Econsultancy’s Email Marketing Industry Census

Yes, it’s that point once more – Email selling trade Census has dropped! The twelfth edition of Econsultancy’s annual Email Census is an in depth report, full of revealing trends, statistics and trade insights,  giving brands and agencies a great view of the state of email marketing today and beyond. We’re delighted to own had the chance to contribute to the report for the second year running.

Outline the importance of the report and explore the key trends and takeaways. Share info with individuals through social media and get numerous views with the help of SocialGreg.

What is the Email Census all about?

The 2018 Email selling trade Census, in association with Adestra, surveyed quite 700 marketers this year and provides comprehensive knowledge and analysis of current trends and performance, compared with results from previous years.

And that’s not all. The report additionally contains insights from a number of the highest email selling trade specialists and thought leaders, like Jordie van Rijn, Rachel Aldighieri, Jenna artist and Enchant’s own corporate executive, prince floor.

Spanning nearly a hundred pages, this in depth report from Econsultancy explores a good vary of topics across the e-mail selling landscape, together with automation, personalisation, measure success, improvement and after all, knowledge and also the impact of GDPR on email marketers.

Here’s an outline of a number of the e-mail Cenus’ key findings, and some perceptive quotes from trade experts:

Email continues to guide approach for ROI (but performance has dipped)

Once again, email selling emerged because the most extremely rated selling channel or discipline for come on investment. the e-mail Census discovered that seventy four of firms rate email selling ROI as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. As in previous reports, SEO (organic search) is that the nighest competition of email in terms of ROI. See chart below:

Rachel Aldighieri, director at the DMA, had this to mention concerning these results:

“An spectacular seventy four of marketers rate the ROI email offers as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, that has big year-on-year, and highlights that whereas phone numbers and communicating addresses ar vital, the central purpose of contact for many marketers has consolidated round the email address.”

However, there ar some signs that email selling performance has unfit. once asked concerning the performance of their email campaigns, forty eighth of company respondents rated their performance as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, down from fifty two last year and fifty six in 2016.

While email still leads the approach with ROI, once in direct comparison to different channels, brands ar stepping up their investment in paid social, content selling and SEO, to extend their reach and targeting. it’ll be fascinating to ascertain the results of identical ROI charts next year, because the impact of GDPR starts reveals itself.

Better personalisation is a priority, but a challenge

Personalisation is clearly a high priority for marketers, however it’s additionally a section of email selling that’s proving a challenge to master.

Delivering higher personalisation was discovered to be the best priority for firms surveyed within the Email Census, once asked what space of email selling they’d wish to improve that they’re not presently doing to their satisfaction. See the chart below:

Businesses ar clearly troubled to master personalisation, and this for the most part comes all the way down to the data-driven nature of personalisation and also the perceived time and resources needed to try to to it well.

The following chart shows “integrating data”, “lack of resources” and “finding time to form it happen”, were the foremost well-liked reasons cited by respondents as key challenges and barriers to implementing effective email personalisation:

Jenna Tiffany had her say on the ongoing challenges of personalisation:

“Personalisation provides a massive and exciting chance to email marketers to wake up life the required ‘right time, right message, right person’ journey. though solely thirteen of respondents state that they’re causation emails supported individual activities and preferences at scale, the technology has been on the market for a few time, that demonstrates it’s being underutilised.”

Marketing automation still underutilised

A similar story applies to selling automation. selling automation is clearly a priority for marketers, particularly once it involves choosing the correct email service supplier (ESP) for your business. hour of Email Census company respondents cited selling automation in concert of the 3 most vital attributes of associate email technology supplier, that was over for the other attribute. The chart below shows the results:

Using selling automation to line up a good vary of activity triggers, to send additional relevant email campaigns to subscribers, is clearly a key motivation for marketers. However, like with personalisation, email automation remains to be down pat and is underutilised by businesses.

A shocking thirty seventh of respondents rated their machine-driven email selling activity ‘not successful’, while fifty fifth aforementioned their selling automation programmes were ‘quite successful’. Clearly there’s work to be worn out this space.

Our Principal Email selling authority prince floor here at Enchant Agency, talked concerning the dynamical trends in email selling automation tools and also the demand:

“The overwhelming majority of email marketers ar currently strict powerful automation tools. And there’s no marvel on why – email selling automation is economical and unbelievably remunerative. however there’s a serious gap here, as most ancient email selling platforms are slow to develop capabilities in automation. This has created a brief new marketplace wherever new technical school firms ar showing and bridging this automation capability gap.”

At Enchant, we have a tendency to recently wrote concerning effective machine-driven campaigns that marketers and retailers ought to be running. See the diary post links below:

5 straightforward machine-driven Email Campaigns Most Retailers Aren’t Doing

Email Automation: a way to Use Trigger Emails to spice up Conversio

Early adopters aim to leverage AI and predictive technology

Artificial intelligence (AI) in email promoting has been a hot topic for a minute currently, however prophetic  technology is admittedly getting down to play a job in up the targeting capabilities and potency of brands’ email campaigns.

Companies and agencies area unit seeking to be told additional concerning what they’ll do the leverage AI. Currently, optimising campaign send times, subject lines and calls to action area unit in style attributes of AI in email promoting

However, this year’s Email promoting trade Census unconcealed that solely terrorist organization of company respondents and twenty first of agencies arrange additional innovation with AI in 2018. this means that several brands read AI as a technology for early adopters and one that several dont have the scope for explore more nevertheless.

The chart below shows a number of the most ways in which businesses have thought-about or enforced AI and prophetic  technology, for substitution manual promoting processes:

GDPR in focus but still impact to become fully revealed

Although this year’s report wont reveal a lot of concerning the impact of the final knowledge Protection Regulation (GDPR), as respondents were surveyed earlier this year, however it did reveal the extent of readiness of marketers, brands and agencies within the build up to the GDPR compliance point in time. seventy seven of company respondents indicated they were assured of being compliant by the twenty fifth might point in time, while agencies were less assured (66%) in being absolutely compliant.

If you’re taking a look back to the attributes that firms felt were most significant once choosing AN second sight, knowledge compliance and consent was third highest, reflective the looming spectre of The GDPR.

Rikke Thomsen, Head of promoting at Sleeknote, spoke concerning the findings and therefore the influence of GDPR on email marketing:

“It’s attention-grabbing to envision however knowledge and consent compliance is currently the third most significant attribute for email suppliers. With the new General knowledge Protection Regulation within the Common Market, it’s no surprise that this is often currently of concern to email marketers. That’s why it’s of utmost importance for email marketers to become conversant in the rules and the way they as individual businesses follow — not simply in their email promoting, however with all their knowledge assortment services (both external and internal).”

It’s encouraging that the overwhelming majority of email promoting innovation priorities for firms area unit customer-centric factors, like behavioral triggers, that apply technology to urge nearer to customers and what makes them tick. See the chart below:

Get access to the Email Marketing Industry Census!

To access the complete report and explore the wealth of insights, handy charts and statistics to assist you perceive the state of email promoting, head to Econsultancy’s 2018 Email promoting trade Census page.