Email vs. SMS vs. social: which channels consumers prefer for hearing from brands

Email is the channel consumers most prefer for hearing from brands, chosen by 82%, followed by SMS at 64%, according to The Customer Marketing Gap, a 2026 report from Wunderkind and Cordial, an agentic messaging platform with an embedded CDP for enterprise retail brands. Marketers underestimate SMS and overestimate social media, where 74% of marketers think consumers want to hear from brands, compared with 39% of consumers.

Which communication channels do consumers prefer?

Email leads, and it leads with every generation in the study. Once consumers have chosen to hear from a brand, 82% prefer email, 64% prefer SMS and 53% prefer mobile app notifications.

Email, SMS, and mobile app notifications are direct, permission-based channels. The consumer opted in, and the brand owns the relationship rather than renting reach from a platform.

Marketers mostly recognize email’s strength. According to The Customer Marketing Gap, 73% of marketers believe consumers want brands to use email, a 9-point gap from the 82% of consumers who said the same.

Is SMS marketing underrated?

According to The Customer Marketing Gap, yes. 64% of consumers want brands to use SMS, but only 47% of marketers believe consumers want it. That’s a 17-point gap.

Text works well for timely, high-value moments: a price drop, a back-in-stock alert, a shipping update or a cart reminder. The report points to an opportunity to give SMS a bigger role in exactly those moments.

The key is restraint. SMS is personal, so messages should be useful and well timed rather than frequent.

Do consumers want to hear from brands on social media?

Fewer than marketers think. Social media shows the largest channel gap in the report: 74% of marketers believe consumers want brands to communicate on social, compared with 39% of consumers. That’s a 35-point difference.

The Customer Marketing Gap also found marketers overestimate mobile app notifications, at 70% compared with 53% of consumers.

Social still has a role, especially for discovery and younger audiences. The data suggests it works best as part of a coordinated mix, not as a substitute for channels consumers have actively chosen.

How do channel preferences change by generation?

The biggest generational shift is on social. According to The Customer Marketing Gap, preference for hearing from brands on social media rises from 19% among Boomers to 53% among Gen Z.

Even so, email remains the top channel across every generation. Younger consumers are adding social to the mix, not replacing direct channels with it.

Because email stays the top channel even as younger consumers add social, brands should build the foundation on email and SMS, then layer social and app experiences based on the audience and what each person engages with.

How to apply this

• Review your channel budget against consumer preference, not assumptions. If social gets more investment than SMS, revisit that.
• Grow SMS opt-ins and use text for time-sensitive, high-value messages.
• Coordinate email and SMS so a shopper doesn’t get the same message twice on two channels.
• Let engagement signals decide the channel for each person, instead of sending everything everywhere.
• Test social and app touchpoints with younger segments, where preference is higher.

Coordination is the hard part. Cordial, an agentic messaging platform with an embedded CDP, decides which channel to use for each person based on their behavior and preferences. Paired with Wunderkind’s identity resolution, brands can reach more of their shoppers on the channels those shoppers chose.

Frequently asked questions

Is email marketing still effective?

Yes. Email is consumers’ most preferred channel for hearing from brands at 82%, and it ranks first across every generation in the Wunderkind and Cordial research.

How should brands balance email and SMS?

Use email as the foundation for regular communication and SMS for timely, high-value moments, such as price drops, back-in-stock alerts and order updates. Coordinate both from the same customer data.

Do Gen Z consumers prefer social media over email?

No. Gen Z is more open to hearing from brands on social (53%, per The Customer Marketing Gap) than older generations, but email is still the leading channel for every age group in the study.

What is a permission-based channel?

A permission-based channel is one where the consumer has opted in to hear from a brand, like email or SMS. The brand owns that relationship directly.

Get the full report

The Customer Marketing Gap includes the full channel data by generation, plus what consumers expect from brand messages, trust and AI. Download the report.