email marketing industry census 2015
DESCRIPTION
As the title suggests. UK.TRANSCRIPT
-
Market Data / Supplier Selection / Event Presentations / User Experience Benchmarking / Best Practice / Template Files / Trends & Innovation
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015
In association with Adestra
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra
Econsultancy London
4th Floor, Wells Point
79 Wells Street
London W1T 3QN
United Kingdom
Telephone:
+44 207 269 1450
http://econsultancy.com
Econsultancy New York
350 7th Avenue, Suite 307
New York, NY 10001
United States
Telephone:
+1 212 971 0630
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording
or any information storage and retrieval system, without
prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Published March 2015
http://econsultancy.com/mailto:[email protected] -
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 3
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Contents
1. Executive Summary and Highlights ................................ 5
2. Foreword by Adestra ........................................................ 8
2.1. About Adestra .............................................................................. 9
2.2. About Econsultancy .................................................................... 9
3. Acknowledgements ........................................................ 10
4. Methodology ................................................................... 11
5. Findings ......................................................................... 12
5.1. Approach to email and use of email marketing providers ........ 12
5.1.1. Approach to email marketing ................................................ 12
5.1.2. Email campaign performance ............................................... 14
5.1.3. How email technology providers are used ............................ 16
5.1.4. Proportion of email functionality used.................................. 20
5.1.5. Most important attributes of an email technology provider .................................................................................. 23
5.2. Resources ................................................................................... 25
5.2.1. Time spent on email activities ............................................... 25
5.2.2. Responsibility for email marketing ....................................... 28
5.3. Volume of email and budget ...................................................... 31
5.3.1. Number of emails sent ........................................................... 31
5.3.2. Proportion of sales from email marketing ............................ 33
5.3.3. Annual spend on email marketing ........................................ 35
5.3.4. Proportion of marketing budget spent on email marketing ............................................................................... 37
5.4. Effectiveness and practices ....................................................... 39
5.4.1. Ranking of channels for return on investment ..................... 39
5.4.2. Email marketing practices ..................................................... 43
5.4.3. Barriers to effective use of email ........................................... 48
5.5. Marketing automation .............................................................. 50
5.5.1. Email providers marketing automation capabilities ............ 50
5.5.2. Automation triggers ............................................................... 54
5.5.3. Success with automation ....................................................... 56
5.5.4. Benefits of marketing automation ......................................... 58
5.5.5. Barriers to implementing marketing automation ................. 62
5.6. Mobile ........................................................................................ 66
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 4
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.6.1. Strategy for optimising email for mobile .............................. 66
5.6.2. Tactics used for implementing email marketing strategy ..... 68
5.6.3. Barriers to optimising email marketing for mobile .............. 69
5.7. Improving email marketing for the future ................................ 71
5.7.1. What would email marketers like to improve? ..................... 71
5.7.2. Email marketing focus ........................................................... 73
5.7.3. Email marketing in five years time ....................................... 77
5.8. How companies feel about their email provider ...................... 82
6. Appendix: Respondent Profiles ..................................... 84
6.1. Business focus ........................................................................... 84
6.2. Type of role ................................................................................ 85
6.3. Business sector .......................................................................... 85
6.4. Type of agency ........................................................................... 86
6.5. Geography.................................................................................. 86
6.6. Revenue ..................................................................................... 87
6.7. Number of employees ............................................................... 87
6.8. Age ............................................................................................. 88
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 5
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
1. Executive Summary and Highlights This is the ninth annual Email Marketing Industry Census, produced in partnership with
Adestra. More than 1,000 respondents, mainly in-house marketers, took part in our online
survey, carried out in January and February 2015. The report also contains insights from a
number of email marketing experts.
With nine years of data to process, the census provides a unique opportunity to assess how email
marketing has changed and where it may be going. This report takes a detailed look at the
approaches taken and resources given to email marketing, covering the channels effectiveness,
marketing automation, optimisation for mobile and the future of email.
The research reveals the following key trends:
Email continues to be a leading channel for delivering ROI despite
decreased spend
The role of email is expanding rapidly for many organisations, from being the path to the inbox,
to the key that unlocks the cross-channel marketing experience. Amid this transitional stage,
email is still among the best digital channels for delivering a return on investment.
Email marketing continues to be one of the top two marketing channels for delivering ROI. A
quarter (25%) of company and agency respondents have rated email marketing and SEO as
excellent in terms of providing a return on investment.
However, despite its ability to provide value, companies surveyed are spending less on the
channel, with almost two-fifths (39%) spending less than 5,000 or less on email marketing,
the highest proportion of companies spending within the lowest budget bracket in the history
of the Email Census. This is coupled with email being assigned only 13% of the marketing
budget, down by 19% since 2014.
The effect of the budget reductions has been a loss of revenue derived from the channel.
Organisations attributed an average of 20% of their total sales to email, down from 22% last year.
While somewhat disappointing, these results illustrate that the channel cannot be taken for
granted and that companies need to invest in email to ensure continued success.
Mobile is top of mind for email marketers as they embrace best
practice
One area where companies have clearly invested is in relation to optimising email for mobile
devices. With just 17% not having any semblance of a mobile strategy as it relates to email, it is no
longer good enough to merely be doing mobile; organisations must be relentlessly focused on
capitalising on mobiles extensive opportunities.
For the first time, companies are more likely to state they are making email campaigns
accessible on a mobile device. More than three in every five companies (61%) are optimising
email for mobile devices; an increase of 144% in just two years.
