Email Still Preferred Channel For Consumers, But Marketers Must Watch For This One Pitfall

With all the top-of-the-year budget talk about prioritizing tech — specifically automation and personalization — it’s important to remember why those aspects of email marketing are so vital.

Because consumers prefer email.

The 2025 Optimove Insights Consumer Marketing Fatigue Report surveyed more than 300 consumers and found that 59% prefer email over other channels for receiving messages from brands.

“When shopping online, 48% notice email over other channels,” Optimove’s report says, “nearly double the attention paid to social media ads.”

(Source: Optimove)

The delicate balancing act, of course, comes in how quickly that devotion can turn. More than a third (37%) said email was the most annoying channel when “receiving a lot of marketing messages,” followed by text (25%) and social media ads (14%). More than half (57%) have gone so far to switch to a competitor, even multiple times, after being “bombarded” with marketing.

“70% have recently unsubscribed from at least 3 brands due to too many messages or offers,” the report says, “and … 36% from at least 6 brands.”

Hence, the importance of personalization, which 63% of consumers said is important because it lets them know the brand knows who they are.

“Personalization is more crucial than ever,” the report says. “81% of respondents will open an email that is tailored to them, whether it’s personalized beyond their first name (at 47%) or relevant to a product they’re interested in (34%).”

For more information about how to improve your email deliverability, download A Beginner’s Guide to Email Marketing by Mirabel’s Marketing Manager: