• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, June 9, 2022

Email continues to be a top choice for receiving product and service news, judging by Consumer Marketing & Media Report 2022, a study by Scorpion. 

Of the consumers polled, 53% prefer to discover products and services via online ads or email. Word-of-mouth is tied at 53%, but is probably ahead of email or ads, given that those channels are splitting the vote. Websites are chosen by 43%.  

Gen Z seems especially open to email — 29% choose it as their preferred method for service, with text running second at 21%. Moreover, only 19% are willing to hear from companies no more than once a week. 

In contrast, 38% of Gen X wants to hear from firms no more than once a month.

And while 31% of Baby Boomers prefer email, 35% want to be contacted no more than once per quarter. Boomers are also more likely to be comfortable with direct mail. 

Moreover, 91% of Gen Z prefers personalized experiences, versus 81% of millennials, 72% of Gen Xers and 53% of Baby Boomers. 

The study states, “Supporting a wider range of communications options, such as SMS, chat and email, is key when appealing to Gen Z and Millennial consumers.”  

In general, 70% of consumers want personalized recommendations. But 36% say that tailored digital experiences are not usually relevant, and 36% dislike them when received shortly after a purchase is made.

Another 31% are unhappy when ads seem to know too many personal details.  

As for digital ads, 72% are dissatisfied with the ones they receive. Drilling down, 25% say personalized Web ads are usually not relevant to them and 22% complained that the ads 'seem to know too much' about them. Another 22% indicate that ads reached them after they had already made their purchases.   

Only 9% of Gen Z reject the idea of having a personalized web-browsing experience versus 19% of Millennials, 28% of Gen X and 46% of Baby Boomers  

And, 16% of Gen Z and millennials turn to messaging platforms such as Discord and Reddit for new product discovery. But a mere 3% of Boomers do so.

"The future of digital marketing is centered around personalization, as businesses of all sizes now have access to technology that can provide a 1:1 experience for their customers," concludes Joe Martin, vice president of marketing at Scorpion. 

Martin adds, "It's essential that small businesses understand their customers so they can produce tailor-made marketing that results in each customer truly understanding the value of the goods or services delivered.