Survey of over 2,000 marketers conducted by Litmus and Convince & Convert unveils industry averages, best practices
BOSTON and SAN MATEO, CA, Sept. 15, 2020 — Litmus, a leader in email marketing, today releases its report, “2020 State of Email, Fall Edition,” during Litmus Live Week, the premier conference for email practitioners and marketing leaders.
The study found 77% of marketers say email is one of their two most effective marketing channels. Additionally, 78% of marketing executives indicate email marketing is vital to the overall success of their company, which is a 7% increase from last year. Every marketer should leverage an email-first approach because it not only informs email strategy but overall marketing effectiveness.
To capitalize on the potential of email, ROI must be properly measured and reported. Just 16% of respondents believe their company measures email marketing’s ROI well or very well. Furthermore, 45% cited ROI measurement of email marketing efforts as poor, very poor, or non-existent.
“The ‘2020 State of Email, Fall Edition’ report showcases why email should be front and center in every single marketing mix,” said Melissa Sargeant, CMO of Litmus. “In today’s marketing environment, with brands working to break through the clutter of digital advertisements in an efficient and timely manner, personalization and targeted messaging needs to take priority. Not only does email offer unmatched ROI, but it creates authentic human-to-human connections and experiences with customers. These also provide insights and data which can influence organization-wide messaging and multichannel marketing strategy. Simply put, email is trusted by executives despite innovations and developments arising within the martech space because it’s a tried and true method for disseminating information.”
Other best practices within an email marketing strategy, as indicated by the report, include personalization and ensuring email lists are up-to-date and active. Utilizing subscriber data within email can also inform strategy and messaging within other channels, because, in order to receive the communication, the recipient must opt-in, confirming their interest in the brand. Eighty percent of respondents reported that their company personalizes its emails based on subscriber data, but more than a third said they don’t remove inactive subscribers from their mailing list unless they opt-out. With outdated email lists, marketing teams can hurt their ROI, defeating the purpose of personalizing emails. Additionally, outdated email lists lead to security issues. More than half of respondents indicated they seldom run emails through a spam filter test to identify possible deliverability problems before sending.
Litmus’s second annual report consists of survey results from over 2,000 marketers. The report shares key findings of email marketing ROI, designing and coding trends, and budget details, as well as COVID-19’s impact on email programs, and much more.
Additional takeaways from the report include:
- Four out of five respondents would give up their brand’s social media for 12 months, rather than give up email marketing for 12 months
- 94% of respondents reveal email is one of their three most effective marketing channels
- 54% of marketers expect to send more emails in 2020 than they did in 2019, while 60% of marketing executives said they also planned to send more emails in 2020
- Nearly 90% of respondents are conducting A/B tests on their emails, and more than one-quarter do so “often” or “always”
- More than half of respondents indicated they never or rarely run emails through a spam filter test to identify possible deliverability problems before sending an email
This follows the announcements of Litmus’s new product features that reduce email development time by up to 75%, their integration with the SAP® Marketing Cloud, and inclusion within Inc.’s list of Best Workplaces for 2020. To download the 2020 State of Email report, please visit litmus.com/2020StateofEmail and for more information on Litmus, please visit litmus.com.
###
About Litmus:
Litmus provides the leading email optimization and collaboration solution for marketers. From Pre-Send campaign development and testing to Post-Send insights for future content optimization, Litmus improves marketing performance and strategy, delivering increased subscriber engagement. With offices in Boston, San Mateo and London and backed by Spectrum Equity, Litmus is used by major global brands across every industry, including 80% of the Fortune 100, the top 10 retailers, 9 of the top 10 ecommerce brands and U.S.banks, and 23 of the top 25 U.S. advertising agencies. Learn more about Litmus at litmus.com, subscribe to the Litmus blog, or follow us on social media – Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
Media contact:
BLASTmedia for Litmus
Hannah Goodwin