As the appropriation of a mobile-optimised template or design becomes more of a hygiene
factor, it is important that companies utilise mobile to create engaging interactions with the
consumer. At the moment, only 21% of organisations consider themselves as having a quite
or very advanced strategy for optimising email marketing for mobile devices, only increasing
by four percentage points from the previous year.
Part of the reason for this is the shifting goal posts in terms of what mobile entails. The market for
smartphones and tablets is saturating but mobile growth is now being buoyed by smartwatches,
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 6
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
peripheral devices and even car integrations1. Determining and planning for emails role in this
evolving environment can be incredibly difficult and with a multitude for opportunities to chase,
organisations must ensure they allocate time to get this right.
Segmentation tactics need to evolve beyond the basic to maximise
email in isolation and beyond
With spend on email marketing inconsistent with the perceived future of the channel, email
marketers face the challenge of having to be even more efficient with their resources. One way
marketers should be doing this is through more sophisticated segmentation activities. However,
engaging in advanced segmentation seems to be an elusive practice for many organisations.
The most common email practice among company respondents is basic segmentation with
more than three-quarters (76%) of companies claiming to do this. In comparison, only one in
five companies (21%) are using advanced segmentation as part of their email campaign
workflow, while an additional 44% plan on doing so in the near future.
Those organisations incorporating advanced segmentation into their activities are more likely
to rate emails ability to deliver ROI favourably. Companies engaging in advanced
segmentation are 16% more likely to perceive email marketing as an excellent or good
method for delivering a return on investment than those who are doing basic segmentation.
Which begs the question; why arent more organisations improving their segmentation
capabilities? The proportion of organisations using advanced segmentation actually decreased
marginally from last year (from 22% to 21%). It is highly probable organisations are still dealing
with the large datasets that require integrating and maintaining.
Quality of email database continues to be a significant burden for marketers, with more than half
(54%) citing this as a barrier to effective email marketing, down by just one percentage point since
last year. Without an appropriate database, not only will organisations struggle to provide more
nuanced email messaging, but companies will also be hard-pressed to maximise the greater uses
of email beyond the inbox.
Adoption and improvement in automation is slow and steady
Although marketing automation has been around for some time, appreciation of its potential in
the context of a broader marketing campaign has increased and has led to a larger amount of
companies embracing automation. While there has been some change since last year, the changes
are indicative of the marketing population still finding its feet with automation.
The proportion of organisations rating their automation campaigns as very successful nearly
doubled from 2014, however this accounts for just 7% of companies. The majority of
responding organisations self-assessed their automation implementation as quite successful
(54%), while 39% deemed their efforts in automation as not successful, a ten percentage
point decrease since last year.
The slight improvement in automation performance may be linked to the increased use of
automated triggers. The majority of automated trigger points have seen increased use
compared to last year. However, only subscription or sign-up to website (65%) and
automated response to website visit / sign-up (59%) are being used by more than half of the
responding companies.
However, the expectation is that organisations will continue to increase their use of automation to
deliver timely, relevant content to their customers. More than half (54%) identified marketing
automation as an area they are not doing to their satisfaction. Additionally, when asked which
areas they would really like to focus on in 2015, the highest ranked option was automated
campaigns (29%).
1 http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-future-of-the-mobile-industry-2014-11?op=1
http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-future-of-the-mobile-industry-2014-11?op=1 -
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 7
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Making sense of the future of email
The reduction of budget allocated to email marketing is not surprising, given the variety of newer
channels and media that provide the opportunity to reach consumers. Despite this, email
continues to be among the most valuable tools for marketers. So where should email be
positioned going forward?
The long-term view is certainly optimistic, as only 9% of organisations believe that email
marketing will be redundant in five years. It will also continue to be one of the highest
channels for delivering ROI, according to 74% of companies. While some marketers are
concerned about the lack of usage of email by millennials, no suitable form of
correspondence has yet usurped the various uses of email among consumers.
Instead of worrying about millennial behavioural trends, most companies see email as an
integral part of their future marketing activities. More than five in every six companies (84%)
see email as being fully integrated with other marketing channels within the next five years,
with 76% believing all email communications will be completely personalised.
In order to truly unlock emails potential, companies must be able to harness email as the linchpin
of their cross-channel marketing activities. Using the email address to identity consumer activity
at a granular level, on and off site, puts marketers in a much better position to deliver powerful
email campaigns and more personal experiences across the board.
However, judging by the fact that the two top areas email markers are not doing to their
satisfaction are personalisation (64%) and segmentation (61%), it is safe to suggest most
organisations are yet to develop such capabilities.
The future of email as defined by the respondents is certainly attainable, but requires a different
approach. The deliberate pace of change in how organisations are approaching automation is
likely indicative of how organisations will approach integrating their email with other marketing
channels. Yet the sudden uptick in organisations optimising email for mobile shows companies
can be capable of moving more rapidly.
Email will continue to be a measurable, reliable, dependable channel for marketers that want to
drive results. However, its degrees of relevancy will increasingly depend on whether businesses
manage email as merely a direct response channel, or as an integral piece of the jigsaw for
delivering personalised, integrated customer experiences.
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 8
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
2. Foreword by Adestra In this, the ninth year of the Econsultancy/Adestra Email Census, its obvious that Email is a very
mature digital marketing channel. And its been allowed to mature, rather than fading away,
because its delivered strong returns throughout its history, and continues to do so.
Email is still in the running for top spot when it comes to return on marketing investment; tied
with SEO this year, 25% of companies and agencies are rating is as their top channel.
However, there is still a wide gap between organisations who are seeing excellent ROI, and those
who struggle to make their email programmes generate the strong returns theyre seeing from
their marketing peers.
