Only 64% of ANZ consumers opt into emails, the lowest globally, as 41% of marketers cite sign-up completion as their biggest challenge
What’s happening: New research from Intuit Mailchimp reveals a striking gap between what brands ask for and what consumers willingly provide, particularly around phone number collection where demand outpaces consent by more than two to one.
Why this matters: More than four in ten Australian marketers cite getting visitors to complete sign-ups as their top challenge, the highest rate among all countries surveyed.
Australian and New Zealand consumers are proving to be the world’s toughest audience for marketers trying to build email and SMS lists, according to new research revealing significant gaps between business practices and customer preferences.
Only 64% of ANZ consumers have opted into marketing emails and 50% to text messages, the lowest rates among countries surveyed in Intuit Mailchimp’s new report, The Art of the Opt-In: Why List Building is Only the Beginning. The research, developed with Ascend2, includes findings from 1,489 consumers and 249 marketing professionals across Australia and New Zealand.
Selective subscribers
The selective nature of ANZ consumers creates particular challenges for businesses. More than four in ten marketers (41%) cite getting visitors to complete sign-ups as a top opt-in challenge, higher than in any other market surveyed.
“The opt-in moment is a meaningful one: consumers are inviting brands to enter their world,” said Anthony Capano, Regional Director, APAC at Intuit Mailchimp. “Shoppers in Australia and New Zealand are thoughtful about that choice. As inboxes and message threads get noisier, this research is an important reminder that timing, value, and transparency are key to building and maintaining consumer relationships.”
Less than half of Australians (42%) are familiar with AI-enhanced scams, yet campaigns sent in Australia had the highest open rate at 47.69%, according to separate email benchmark data from MailerLite.
Trust threshold crossed
The research exposes a critical mismatch in data collection practices. Sixty-five per cent of brands ask for a phone number in their popup forms, but only 28% of consumers are willing to hand it over, suggesting that brands are overstepping consumer trust thresholds by asking for high-friction data too early.
“Most opt-ins come up short because they’re created only thinking about what the business needs, not what the customer actually wants,” said Matt Cimino, Product Manager at Intuit Mailchimp.
Trust varies sharply by age. Thirty-nine per cent of Gen Z assume brands will follow privacy laws, a figure that plummets to just 19% among Baby Boomers. For Gen Z, trust is visual and immediate, with 43% saying a clean, simple design makes them feel more comfortable completing an opt-in form, compared with 29% of Boomers.
Meanwhile, most consumers have noticed an uptick in marketing emails and texts, but only 40% say they are paying more attention, and about a quarter admit they are tuning out these channels more than they did a year ago.
High-intent moments
The data suggests successful brands focus on timing rather than frequency. Consumers are much more likely to opt in after browsing (50%) or during checkout (39%), yet many businesses deploy generic popups without considering customer intent.
Those who stay subscribed say they want content that actually adds value (56%) and messages at a frequency that doesn’t feel like spam (40%).
Express consent remains the gold standard under Australian privacy law. Double opt-in is now considered best practice, according to legal guidance from Sprintlaw, as it provides the strongest evidence of consent and typically delivers higher engagement metrics.
Email marketing remains one of the most cost-effective channels for Australian businesses. Email marketing delivers an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent, according to industry benchmarks, whilst email users worldwide are projected to reach 4.89 billion by 2027.
Automation advantage
The research highlights a significant performance gap between automated and manual approaches. Brands that consider their contact list quality to be best in class are three times more likely than others to have full automation across their email and SMS marketing.
However, only 21% of brands have fully automated their email and text campaigns, and only a third feel very confident that they can track which channels drive sign-ups.
List Quality Leaders are more likely to leverage welcome series (64% versus 53% of all others) and cross-sell or upsell flows (45% versus 36%). They’re also significantly more likely to report high value from nearly every channel, including organic social (62% versus 43%) and paid social (56% versus 40%).
“This research reinforces what marketers are feeling every day: relevance comes from clarity, not volume,” said Diana Williams, Vice President of Product, Intuit Mailchimp. “When data is fragmented, even the best intentions fall short. Our focus is removing that friction by bringing behaviour signals, automations, and omnichannel insights together so marketers can confidently turn every interaction into a chance to build trust and long-term growth.”
Marketers struggle less with access to data than with turning it into value. Only 30% use preference or frequency data and just 29% use browsing behaviour, despite these being among the strongest drivers of relevance.
For Australian businesses navigating these challenges, compliance with the Spam Act 2003 remains non-negotiable. Every marketing email must clearly identify the sender, include a functional unsubscribe option, and be processed within five business days of any opt-out request.
Download The Art of the Opt-In: Why List Building is Only the Beginning to learn more.
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