s website.  

In addition, 48% of Gen Z readers and 52% of millennials will subscribe if they trust the publisher. And relevance is key for 47% of Gen Z and
51% of millennials. 

Indeed, 56% of Gen Z and 60% of millennials will subscribe to multiple newsletters from a trusted publisher, more so than older generations — if they are relevant. 

The younger cohorts also want personalized newsletters, with over half of Gen Z saying this is the case.

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In addition, 66% of Gen Z and 63% of millennials want personalized web content. Moreover, they are more likely to find trusted web sites credible. 

Of the Gen Z consumers surveyed, 94% of Gen Z and 93% of millennials have confidence in publishers’ websites. 

In line with that, 61% of Gen Z, 60% of millennials, 56% of Gen Y. and 53% of Boomers rely heavily on those websites for news.  

In contrast, only 20% of Gen Z and 24% of millennials have confidence in Facebook content. And 18% of Gen Zers and 25% of millennials find Twitter content believable.

"As trust in social media has declined substantially, we're seeing email reemerge as a trusted, tried-and-true channel for giving consumers the news, entertainment and information they want," said Jeff Kupietzky, CEO of Jeeng.

Kupietzky adds that "with expectations for personalization higher than ever, email uniquely provides a powerful way for publishers to build that coveted 1:1 relationship, especially with young subscribers, by delivering the individually curated content they want."

All that said, 84% of Gen Z and 79% of millennials rely mostly on social media for news.  But, contrary to some observers believe, 71% of Gen Z and 65% of millennials do not share that news on social media. 

And they’re open to browser-based push — 80% of Gen Z and 70% of millennials say so. But again, they have to trust the company and find the content relevant. Breaking news works best. 

But only 50% of Gen Z and 38% of millennials want texts, even from a publisher they trust.  

Mantis Research surveyed over 1,000 U.S. consumers in November 2020. 

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