When breaking down the results further, its unsurprising to see that organisations who have
carved out specialised individuals or teams dedicated to the email channel are the ones seeing the
highest returns. Organisations with an individual or team dedicated to email marketing achieves
three times better ROI than when those responsible are also executing on other marketing tasks.
But there is hope for organisations where a dedicated email resource isnt feasible.
Marketers are realising the value of leaning on their ESP as a way to fill the gap between ambition
and execution. Whether its for strategic help, professional services and design, or integrations
with other systems, being able to outsource some of the heavy lifting of successful email
marketing can be a significant advantage to smaller teams.
Along those lines, we added a new question to the end of the census this year. A bit of a cheeky
one, we simply asked respondents whether they love their ESP. That there was a strong split
between the Yess and Nos was unsurprising. But the additional comments were very telling.
Good technology and an easy-to-use platform seem to be the price of admission for playing the
email game. But the real differentiators especially for those respondents who withheld a yes
for their ESP love showed when it comes to the value of a great support team and account
management. Proactivity and strategic help are fast becoming strong differentiators between
email vendors.
Between the availability of additional services, and the importance marketers are placing on the
professional relationship when it comes to assisting with the ability to execute, evaluating email
suppliers is moving far beyond a simple feature comparison tickbox exercise.
Finally, this year in the census, for the first time since its inception, we also saw spend on email
decreasing. Whether this is because of stretched budgets or lack of faith in the channel, it also
means returns have decreased proportionally. While we never want to see marketers results
dropping, this does provide further ammunition to the argument that email activity has a direct
impact on revenue, and is a channel worth investing in!
Henry Hyder-Smith
CEO
Adestra
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 9
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
2.1. About Adestra Adestra have been empowering their clients to maximize marketing ROI through email-driven
technology for over 10 years. Our flexible account structure, obsession with customer success, and
award-winning service have gained the trust of global and growing brands alike.
We were founded on the principle that marketing success takes more than technology, and thats
why customer service is at the heart of our business. Were not just Software as a Service, were
Software AND a Service.
Join a league of leading marketers using this powerful, easy-to-use, enterprise technology, built to
suit your marketing needs. Call us today on +44 (0)1865 242425, tweet us @adestra, or view a
demo on our website at http://www.adestra.com/
2.2. About Econsultancy Econsultancys mission is to help its customers achieve excellence in digital business, marketing
and ecommerce through research, training and events.
Founded in 1999, Econsultancy has offices in New York, London and Singapore.
Econsultancy is used by over 600,000 professionals every month. Subscribers get access to
research, market data, best practice guides, case studies and elearning all focused on helping
individuals and enterprises get better at digital.
The subscription is supported by digital transformation services including digital capability
programs, training courses, skills assessments and audits. We train and develop thousands of
professionals each year as well as running events and networking that bring the Econsultancy
community together around the world.
Subscribe to Econsultancy today to accelerate your journey to digital excellence.
Call us to find out more:
New York: +1 212 971 0630
London: +44 207 269 1450
Singapore: +65 6809 2088
http://econsultancy.com/subscribe -
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 10
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
3. Acknowledgements Econsultancy would like to thank the following people for their contributions to this report:
Andrew Campbell, Managing Director, SixC Ltd
Jordie Van Rijn, Email Marketing Consultant, eMailMonday
Kath Pay, Director of Customer Success, cloud.IQ
Stephen Derbyshire, Head of Digital Marketing, CACI
Tim Watson, Email Marketing Consultant & Founder, Zettasphere
file://wookie/Shared/Content/Research/Sponsored%20Research/Adestra/2015/Draft%20report/uk.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-campbell/4/807/74a/enfile://wookie/Shared/Content/Research/Sponsored%20Research/Adestra/2015/Draft%20report/nl.linkedin.com/in/jvrijn/enfile://wookie/Shared/Content/Research/Sponsored%20Research/Adestra/2015/Draft%20report/uk.linkedin.com/in/kathpay/enfile://wookie/Shared/Content/Research/Sponsored%20Research/Adestra/2015/Draft%20report/uk.linkedin.com/in/stephenderbyshire/enfile://wookie/Shared/Content/Research/Sponsored%20Research/Adestra/2015/Draft%20report/uk.linkedin.com/in/tawatson/en -
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 11
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
4. Methodology This is Econsultancys ninth Email Marketing Industry Census 2015, published in
association with Adestra. Many of the questions have been repeated over this time period,
enabling us to compare data and look at trends.
There were just over 1,000 respondents to our research request, which took the form of an online
survey in January and February 2015. Respondents included both companies or in-house
marketers (64%) and supply-side respondents, including agencies, consultants and vendors
(36%).
Information about the survey, including the link, was emailed to Econsultancys user base,
advertised on our website and promoted on Twitter. The incentive for taking part was access to a
complimentary copy of this report just before its publication.
Detailed breakdowns of the respondent profiles are included in the Appendix.
If you have any questions about the research, please email Econsultancys Research Director,
Linus Gregoriadis ([email protected]).
mailto:[email protected] -
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 12
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5. Findings
5.1. Approach to email and use of email marketing
providers
5.1.1. Approach to email marketing
The proportion of companies using web-based email applications has dropped to its lowest level
since 2008. There has been a decrease of eight percentage points (from 47% in 2014 to 39% this
year) in the proportion of companies using an application service provider/hosted service for
their email marketing.
Companies are 28% more likely than in 2014 to be using an in-house system, with 37% of
company respondents saying thats the case.
Company respondents
Figure 1: Which of the following best describes your organisations approach to
email marketing?
Respondents 2015: 600
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 13
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Voice of the experts
Brands are spending time and money changing technology, but there remains an under-investment in people
and a resistance to change that prevents them building an integrated customer experience.
