The Ultimate Guide to Millennials Email Marketing

Millennials’ email marketing stats and useful data

Email marketing for Millennials is both an art and a science. The generation born between 1981 and 1996 grew up and matured along with the Internet, so they are experts at filtering genuine content from online noise. For them, authenticity and personalized experiences are everything, and that includes their inboxes. 

In the age of economic uncertainty, Millennials are re-evaluating their financial priorities, with many living paycheck to paycheck. Despite this, this demographic group is leading the charge in online consumption. Email marketing remains a valuable tool for engagement, with 79% of Millennials prefer being contacted by brands via email and  40% likely to be influenced by a brand’s newsletter. Thoughtful, data-driven email strategies have never been more important. 

To connect with this generation, marketers must leverage smart cold emails and other types of emails with clever subject lines resonating with Millennials’ values and beliefs. Social media platforms and customer loyalty programs offer additional ways to engage Millennials and build brand loyalty.

With this generation, audience segmentation and personalized email content are critical. These strategies not only capture Millennial’s attention but also encourage them to support brands they love. So marketers looking to master Millennial email marketing should understand these nuances and integrate them into their campaigns.

Tips on creating email marketing campaigns for Millennials

Millennials are the first generation to embrace technology, yet not born with smartphones in their cribs like their younger counterparts, Gen Z and Alpha. They value being genuine and want more than just typical advertising. They look for real connections, purpose, and brands that reflect their own beliefs. Are you about to email Millennials? Ready for the secret sauce to messages that actually get read? Here’s how you do it.

Keep it short and sweet

Millennials, bombarded with digital content daily, prioritize brevity and substance. When crafting emails, think of delivering value-packed messages in a concise format. This approach caters to the Millennial preference for quick, digestible content, ensuring your message isn’t just seen but absorbed.

Here’s an, although exaggerated, example of a concise Black Friday email Millennials may love. Its subject line says “all sauces are $6.90 each today”, and the email itself only offers two lines of copy and a button that redirects to the online store. Maybe not all your emails for Millennials should look exactly like this, however, it’s still a nice example on how to respect your subscribers’ time in the world of cluttered inboxes.

Use engaging subject lines

The subject line is email’s everything. Your Millennial audience wants something engaging, clever, humorous, and intriguing. While for you it’s about open rates, for them it’s about the brand vibe. The best strategy here is sparking curiosity and creating emotional ties. 

This example from the cereal brand Surreal shows how you can tell your subscribers about discounts without boring “20% off everything” subject lines. The email subject line reads “Monday is canceled”  — while intriguing by itself, it also plays on Millennial nostalgia. Everyone wants their “school is canceled today” excitement back. Once you open it, you realize this email is promoting a Black Friday sale (that starts on a Monday).

Personalize your emails

At the core of effective Millennial outreach is personalization. Millennials value genuine connections that are tailored to their interests. This is supported by the data: according to McKinsey, brands that excel in personalization see substantial growth, with a 40% higher revenue impact compared to peers.

There are many email personalization techniques to try out. These include tricks as simple as addressing your subscribers by their first names and as complex as leveraging your customers’ browsing data for dynamic content. One of the ways to make your messages more valuable is offering personalized recommendations of products and services.

 Here’s a great example from AllTrails. In this email, subscribers can find hiking routes near them.

Use visuals

Visuals, especially videos, offer an engaging way to communicate your message and stand out in a crowded inbox. Again, there is data to prove it. In HubSpot’s State of Marketing 2023 report, marketers named video as the most popular media format for the fourth consecutive year. More so, 25% of them identified videos as having the highest ROI. 

Integrating eye-catching images, infographics, and especially videos into your emails can significantly improve the user experience and make your message more memorable. In fact, 93% of Millennials are more likely to purchase a product if it has reviews that include photos and videos in addition to text. So, if you haven’t learned how to embed a video in an email yet, it’s about time to do so!

Here’s an example of an email newsletter with an eye-catching visual appealing to any nature-lover.

Make it mobile-friendly

Did you know that 61% of all people primarily check their email on their phones? Millennials, unsurprisingly, value the convenience and speed of mobile communication. So optimizing your email campaigns for mobile devices is no longer optional — it’s essential. Your emails should look great and function flawlessly on smaller screens. 

