Email is still the leading customer acquisition channel for most brands, according to a 2017 study. Brands with at least 100,000 customers said they opened email messages in their inbox before any other type of marketing message. And in a recent survey by Microsoft and Harris Poll of people who bought a product online in the last six months, 74 percent reported that emails from retailers influenced their purchase decisions.
Of course there's good reason for that: People spend an average of 24 hours per week -- 33 percent of their lives -- checking email on their phones, laptops and tablet devices. That means they're likely checking it while watching TV or reading the newspaper -- behaviors marketers have been eager to capitalize on for years with targeted ads served.