There is a growing trend for building in-house capabilities that started in 2013, and has accelerated in 2014-15
with 37% of respondents now using in-house solutions. This is an increase of 85% since 2012 (then 20%) and
demonstrates a continuing trend away from the dominance of SaaS-based ESPs.
The shift to in-house capability has not addressed some of the key barriers to improving programme
effectiveness and delivering an integrated customer experience, including poor quality data (54%), lack of
strategy (46%), lack of integration (43%) and lack of skills (33%). Whilst organisations are able to change
technology relatively quickly, business change to allow the delivery of customer-centric or data-driven strategies
takes longer. Most organisations (51%) believe they are utilising less than half of the capabilities provided by
their current ESP. If organisations fail to deliver business change or to better integrate their data alongside the
implementation of new technology, they will not be able to unleash the technology they have invested in and will
fail to deliver integrated customer experiences.
Stephen Derbyshire, Head of Digital Marketing, CACI
Less than one in five companies (17%) are taking a mixed approach to their email marketing. In
comparison, as seen in Figure 2, agency respondents are more than twice as likely as in-house
marketers to say their clients are using a mixture of web-based email applications, in-house
systems and fully managed services from third parties.
Compared to last year, the proportion of agencies saying their clients use a fully managed service
has decreased by seven percentage points.
Agency respondents
Figure 2: Which of the following best describes your clients approach to email
marketing?
Respondents 2015: 344
Respondents 2014: 305
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 14
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.1.2. Email campaign performance
Remaining relatively consistent with past results, company respondents are most likely to rate the
performance of their email campaigns as good (37%) or average (44%). However, this year has
seen organisations become slightly more likely to self-assess their performance as poor.
While companies are slightly more likely to rate their email campaigns as excellent (4% versus
3%) compared to last year, 15% of client-side respondents assigned themselves a poor rating, up
from 12% in 2014.
Comparatively, agency respondents were more positive regarding the performance of their clients
email campaigns (Figure 4). More than half (51%) rated their clients email performance as
excellent (6%) or good (45%), compared to 41% of responding companies deeming their email
campaigns performance as above average.
Company respondents
Figure 3: How do you rate the performance of your companys email campaigns?
Respondents: 600
Voice of the experts
There seems to be a case of familiarity breeds contempt with email where its been around for so long and
worked well as a core channel that its just become part of the furniture. Marketers need to raise expectations and
pursue a more ambitious approach to achieving best practice in their email campaigns. The technology vendors
have done their part by standardising features such as: CRM integration; data management; dynamic content
rendering; behavioural retargeting; social integration; testing and optimisation. Marketers must look to leverage
these to deliver enhanced customer experiences and ultimately greater ROI.
Andrew Campbell, Managing Director, SixC Ltd
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 15
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
In order to see if there is a relationship between company size (in terms of number of employees)
and email performance, the data from the respective questions was cross-tabulated, as seen in
Table 1.
Although there were no clear-cut trends, the analysis revealed some interesting insights.
Organisations with more than 5,000 employees are two and a half times more likely to declare the
performance of their email campaigns as excellent compared to the remaining respondents.
Meanwhile, small companies with between ten and 100 employees are most likely say their
campaigns performed poorly.
Company respondents
Table 1: Cross-tabulation of responses for How do you rate the performance of
your companys email? and How many employees are there in your
organisation?
Excellent Good Average Poor
Fewer than 10 3% 33% 53% 11%
10-100 3% 40% 38% 19%
101-1,000 4% 40% 44% 12%
1,001-5,000 4% 33% 51% 12%
More than 5,000 10% 36% 42% 12%
Agency respondents
Figure 4: How do you rate the performance of your clients email campaigns?
Respondents 2015: 343
Respondents 2014: 307
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 16
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.1.3. How email technology providers are used
Figure 5 illustrates the email-related services that company respondents are using via their email
technology providers.
Given that email is known for its measurability, it is not surprising that measurement and
analytics is the most commonly used email-related service. However, the proportion of
companies acquiring this information from their email provider has dipped by 5%, from 77% in
2014 to 73% this year.
Meanwhile, 21% more organisations are using their email technology provider to execute at least
part of their segmentation activity. Most organisations are engaging in basic segmentation
(Figure 31) and more than half (51%) of the responding companies do this via their email
technology provider, which shows that the value of email technology platforms goes beyond email
deployment for most companies.
Companies are also significantly more likely to be using their email technology as part of their
design and copywriting efforts (27%, up by nine percentage points), activities that take the
majority of email marketers time as shown by Figure 14.
Company respondents
Figure 5: Which email-related services provided by your email technology
provider do you use?
Respondents 2015: 353
Respondents 2014: 475
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 17
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
The use of design and copywriting functionality is even more evident from the agency
perspective. The proportion of agencies stating their clients are using the design capabilities of
their email technology provider has grown by 47% since 2014, from 45% to 66%, just two
percentage points behind measurement and analytics (68%).
Also seeing a significant increase is strategy and campaign planning (from 34% in 2014 to 55%
this year). As email becomes further embedded within the heart of multichannel marketing
campaigns2, organisations should be spending more time planning their campaigns in order to
maximise the expansion of emails remit.
Agency respondents
Figure 6: Which email-related services do your clients typically use?
Respondents 2015: 274
Respondents 2014: 247
2 https://econsultancy.com/blog/66114-why-email-is-vital-for-multichannel-marketing/
https://econsultancy.com/blog/66114-why-email-is-vital-for-multichannel-marketing/ -
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 18
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
The majority of organisations are still unlikely to be using their email technology provider for
activities that are not email-related. Close to two-thirds of companies (63%) are not using their
email provider for any activities relating to other digital marketing channels, representing a 6%
decrease from last year.
