• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, December 6, 2023

Email has been booming this year -- especially when used in combination with other channels, according to The State of Messaging, a study by Customer.io and Parcel.io.  

Overall, there was a 26% increase in email volume, at least on the Customer.io platform. But that was outpaced by a 44% hike in brands using two or more channels, as in these combinations: 

• Email + push—6.9 billion 
• Email + SMS — 3.2 billion 
• Email + push + SMS — 2.8 billion
• Email + push + in-app — 2.6 billion 
• Email + in-app — 1.4 billion
• Email + push + in-app — 1. billion 

Overall, 63% of brands saw better performance with multi-channel usage than single-channel. Among those who use email, SMS and push converted at a 913% higher rate than email alone. The sweet spot was three channels, the study notes.  

The biggest hike in email use was in the SaaS vertical, which sent 2.7X more emails than other industries. Media and entertainment also showed a large surge. 

On a tactical level, Monday was the most popular day for sending emails, followed by Wednesdays and Thursdays. Both B2C and B2B emails were more frequently sent during office hours — with nearly half received between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

As for frequency, 54% of brands sent emails at least once a week.  

Roughly 268 million emails were sent on Black Friday and 215 million on Cyber Monday. The combined total of 483 million emails was 60% higher YoY. 

For safety’s sake, 77% of brands ran link or image validations. 

SMS saw a 47% volume hike YoY, with fintech brands sending 44% more than firms in other industries. 

Meanwhile, push had a 49% volume boost, with healthcare usage growing by 41%.  

But the growth in these channels was dwarfed by the 793% jump in in-app sends. SaaS and edtech senders led the way. 

The study is based on analysis of usage and performance data over 24 months, and by a survey of 360 marketers.