- Tension: Marketers assume consumers are fatigued by email, yet data shows many actually want more brand communication—when it’s done right.
- Noise: Conventional wisdom warns of overcrowded inboxes and declining open rates, but oversimplifies how audiences truly engage with email.
- Direct Message: Email still works—not because it’s convenient for marketers, but because consumers have formed patterns around brands they trust, and those patterns are stronger than we think.
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology.
There’s a moment in every marketing strategy session when someone nervously asks: “Are we sending too many emails?”
It’s understandable. The internet is filled with warnings about email fatigue. Your own inbox is probably overflowing. And in an era of TikTok, Discord, and AI chat, email can feel like a relic of the Web 1.0 era. But the latest consumer behavior data points to something more surprising: many people want brand emails—often more than marketers think.
During my time working with tech brands in California, I noticed a pattern. The teams most worried about email engagement were often the ones sending the least thoughtful messages. Meanwhile, brands that invested in email storytelling, user segmentation, and timing saw sustained performance—even as channels around them shifted.
The problem isn’t volume. It’s value.
When done well, email isn’t a spam machine—it’s a trust engine.
The gap between assumption and behavior
According to the 2023 Square Future of Commerce report, nearly 60% of consumers say they enjoy receiving emails from brands they care about—especially when those emails include relevant offers, timely content, or personalized updates. That’s not indifference. That’s active approval.
However, nearly two-thirds of teams planned to reduce email output in the coming year due to “channel fatigue concerns.”
This is the expectation-reality gap. Consumers have formed habits around inbox content—they check email during commutes, over coffee, while multitasking at work. They subscribe to newsletters on purpose. They open emails when the brand voice feels familiar. They even—shockingly—look forward to some of them.
But marketers assume they’re unwelcome. So they back off, or worse, resort to generic blasts that train readers to ignore them.
Why conventional wisdom gets email wrong
Much of the anxiety around email marketing is fueled by outdated or oversimplified thinking.
Here are a few myths we hear often—and why they don’t hold up under scrutiny:
Myth 1: “People don’t read marketing emails anymore.”
Truth: They don’t read bad marketing emails. But click-through rates on well-targeted email campaigns remain strong.
In fact, Litmus reports that email marketing returns $36 for every $1 spent—still outperforming paid search and social media in ROI.
Myth 2: “Email is too crowded to stand out.”
Truth: The inbox is crowdedn— but that makes strong content more valuable. Most consumers don’t mind promotional emails from brands they trust.
What they do mind is repetition, lack of personalization, or confusing UX (looking at you, 14 CTAs in one newsletter).
Myth 3: “Email is being replaced by SMS, push, and chat.”
Truth: Those channels are additive — not replacements. Email remains the default archive of intent for most consumers: receipts, schedules, loyalty rewards, and big updates still flow through the inbox.
Direct Message
Email still works—not because it’s convenient for marketers, but because consumers have formed patterns around brands they trust, and those patterns are stronger than we think.
Why email still works in 2024
Let’s be clear: this doesn’t mean blasting five emails a day is the way forward. What it means is that email remains a channel of high potential, especially when brands follow universal patterns that shape behavior.
The challenge isn’t frequency—it’s familiarity. When you show up with consistency and value, email becomes a trusted habit, not an annoyance.
Here’s what those patterns look like today:
1. Predictability builds permission
The most successful email programs aren’t surprises. They’re habits. Weekly drops, Thursday promos, Sunday reads—whatever the cadence, what matters is consistency. Consumers mentally file you alongside other content they trust. Break that rhythm, and you lose momentum.
Case in point: Retailers like Huckberry and Glossier have built loyal email audiences because subscribers know what to expect—curated, clear, and on time.
2. Segmentation drives satisfaction
Your customers aren’t all the same. And they shouldn’t receive the same message. Brands with high open rates tend to segment by behavior, geography, and product interest—often letting subscribers choose what they want.
Example: Spotify doesn’t send every user every update. It sends recaps based on listening behavior, playlists based on mood, and targeted nudges to premium users. It feels tailored because it is.
3. Personality > polish
Your email doesn’t have to look like a magazine. In fact, plain-text emails from real team members often outperform HTML-heavy campaigns. What matters more is tone: are you writing like a person, or like a press release?
Insight: DTC brands like Athletic Greens or Liquid Death often drop into the inbox with offbeat humor, conversational phrasing, or storytelling that surprises. People open because they’re entertained — not just informed.
4. Clear value in every send
The consumer mindset is simple: “What’s in it for me?” That could mean a discount, a behind-the-scenes look, a helpful guide, or a quick laugh. But if an email shows up with no obvious benefit, it becomes clutter.
Best practice: Make the value skimmable. Use headers, bolding, and smart layouts to highlight what matters. Assume your reader is multitasking.
How to think beyond the inbox
Email doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Consumers don’t just interact with one channel—they move between touchpoints. The best marketers build email programs that connect across these moments.
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Sync email with on-site behavior: Retarget visitors who abandoned carts or viewed specific content with timely nudges.
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Use email to test tone: A/B test subject lines, copy formats, and voice to learn what resonates—and apply those insights across ads, landing pages, and SMS.
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Bridge loyalty and lifecycle: Email is a natural space for onboarding, milestone rewards, and “we miss you” reactivations.
Done right, your email program becomes a living lab—a place to refine messaging, personalize journeys, and convert interest into action.
What to do next
If you’re wondering whether to scale back your email strategy, start by asking better questions:
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Are you segmenting your lists based on real behavior?
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Are you delivering something useful, interesting, or emotional in every send?
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Are you learning from your campaigns—or just launching and forgetting?
Your answers will tell you if your issue is too many emails—or too little relevance.
Because, for all the talk about TikTok, push alerts, and AI, email remains the one place your audience chose to hear from you. It’s not dying. It’s just evolving. And if you evolve with it, your email strategy won’t just survive — it’ll thrive.