Organisations which are now broadening the use of their email technology are most likely to be
using it for CRM, which has seen a 23% increase in use since 2014.
Company respondents
Figure 7: Do you use your email provider for any of the following activities?
Respondents 2015: 337
Respondents 2014: 460
Voice of the expert
More businesses are using their ESPs for CRM, which is telling. These days, ESPs offer more depth and width of
functionality, going from a point-solution to being part of the marketing centre that puts the customer (and its
data) at the heart. These are built to be so well integrated that no additional CRM data layer or data warehouse is
needed. The introduction and digitisation of more channels demands the software to suck up, sort and store
customer data, and then spit it out in a way thats useful and liberating for marketers.
Jordie Van Rijn, Email Marketing Consultant, eMailMonday
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 19
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
The opposite is true among agency clients. According to supply-side respondents, just under a
third (32%) of their clients are not using their email technology beyond email-related activities, a
33% increase compared to last year.
Barring multichannel campaign management (increasing from 24% to 27%), agency clients are
less likely to use their email providers for these activities compared to last year, especially CRM
(from 59% to 46%), mobile marketing (from 29% to 20%) and display advertising (24% to 14%).
Agency trends
Figure 8: Do your clients use their email provider for any of the following
activities?
Respondents 2015: 271
Respondents 2014: 241
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 20
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.1.4. Proportion of email functionality used
The proportion of companies making significant use of their email platform continues to rise,
with 49% of respondents stating they use at least 50% of their email systems functionality. This
compares to 46% last year (Figure 10).
Just 15% of companies are using up to a quarter of their email systems functionality, a slight
decrease from 2014 and the smallest proportion of companies since the first Email Census in
2007.
Companies are using on average 49% of their email systems functionality slightly more than
the proportion agencies indicated (45%).
Figure 9: What proportion of your/your clients email systems functionality do
you think you/they are using?
Company respondents: 551
Agency respondents: 300
Voice of the experts
Not using all of functionality of an email system is not necessarily bad. It can very well be a sign that a brand
made clear choices in their tactics and ambitions and has insight into priorities and where the real value-add is
for them at this stage. Or perhaps the brand is using best-of-breed functionalities outside of the ESP system.
Jordie Van Rijn, Email Marketing Consultant, eMailMonday
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 21
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Company trends, 2010 2015
Figure 10: Proportion of email systems functionality used
A cross-tabulation of the proportion of email system functionality used against the ROI of email
marketing shows that there is a trend where email ROI goes up when the use of email
functionality increases.
Organisations that are using more than three-quarters of their email systems functionality are
over six times more likely to rate the ROI from email marketing as excellent (34%, compared to
only 5% of those who use up to a quarter of functionality).
Companies also appear to be less able to derive results from minimal efforts compared to last
year. Organisations that are using no more than a quarter of their email systems functionality are
71% less likely to rate email ROI as excellent and 37% more likely to rate email as less than good
in terms of ROI.
Company respondents
Table 2: Cross-tabulation of responses for What proportion of your email
systems functionality do you think you are using? and How do you rate email
marketing in terms of ROI?
Excellent Good Average Poor
2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015
0-25% 17% 5% 36% 32% 29% 44% 17% 19%
26-50% 21% 27% 46% 42% 27% 22% 5% 9%
51-75% 23% 20% 51% 53% 24% 25% 3% 2%
76-100% 37% 34% 47% 43% 14% 21% 2% 2%
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 22
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Voice of the expert
The message couldnt be clearer, by upping your game and taking advantage of the more complex capabilities
present most email solutions, such as segmentation and triggered emails, ROI is improved. Excellent performers
are making a lot more use of their email systems. However, the use of more advanced functionality necessitates a
better strategy and resource to execute too. As more effort is needed to create and set-up campaigns. But those
that do invest in better strategies are reaping the rewards over those who dont.
Tim Watson, Email Marketing Consultant & Founder, Zettasphere
Agency trends, 2010 2015
Figure 11: Proportion of email systems functionality used
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 23
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.1.5. Most important attributes of an email technology provider
Among company respondents, user-friendly interface continues to be the most important
attribute of an email technology provider, with 59% of companies saying thats the case. However,
this marks a decrease of five percentage points since last year.
Ease of use is important, especially as technology platforms (and the organisations that use them)
continue to place a greater premium on user experience. However, it is possible that with this
playing ground becoming relatively level, this may become more of a hygiene factor over time.
Meanwhile, marketing automation capabilities (58%), ability to integrate (50%) and cross-
channel marketing capabilities (35%) are deemed as more important attributes of an email
technology provider than last year.
The common thread between these three attributes is that they allow the user to do more with
their email marketing. The value of email is becoming less restricted to the performance of
campaigns and as organisations seek to maximise emails potential in other areas, the ability to do
this through email technology is pivotal.
According to agency respondents (Figure 13), the most important attribute of an email technology
provider is low cost (52%), which is closely followed by user-friendly interface (48%).
Interestingly, account management is deemed among the most important attributes by 50%
more agency respondents than last year (27%, up from 18%).
Company respondents
Figure 12: What are the most important attributes of an email technology
provider?
Respondents 2015: 551
Respondents 2014: 660
Note: Respondents could check up to three options.
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 24
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Voice of the experts
Im not surprised to see companies citing marketing automation, integration and cross-channel marketing
capabilities as increasingly important features of their email platform. This reflects the shift towards email as
part of integrated, multichannel CRM programmes rather than a more tactical, standalone communications
channel. Clients are looking to become multichannel rather than multiple channel marketers.