To improve the mobile experience you should keep in mind various elements, such as responsive design, concise content, and easily clickable links and buttons. This way, regardless of where or how your audience chooses to read them, you catered to the mobile-first habits of Millennials and other smartphone users in your contact list.

Provide value

Millennials, despite being the first digitally native generation, often find a disconnect between digital convenience and the authenticity of old-school relationships. So when crafting emails for this age group, the key is to deliver content that’s more than just a sales pitch. 

Your content should bring them value, help solve a problem they are facing, or — preferably — both. Think of it as an exchange — your insights for their attention. Those insights can be expert tips, educational content, early access, or participation in product trials. 

Here’s an example from Glassdoor. Many of us, especially if we are subscribed to a newsletter of a job search website, wouldn’t mind building a personal brand. After all, it’s a big step towards a dream job or a cool freelance gig.

Use social proof

Trust is a huge factor in any relationship, including the one between your brand and your audience. For Millennials, seeing is believing. That’s where social proof comes in — in the form of user-generated content. Save user reviews or ask for testimonials. When incorporated into your emails, these can significantly boost credibility.

For instance, this email uses pictures of real clients. While it doesn’t show “before and after,” which is often a no-no in promoting any white-hat weight-loss products, it still shows that the company’s clients are real people. They look like they are in a healthy weight, and they seem genuinely happy.

Think about collaboration with influencers as well. According to GWI, 80% of Millennials trust them, just a notch below Gen Z. In return, you might gain strong brand loyalty and fierce advocacy. Whether it’s a shoutout from a satisfied customer or a post from an influencer, showcasing these endorsements can make Millennials more likely to trust and engage with your brand.

Be authentic

Millennials want to hear the brands’ true voice and story. So share behind-the-scenes glimpses, real stories from people behind your product, and your mission. Another tip: never hesitate to take a stand. Perfect example here is “Cards Againts Humanity”: their marketing strategy suggests that emails should be like a rare treat. Offering $100 for a vote or a 200% off sale? That’s what correlates with their values, sense of humor, and those of their customers.

Authenticity fosters trust, and trust builds loyalty. In crafting your emails, let your brand’s personality shine through every word and image. This genuine approach will resonate well with Millennials, who are keen to support brands that aren’t afraid to be themselves.

For example, this email from Loog doesn’t cover the fact that it’s a small business — they’re not afraid to say that one of their products was crowdfunded.

Segment your audience

One size doesn’t fit all, especially when it comes to brands engaging Millennials. Email marketing thrives on relevance, and that’s where segmentation plays a pivotal role. By dividing your audience into smaller, targeted groups — perhaps based on interests, past purchases, or how they’ve interacted with your site — you can tailor your messages to speak directly to different segments. 

Let’s say you run a marketing-related newsletter. An email about the latest marketing trends might appeal to one group, while tips on how to get email addresses from Instagram followers might captivate another. A quality email service provider brings sophisticated segmentation with it, so your message hits home every time.

There are many email segmentation ideas for brands to try out — one of them is location-based segmentation. For example, in this email campaign, Resy offers pastime ideas for those living in Chicago.

Encourage interaction

Encouraging interaction in your emails transforms passive readers into active participants. Ask their opinion on a new product, encourage them to share their thoughts on social media or submit their creations. In other words, show them that they are seen and heard — it helps build an emotional connection with your brand. 

Community building might be a complex and time consuming task, so one might try easier ways. For example, interactive elements like polls, surveys, clickable videos, and digital content. All of them will help you connect with Millennials. 

Let’s look at this Halloween-themed newsletter. It encourages users to interact with the text by using their favorite monster.

Final thoughts

For Millennials, it’s all about the feeling. In Millennial email marketing, authenticity rules: this audience can spot insincerity a mile away, so keep it real in every message. Make your emails more personal — like you’re speaking directly to them — and mobile-friendly, since they live on their phones. Experiment, engage, add some nostalgia! And then watch as your emails for Millennials reach not only their inboxes but also their hearts.