The 2024 Spam Report: The State of Unwanted Marketing (email, social, text, AI)

Spam marketing is any unwanted, unsolicited message that appears in any marketing channel.

That includes email, social media, text messages, phone calls and direct mail. The recipient did not request them and perceives them as having extremely low value. These messages are mostly advertising, bots, phishing and other scams.

This is the problem with spam: you gave no permission, implicit or explicit.
Spam is everywhere, in every channel. You have very few ways to stop it.

To measure the size of the spam problem for each channel, we collaborate with QuestionPro on an annual survey of 1000+ people from a general population sample in the US. We will look at the spam trends and ask:

• Which social networks have the most spam?
• How do most people respond to spam?
• How much text spam are we getting?
• What percentage of our calls are cold calls?
• Is spam getting worse?
• Are we seeing AI-generated spam?

Here are some notable results…

1. Email spam

Email spam, AKA junk email, is unsolicited commercial email. This includes those “Thank you for your (very expensive) purchase! Here is your (fabricated) receipt!” fake invoice scams and “Click here to reveal the secret to business success (paying us lots of money)!” emails.

According to DataProt, nearly 56.5% of all emails were spam in 2022. Luckily, not all of these make it past email spam filters, but the majority of our survey respondents still report that over a third of their email messages are spam.

If survey respondents report less email spam than the email industry reports, maybe our spam filters are working. Let’s take a look:

63% of people use a spam filter

A lot of our respondents (54%) use the spam folder filter built-in to their email. Others use free spam filters (7%) or pay for a filter (2%).

But, of course, a lot of junk mail still gets through. So how are email users responding?

• 50% delete spam and phishing emails
• 28% mark as spam
• 12% block or report
• 8% unsubscribe

Reporting spam email is how we can all join the battle against spammers. Reporting both improves your own filter and makes life harder for spammers. A bad report affects the reputation of the servers used to send marketing and phishing emails.

Read through these email engagement tips to improve your email marketing strategy!

2. Social media spam

Although the term spam was originally used for email, it is everywhere. Of course, social media is a popular platform for spammers and a battleground for marketers, good and bad.

Meta properties are the spammiest, and Twitter/X has overtaken Snapchat for spam

Users report seeing more spam on Facebook and Instagram than other social media platforms, with TikTok, Twitter/X and Snapchat following behind.

Meta properties have the biggest spam problems. They slightly improved in 2023, but have risen back to 2022 levels, and are still way ahead of other platforms.

Meanwhile, respondents on LinkedIn are far less likely to report seeing spam. Perhaps because LinkedIn users are also less likely to be anonymous on LinkedIn, and therefore more likely to be concerned with their own reputation.

3. Spam comments and DMs

Spammers are notorious for leaving self-promotional content in social media comments and direct messages.

• 31% of our respondents see spam comments every day.
• 66% of our respondents report seeing spam comments regularly.
• 29% of our respondents recieve spam DMs at least once a week.

In response to these comments and messages, 58% of respondents simply ignore, and 36% block or report the spam account.

4. Text message and phone spam

Cold calls from telemarketers are part of daily life for many of us. 85% of our respondents reported getting telemarketing calls. Nearly 32% of people get telemarketing or scam calls every single day.

Many of us have become so accustomed to spam calls, we rarely answer unknown numbers anymore. 83% of respondents state that they are alerted of incoming spam calls, either through a service or a feature on their phone. Hopefully, this is cutting back on the amount of spam calls users actually receive but of course, spam has also come to text messages.

Text messaging, also known as SMS (short messaging service), is a standard messaging protocol built into all of our phones. It’s actually the most popular feature of our phones, used by 80% of phone subscribers in the US. So we’ve all got it. And for most of us, the spammers have our numbers.

So here’s the status of the text messaging spam problem in recent years.

• 83% of respondents receive spam text messages.
• 24% of respondents receive spam texts every day.
• Respondents are receiving fewer crypto scam texts, but more classic spam texts and phishing scams.

5. The role of AI in spam

AI-generated content is regularly being used and shared across a range of channels. We see this in poorly written blog content, paid advertisements and even social media comment sections. Here is an example of (very likely) AI-generated comment spam I shared in my recent webinar, AI for B2B Social Media. 

86% of respondents believe that AI generates some spam messages are generated by AI.

As we continue to utilize artificial intelligence, I imagine we will see even more examples of AI-generated spam and content flooding our social media, email, and text messages.

6. Is spam getting worse?

So, what does all of this data tell us about the volume and frequency of spam? Is it getting worse, better or staying the same?

Comparing survey results from 2022, 2023 and 2024, there isn’t much of a difference in the volume or frequency of spam.

In general, respondents have seen about the same amount of spam on their email, social media, and phone inboxes.  What does seem to be changing is the way we are interacting with spam:

• More users are marking emails as spam in 2024 than in the previous two years.
• More users are blocking and reporting social media spam in 2024.
• More users are blocking spam callers.
• Fewer users reported buying a product or service from a spam message in 2024.

Unfortunately, we can’t expect spam to ever stop appearing, but there are some ways we can fight back to improve our own experiences and make life harder for spammers:

• Add your phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry: www.donotcall.gov.
• Block unknown senders and callers in your phone settings
• Block, report and filter through spam emails, calls, comments and texts.
• Report and block spam accounts on social media
• Call out spammy AI-generated comments and content

Tips for legitimate marketers

Spam is not an inefficient, helpful or ethical way to get your name out there. To ensure you are reaching a wide audience, I’d recommend coming up with your own unique, personalized and valuable marketing strategy.