Andrew Campbell, Managing Director, SixC Ltd
Agency respondents
Figure 13: What do your clients regard as the most important attributes of an
email technology provider?
Respondents 2015: 300
Respondents 2014: 269
Note: Respondents could check up to three options.
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 25
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.2. Resources
5.2.1. Time spent on email activities
As was the case in previous years, email marketers are most likely to be spending the largest
portions of their time on the aesthetic components of their campaigns.
Nearly three in five company respondents (58%) are spending more than two hours on design
and content. Although this is an 8% decrease from last years figure (63%), it is still nearly 50%
more than the proportion of companies spending over two hours per campaign on strategy and
planning (39%).
Despite the proportion of companies engaging in basic segmentation, an alarming number are
still spending minimal time on the optimisation of their campaigns. Five in every six company
respondents (83%) are spending two hours or less on optimisation, the same as last years figure
(Figure 15).
While using segmentation often results in improved performance, optimisation can help refine
and amplify the variables causing success. This capability is even more important given the
increased importance respondents have placed on using email in conjunction with other
marketing technologies.
Company respondents
Figure 14: For a typical campaign, how many hours are spent internally on the
following email-related activities?
Respondents: 450
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 26
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Company respondents 2014 results for comparison
Figure 15: For a typical campaign, how many hours are spent internally on the
following email-related activities?
Respondents: 538
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 27
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Agency responses are relatively similar to that of their company counterparts, with design and
content (62%) and strategy and planning (34%) being the areas where their clients are most
likely to spend an excess of two hours per campaign.
Compared to their client-side counterparts, agency clients are 41% more likely to be spending
more than two hours on optimisation (24% versus 18%), however they are also more likely to not
be doing any optimisation at all (33% versus 27%).
Agency respondents
Figure 16: For a typical campaign, how many hours are spent internally by clients
on the following email-related activities?
Respondents: 244
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 28
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.2.2. Responsibility for email marketing
Responsibility for email marketing continues to be the remit of individuals and teams who have
broader marketing responsibilities. Around two in five companies have assigned their email
marketing to an individual (37%) or team (34%), as part of their wider marketing responsibilities.
However, both of these options are slightly less popular than last year, with decreases of 8% and
11% respectively. Compared to last year, organisations are more likely to assign individuals (13%,
up from 10%) and teams (12%, up from 8%) dedicated to email marketing.
Agency respondents reported minimal change from last years results regarding the responsibility
of email marketing within their clients organisations. Close to half (45%) of agency clients are
using individuals as part of their broader marketing duties, while 17% have assigned dedicated
resources (either individuals or teams) to email marketing.
Company respondents
Figure 17: Who is responsible for email marketing within your organisation?
Respondents 2015: 451
Respondents 2014: 541
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 29
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Agency respondents
Figure 18: Who is typically responsible for email marketing within your clients
organisations?
Respondents 2015: 246
Respondents 2014: 220
As expected, the larger the company, the more likely they are to have dedicated human resources
assigned to email. Organisations with fewer than ten employees are more than two and a half
times as likely to have an individual responsible for email marketing as part of their wider
marketing responsibilities than those with more than 5,000 employees (56% versus 20%).
At the other end of the spectrum, organisations with more than 5,000 employees are nearly three
times as likely to dedicate an entire team to email marketing compared to respondents with less
than ten employees (22% versus 8%).
Company respondents
Table 3: Cross-tabulation of responses for Who is responsible for email
marketing within your organisation? and How many employees are there in
your organisation?
No-one
Individual as part of wider
marketing responsibilities
Individual dedicated to
email marketing
Team, as part of wider marketing responsibilities
Team dedicated to
email marketing
Fewer than 10 8% 56% 19% 8% 8%
10-100 3% 44% 6% 42% 5%
101-1,000 1% 36% 19% 30% 14%
1,001-5,000 2% 31% 13% 33% 20%
More than 5,000 2% 20% 9% 47% 22%
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 30
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Table 4 shows how the top five sectors (in terms of number of respondents) have assigned
responsibility of their email marketing. Technology and telecom organisations are most likely to
place an individual in charge as part of their wider marketing responsibilities, with more than half
(51%) indicating this.
Companies in the retail and publishing & media sectors are around twice as likely to have a
dedicated team responsible for email compared to those in financial services and technology &
telecom.
Company respondents
Table 4: Cross-tabulation of responses for Who is responsible for email
marketing within your organisation? and In which business sector is your
organisation? (top five sectors only)
No-one
Individual as part of wider
marketing responsibilities
Individual dedicated to
email marketing
Team, as part of wider marketing responsibilities
Team dedicated to email
marketing
Retail 2% 26% 15% 35% 22%
Publishing and Media
2% 29% 16% 33% 20%
Financial Services
2% 38% 17% 33% 10%
Technology and Telecoms
2% 51% 7% 29% 10%
Travel and Leisure
3% 32% 16% 38% 11%
According to the cross-tabulation below, organisations that have dedicated resources for email
marketing are more likely to rate email marketing as excellent or good in terms of ROI.
More than three-quarters of respondents with dedicated individuals or teams (both 78%) gave an
above average rating, ten percentage points more than businesses that are using a general
marketing team for their email marketing and 18 percentage points more than those using a
marketing individual with broader marketing responsibilities.
Company respondents
Table 5: Cross-tabulation of responses for Who is responsible for email
marketing within your organisation? and How do you rate the following
channels (email marketing) or disciplines in terms of return on investment?
