• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, March 19, 2025

Consumers like to hear from brands — if they are getting something in return for opening emails, and if they’re not annoyed by the message.  

When asked what prompts them to check their emails, 41% cited brand discounts, according to a study by ZeroBounce. 

That’s the second choice, tied with emails from family and friends. But work emails come first — for 79%.  And 30% check their emails to access newsletters.  

Rest assured, they are looking for your email: 93% check their email every day. And 88% use email every day. And for that purpose, 53% have three email addresses, 32% use two and only 10% maintain one. 

The preferred device? For 64% it is mobile and for 36% it's desktop. 

As for creative, 67% prefer short emails — the shorter the better. Another 27% say it doesn’t matter, and 6% enjoy longer emails.  

What makes them open a brand email? They say it is relevance (46%) and subject line (43%). Another 21% open all their emails and 14% have a fear of missing out. Only 7% list “other.” 

What would make them unsubscribe from an email list? The answers are: 

• The sender emails me too much — 43% 
• The sender never asked permission — 18% 
• The content is no longer relevant to me — 17%
• Not what I was expecting — 6%
• Other — 2%

And what would make them mark an email as spam? They say:

• The email looks like spam — 80%
• They didn’t ask permission to email me — 55%
• The email doesn’t have an unsubscribe link — 47%
• Other — 6%

That said, 76% routinely check their spam folders, with 38% doing so every week. That’s more than the number who check their promotions tab — 34% sometimes look at it, and 25% never do. But 20% do check and 21% don’t have one.

It's not hard to see why 35% spend five hours a day managing emails.

“Email is a powerhouse — both in the workplace and in marketing," concludes Liviu Tanase, founder and CEO of ZeroBounce. "While social media algorithms change and digital ads fight for attention, email remains a direct, reliable channel for brands to connect with consumers.”

This study is a February 2025 update of a survey initially run in 2023. There were 985 respondents.