It may not come as a huge surprise, but more young millenials say the new Gmail tabs make inbox management easier than their more change-resistant elders, which in this case is anyone over the age of 24.
According to a new study by marketing software firm StrongView (formerly StrongMail), half of young millenials (users aged 18 to 24) report the tab filtering makes it easier to manage their inboxes, versus just one-third of the rest of the surveyed population.
Shawn Myers, VP of marketing at StrongView, said in a statement accompanying the survey results, “As the younger demographic changes how they interact with incoming messages, they provide insight into how most consumers will eventually interact with email marketing content going forward. Marketers need to take these changes into consideration when planning their campaigns, not just for Gmail users, but also for all consumers as their behaviors change across email platforms and other media.”
Most email industry experts caution marketers not to panic about to the fact that Google now filters marketing emails under the new Promotions tab. With some 126 million Gmail users in the US, the change is one of the biggest to hit the industry in recent memory.
In good news, in the StrongView survey, 100 percent of the new millenials said the new Gmail interface hasn’t caused them to lose email from favorite brands. That compares to a still-solid 87 percent of the general population.
For marketers promoting time-sensitive offers, however, consider this: While just over one-third of Gmail users check their email at least once a day, 50 percent of young millenials check the Gmail Promotions tab less than once a week. Overall, 46 of users check the Promotions tab less than once a week.
It may be that the younger set is more likely to move emails from their “favorite brands” from Promotions to the Primary tab, though it’s not made clear from the survey data.
In a dynamic that’s sure to continue to shift, 35 percent of all users primarily access Gmail on a smart phone versus 59 percent via desktop.
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