Excellent Good Average Poor
No-one 0% 25% 38% 38%
Individual as part of wider marketing responsibilities
21% 39% 31% 9%
Individual dedicated to email marketing
31% 47% 16% 5%
Team, as part of wider marketing responsibilities
19% 49% 27% 4%
Team dedicated to email marketing
30% 48% 20% 2%
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 31
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.3. Volume of email and budget
5.3.1. Number of emails sent
Figure 19 illustrates how many emails companies and agency clients are sending on a monthly
basis.
More than two in five companies (41%) and nearly half of the responding agencies (47%) reported
that they (or their clients) are sending less than 50,000 emails each month. Meanwhile, at the
other end of the spectrum, 9% of client-side respondents have reached email totals exceeding 5m,
more than double the proportion of agency clients (4%).
Interestingly, companies are more likely to be sending less than 50,000 emails and more than 1m
emails compared to last year. The proportion of companies sending less than 50,000 emails
increased by 11% since 2014 (Figure 20), after reaching its lowest point in the history of the Email
Census. The proportion of those sending more than 1m emails per month is the highest in the
nine-year history of the Email Census.
Figure 19: How many emails does your / your clients organisation send each
month?
Company respondents: 545
Agency respondents: 295
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 32
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Company trends: 2010 2015
Figure 20: How many emails does your organisation send each month?
Respondents 2015: 545
Table 6 shows a cross-tabulation of how many emails the five best represented sectors send on a
monthly basis. Retail and publishing & media businesses send the largest numbers of emails,
with 26% of respondents in both sectors indicating they send more than one million emails a
month. Meanwhile, technology and telecom organisations are most likely to send less than
50,000 emails, with nearly two-thirds (62%) of respondents stating this.
Company respondents
Table 6: Cross-tabulation of responses for In which business sector is your
organisation? (top five sectors only) and How many emails does your
organisation send each month?
Less than 50,000
50,001-100,000
100,001-250,000
250,001-500,000
500,001-1 million
> 1 million
Retail 18% 9% 5% 14% 7% 26%
Publishing and Media
32% 5% 8% 8% 3% 26%
Financial Services
36% 23% 9% 9% 6% 9%
Technology and Telecoms
62% 9% 13% 7% 7% 2%
Travel and Leisure
26% 9% 6% 17% 21% 9%
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 33
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.3.2. Proportion of sales from email marketing
After trending positively last year, companies appear to be attributing a smaller proportion of
their sales to email marketing than they were in 2014.
Client-side respondents are, on average, generating a fifth (20%) of their sales from the email
channel (slightly down from 22% last year). This comes with 65% of company respondents
attributing 20% or less of their sales to email marketing, an increase of seven percentage points
since last year.
Similarly, agency clients are deriving, on average, 21% of sales from email, down by two
percentage points from last years average of 23%.
Company respondents
Figure 21: Approximately what proportion of your total sales can you attribute to
the email marketing channel?
Respondents 2015: 536
Respondents 2014: 393 | 2013: 536
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 34
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Agency respondents
Figure 22: Approximately what proportion of your clients total sales can they
attribute to the email marketing channel?
Respondents 2015: 286
Respondents 2014: 261
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 35
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.3.3. Annual spend on email marketing
The annual spend on email marketing is a question that has been asked in every iteration of the
Email Census since we carried out the first survey in 2007. This year, the highest proportion of
company respondents have reported spending less than 5,000 annually on email.
Just under two in five company respondents (39%) are restricting their spending on email to the
smallest bracket, spending no more than 5,000 per year on the channel. Just over a third (35%)
are at the other end of the scale, spending more than 25,000 on email.
One in three agencies say their clients are spending 5,000 or less on email marketing, a 27%
increase since 2014. Meanwhile, the proportion of agency clients spending more than 25,000
has decreased by 21% to 34%.
Figure 23: How much do you / your clients spend on email marketing per year?
Company respondents: 540
Agency respondents: 294
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 36
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Company trends: 2010 2015
Figure 24: How much does your organisation spend on email marketing per year?
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 37
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.3.4. Proportion of marketing budget spent on email marketing
As the chart below shows, companies have also reduced the proportion of marketing budget spent
on email. Client-side respondents are spending on average 13% of their marketing budgets on
email, down from 16% 12 months ago. Compared to last year, companies are 17% more likely to be
allocating no more than 10% of their marketing budgets to email marketing.
The decrease in email spend is in line with the decrease in sales derived from the channel. While
more information would certainly be required to determine the cause and effect, and although its
not possible to know how organisations are replacing the lost sales that were previously attributed
to email, the reduction across the board illustrates that contrary to many beliefs, email is neither
free nor redundant.
Agencies are seeing an even steeper decline in spend among their clients. The average share of
budget allocated to email among agency clients is 15%, a four percentage point decrease from last
years average of 19%.
Company respondents
Figure 25: What proportion of your total marketing budget does email marketing
account for?
Respondents 2015: 535
Respondents 2014: 451
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 38
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Agency respondents
Figure 26: What proportion of your clients total marketing budget does email
account for?
Respondents 2015: 288
Respondents 2014: 261
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 39
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.4. Effectiveness and practices
5.4.1. Ranking of channels for return on investment
After leaping to the top of the list last year, email is again the second to SEO in terms of return of
investment from the perspective of client-side respondents. More than a fifth (22%) of responding
companies rate email as excellent and a further 44% rate it as good. The proportion of
companies rating email as above average in terms of ROI is seven percentage points less than
those rating SEO the same, after being one percentage point ahead last year.
However, when examining in-house and agency respondents together, both email and SEO are
equally as likely to be described as excellent in terms of return on investment.
