Commentary

Bowing Out: Consumers Are Quick To Unsubscribe From Emails


Don’t think that people love email marketing. 

On the contrary, 40% of U.S. consumers unsubscribe from brand emails and texts once a week or more, versus the global average of 25%, according to the 2024 Advertising Preferences Survey from GetApp. 

Why do they opt out? Of those polled, 56% will unsubscribe if they receive four or more marketing messages from the same firm in 30 days. And 44% will jump ship even before that. 

Moreover, 94% have taken action against unwanted marketing communications, marking them as spam or junk (72%) and using anti-spam tools (53%). Of those who have unsubscribed, 36% say they never subscribed to begin with.

And 48% of U.S. consumers say that over half the emails they get are unwelcome, irrelevant or too commercialized. For 21%, the total is 75% or more.

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“The volume of marketing content has reached a tipping point for many U.S. consumers,” said David Jani, a marketing analyst at GetApp. “Brands need to strike a better balance between driving campaign performance and respecting their customers."

Privacy is another matter: 60% of the respondents will not share data to receive targeted ads. And 52% believe it’s tough preventing marketers from using their personal information. and 60% are unwilling to share their data in exchange for targeted ads.

What will drive them to opt in to online activity tracking? They cite:

  • Rewards (e.g., discounts, loyalty points) — 60%
  • Free trial subscriptions — 42%
  • Access to exclusive or premium content — 30%
  • Personalized messages or communications — 22%
  • None of the above — 20%

GetApp surveyed 5,996 respondents in the U.S. (496), Canada (500), India (500), Brazil (500), Mexico (500), the U.K. (500), France (500), Italy (500), Germany (500), Spain (500), Australia (500), and Japan (500) in July 2024. 

 

 

2 comments about "Bowing Out: Consumers Are Quick To Unsubscribe From Emails".
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  1. Douglas Montgomery from Global Connects, October 8, 2024 at 7:26 p.m.

    is there a way to limit MediaPost to one email per day? I am thinking of bowing out of this one as I get by far the most spam from you guys

  2. Kenneth Fadner from MediaPost replied, October 10, 2024 at 7:50 a.m.

    Mr. Montgomery-
    Sorry to see that you call our email newsletters about media and marketing "spam." You should certainly opt-out of the ones that are not of interest. If you need help doing so, let me know.
    -Ken Fadner, Publisher, MediaPost

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