SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — September 16, 2009
Millennials, a term used to describe 18-25 year olds, around the globe are receptive to digital marketing messages, according to Epsilon’s Global Consumer Email Study. The research shows that millennials in Australia and globally are wired and willing to receive commercial email messages; however they are also more wary and concerned with security and identity theft.

Compared to other age groups, millennials are more likely to use tools such as instant messaging (IM), social networking and text/SMS messages as their primary tool for personal online communications. The survey highlights that usage of these communication tools is quite evenly dispersed amongst the 18-25 year olds in Australia. One-third of the millennials that responded cited instant messaging (IM) as their primary device (33%), whereas 25% chose both email and social networks, and 17% cited text/SMS. The reported use of IM in other age groups in Australia is much less significant. The use of mobile devices to access emails is low across all age segments in Australia, which is likely the result of the both high data communication costs and a poor wireless infrastructure when compared to other countries in the Asia Pacific region.

In addition, Australian millennials are also more receptive to emails containing offline specials, such as special offers from catalogue companies (58%) and those from traditional (offline) retailers (50%), when communications are kept on a weekly interval. More so than their elders, they are interested in receiving many different kinds of information on a weekly basis, including entertainment (66.7%), work-related news (50%), beauty advice (41.7%), account statement (41.7%) and electronics (33.3%).

Millennials in Australia are also more predisposed to unsubscribe than their elders, in contrast to North America and the rest of Asia Pacific. The study also reveals that millenials’ intolerance to over-emailing, irrelevant content and unsolicited emails is not only greater than the other age segments, but a higher percentage will also use the report spam button to unsubscribe from irrelevant emails including those that are not written in their native language.

“This global research highlights that marketers anywhere in the world should focus on segmentation strategies that address the needs of the age groups within their customer base,” said Dominic Powers, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific at Epsilon International. “The needs and desires of these groups are clear, and we regularly see that a targeted approach based on age segmentation can drive significant improvements in campaign performance.”

“The research also shows that it is very important for marketers to understand where their customers and prospects are in the customer lifecycle so that they continue to deliver content and offers of value. A product or service a consumer wanted three or six months ago is likely not relevant now.”

The survey also found that Australian millennials are – as expected - savvy online users and bargain shoppers, demanding personalisation and filtering emails from the names of familiar brands or companies. Unlike their elders, they are more compelled to what is in the subject line than the from-line in emails. They are particularly responsive to subject lines that contain discount offers and familiar brands or companies. Emails containing relevant content addressing their needs at the time (83%) and interests (67%) with products or services from familiar and trusted brands will strongly or somewhat increase their likeliness to respond. Offers not being attractive and competitive enough are a key barrier that will prevent millennials from interacting with emails.

The Australian millennials are very wary of all types of threats related to their use of email and the Internet, with identity theft and spyware being their two biggest concerns. Marketers need to be respectful of the concerns amongst this group as they use a wide range of tools to prevent spam and indicated a greater tendency of using the report spam button than other age segments.

According to Powers, “This consumer group has a growing disposable income – one that is far greater than previous generations. As they advance in their careers, their purchasing power will only increase. They are a smart and switched on segment whose attention spans are stretched; they are also more predisposed to making decisions in networks. It is important therefore to ensure that communications are driven by just-in time life cycle marketing to maximise conversion opportunities in addition to word-of-mouth and network promotion of offers or brands.”

Epsilon provides comprehensive multichannel marketing services to some of the most-recognised brands in the world. Its Global Consumer Email Study is based on an April 2009 survey of over 4000 consumers in the US, Canada, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, India, Malaysia, Japan, the UK, France, Germany and Spain. The survey, conducted by ROI Research, of Lancaster, PA, explored email practices in various parts of the world. The study builds on similar research conducted in the US from 2002-2005 and APAC in 2008. Additional in-depth information about the Global Consumer Email Study can be found at www.epsilon.com/globalemailstudy.

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