Consumer engagement with brand emails increased in the first quarter of 2018 thanks to fewer messages in inboxes, according to recent research from Yes Lifecycle Marketing.

The report was based on data from 7 billion emails sent by brands in 1Q18 via Yesmail360i, Yes Lifecycle Marketing’s cross-channel marketing platform.

Email marketing volume declined 29% between 4Q17 and 1Q18 as the result of what is a typical post-holiday dip in email cadence.

Consumer engagement with brand emails increased between 4Q17 and 1Q18 because of that dip in volume: The average open rate increased 6% quarter over quarter, the average unique click rate jumped 12%, and the total click rate increased 19%.

The share of email subscribers who were inactive for more than a year reached 22% in 1Q18, an all-time high.

Triggered emails garnered significantly higher open, unique click, click-to-open, and conversion rates compared with non-triggered emails in 1Q18, the researchers found.

The performance of email campaigns themed around holidays and events was a mixed bag in 1Q18.

Some campaigns, such as those themed around the Academy Awards, garnered higher than average engagement while others, such as those themed around April Fool's, did not.

About the research: The report was based on data from 7 billion emails sent by brands in 1Q18 via Yesmail360i, Yes Lifecycle Marketing’s cross-channel marketing platform.