We reached out to a few marketing experts for their advice on ethical marketing, as well as a cognitive neuroscientist, Carmen Simon, to learn how to increase your audience’s desire for your marketing messages:

Carmen Simon, Chief Science Officer, Corporate Visions “In this context, we are defining spam as unwanted, unsolicited marketing. What does the brain need to turn something from unwanted to wanted and from unsolicited to solicited? Let’s start with the notion of unwanted. One of the newer findings in neuroscience is the fact that wanting and liking are processed differently in the brain. People often use those terms interchangeably but they are different. It’s possible to like something but not want it and vice versa. This is important to note because it may ease some pressure off marketers: your customers do not always have to like what you send them (it’s nice when they do). They just have to want it. So, what triggers wanting? Reward-related cues (think about the smell of someone barbecuing chicken when you’re hungry) or vivid imagery about the reward (think about an ad with steaming chicken, when you can sense the texture of the skin and can see the steam flowing away). In light of this information, any marketer that creates messages and campaigns can ask these questions: Is the information I am sharing connected to a cue that triggers something rewarding? Are the words and/or pictures I am using vivid enough to appeal to the senses? Now, let’s consider the other keyword: unsolicited. I imagine that one of the marketers’ ideals would be a state where people solicit information. What triggers that from a brain science perspective? There are many things that prompt us to ask for information, but one is the desire to use  innovative tools that promise a reward. Some examples of reward include the promise of convenience, fun, discovery, getting the absolute best in a context, or time savings. So, look critically at your own content or products or services and ask: how innovative are the things I am offering? Do they respond to these motivational drivers? Do they have so much strength that people want to find out details? The more you study consumer behavior and psychology, the closer you will get to being asked to send information (by a more qualified lead, too) instead of sending broad messages en masse.

AJ Wilcox points out that the opportunity to be visible is high, especially on LinkedIn where most users never post:

AJ Wilcox, B2Linked “The beautiful part about LinkedIn is that, when you are posting interesting/valuable content, it’s really easy to go viral. The reason for this is that <5% of LinkedIn members post, but 100% of us need a feed full of content when we log in. So LinkedIn specifically looks for posts with comments to place in the feeds of those who aren’t even following you. When you put value out into the world, you’re rewarded for it with others outside your network getting to know you. No need to send spammy InMails or connection requests that already have you feeling like a used-car salesman. Just share what’s interesting and helpful and the attention comes to you!“

Stephanie Griffith shared her expertise on SMS marketing:

Stephanie Griffith, Founder, emailpreview “Well-intentioned SMS marketers are starting at a disadvantage thanks to spammy political campaigns and other unwanted texts.Hope isn’t lost though, and there are strategic ways to build trust with your audience. Reinforce the legitimacy of your brand by introducing yourself with a contact card, giving subscribers an easy way to save your information. This will ensure that your future messages are recognizable, and some devices (like iOS) will give priority to delivering messages that are tied to saved contacts. Unknown numbers feel inherently unfamiliar, but contact cards help build a trusted relationship between the sender and the recipient. The best texts feel friendly, intimate, and personal, as if they are coming from a friend or trusted source. You should embrace the short but conversational nature of the channel and craft your messaging accordingly. Ask engaging questions, and be prepared to respond! Be respectful of quiet hours and when choosing to time your messages. While there are legal reasons to follow this guidance, it’s also common sense. Would you stay engaged with a brand that woke you up in the middle of the night to announce the last chance to shop their sale? Lastly, invest in a short code. These 5- to 6-digit phone numbers are the SMS gold standard and the hallmark of a respected sender. Shortcodes go through a rigorous approval process, ensuring they are only given to those with proper consent and messaging practices. You are also given higher priority as a sender and greater deliverability/messaging throughput when sending from a short code, which can be critical when communicating with a sizable audience.”

Jeannie Walters touched on building trust with your customers:

Jeannie Walters, Experience Investigators “Building trust with customers is the same as building trust in any relationship. It takes time. Trust is built by meeting their needs, respecting their time, and being there when they need you. Spam is built on ignoring the basics of that trust-building. These messages are disrespectful of their needs, and their time, and are intrusive instead of supportive. Trust might take time to build, but it just takes one bad experience to break. Spam messaging is an excellent way to destroy trust with customers and future customers alike. I hope marketers get the message!“

Read through these marketing and content strategy guides for more practical advice:

• Content Strategy 101: 4 Steps to Launching the Ultimate Content Strategy 
• 36 Content Marketing Tips from 6 Experts | Orbit Media Studios
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective Content Marketers

People want to get their marketing on their own terms

There are three types of marketing: content marketing, advertising and spam.

As marketers, consumers and members of the general public… we all want to have a say in the marketing that appears on our phones and in our inboxes. We prefer to see helpful, wanted content, and loathe incessant, unhelpful and completely random messages. In other words, we love advice, we tolerate ads and we hate spam.

So, if you are an ethical marketer… thank you! You are helping to preserve trust and promote positive customer psychology in a world with a lot of unwelcome noise.

I want to express my gratitude to our contributors for sharing your valuable insights, and a special thanks to QuestionPro for making this spam statistics study possible. You can find more research on the QuestionPro blog.

Editor’s note: This content was originally written by Andy Crestodina, co-founder and CMO of Orbit Media, and updated by Mackenzie Pelletier, an SEO copywriter at Orbit Media.