Figure 28 illustrates the year-on-year change in the proportion of client-side respondents rating
marketing channels as excellent or good for return on investment. While organisations are 4%
less likely to rate email as good or excellent compared to last year, the proportion of those saying
the same about SEO and PPC has increased significantly (by 9% and 19% respectively). Similarly,
the proportion of companies rating social media as good or excellent in terms of ROI has
increased by 9%.
Company respondents
Figure 27: How do you rate the following channels in terms of return on
investment?
Respondents: 502
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 40
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Company trends: 2015 versus 2014
Figure 28: Change since 2014 in proportion of companies rating channels as
excellent or good for ROI
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 41
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Despite the changes between the positioning of email and SEO from last year, there has been
minimal change in how client-side marketers view these two channels in terms of return on
investment since 2008, as seen in Figure 29. On the other hand, mobile marketing, which would
have been in an embryonic stage of development in 2008, is significantly more likely (+94%) to
be perceived as having an excellent or good ROI.
Company trends: 2015 versus 2008
Figure 29: Change since 2008 in proportion of companies rating channels as
excellent or good for ROI
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 42
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Although client-side respondents are now more likely to state SEO is a more efficient channel in
terms of ROI, agency respondents appear to disagree. Nearly four in five agency respondents
(79%) rated email as excellent or good 4% more than the proportion rating SEO the same
(76%).
Agency respondents
Figure 30: How do you rate the following channels in terms of return on
investment?
Respondents: 271
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 43
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.4.2. Email marketing practices
Company and agency respondents were asked to identify the practices which are part of their
current and future email marketing efforts. More than three-quarters (76%) of companies stated
that they are doing basic segmentation, while an additional 15% are planning to implement this
in the future. Its also worth noting that both of these figures have remained unchanged since
2014.
Also among the most common practices is optimising email for mobile devices (61%). After
growing by 88% last year, the proportion of companies doing this has increased again, by 30%.
The only other practice to see significant growth in adoption from last year is web-based
behavioural targeting (20%), which has increased by 43% as shown in Figure 32.
Similarly to 2014, advanced segmentation is the practice most likely to be on an organisations
wish list with 44% planning on doing this. This is followed by behavioural targeting (39%) and
content personalisation (36%).
Company respondents
Figure 31: Which of the following practices are a part of your email marketing
efforts?
Respondents: 480
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 44
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of company respondents that are doing basic segmentation rate
email marketings ROI as excellent or good, compared to 41% of companies who are not doing it
at all (Table 7). As high as this is, doing advanced segmentation seemingly places organisations
in an even better position to be successful, with 86% of client-side respondents who are doing it
rating email marketings ability to deliver on ROI as above average (Table 8).
Company respondents
Table 7: Cross-tabulation of responses for Which practices are part of your email
marketing efforts? (basic segmentation) and How do you rate the following
channels (email marketing) in terms of return on investment?
Excellent Good Average Poor
We do this 24% 49% 24% 3%
Planning this 18% 31% 35% 16%
We dont do this 10% 31% 41% 18%
Company respondents
Table 8: Cross-tabulation of responses for Which practices are part of your email
marketing efforts? (advanced segmentation) and How do you rate the following
channels (email marketing) in terms of return on investment?
Excellent Good Average Poor
We do this 29% 57% 13% 0%
Planning this 21% 48% 26% 5%
We dont do this 17% 33% 38% 12%
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 45
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Company trends
Figure 32: Change since 2014 in use of practices
Voice of the experts
The two most successful email initiatives Ive seen recently both related to behavioural retargeting emails based
on web activity. One was following up on abandoned search activity and the other exploration of loyalty point
redemption alternatives. In both cases a timely, triggered email follow up with relevant content achieved saw a
step change in open and click-through rates versus standard campaign metrics. I believe that this tactic will
increasingly become mainstream over the next year or two.
Andrew Campbell, Managing Director, SixC Ltd
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 46
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
According to supply-side respondents, basic segmentation is the most commonly practised email
marketing activity, with 74% of agencies reporting its use among their clients. As with their client-
side counterparts, the next most popular email practices are optimising email for mobile devices
(63%) and encouraging sharing of content on social networks (62%).
Agency respondents
Figure 33: Which practices are a part of your clients email marketing efforts?
Respondents: 257
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 47
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Agency trends
Figure 34: Change since 2014 in use of practices
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 48
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.4.3. Barriers to effective use of email
The quality of the email database continues to be the most common barrier to effective email
marketing. Over half (54%) stated this as one of their top three barriers, making it the only barrier
experienced by more than half of the responding companies.
A significant proportion of companies have also experienced a lack of strategy (46%), integration
(43%) and segmentation (42%) as stumbling blocks in their email marketing efforts. However,
the good news is that all but one of these four (lack of integration) are being experienced by
slightly fewer organisations than last year.
Agency respondents are 13% more likely to cite the quality of email database as an issue than
company respondents (61% versus 54%). A lack of strategy is also common among agency clients
(55%), as is a lack of relevant content (42%). While this was not as common among company
respondents (36%), it has become more of a prevalent issue, rising by 16% from last year.
Company respondents
Figure 35: Which of the following have you experienced to be barriers to effective
email marketing?
Respondents 2015: 495
Respondents 2014: 591 | 2013: 682
Note: Respondents could check up to three options.
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 49
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Agency respondents
Figure 36: Which of the following have your clients experienced to be barriers to
effective email marketing?
Respondents 2015: 269
Respondents 2014: 247 | 2013: 311
Note: Respondents could check up to three options.
Voice of the expert
Good data lies at the core of successful email. A well targeted okay offer will do well, a badly targeted excellent
offer wont. There are few shortcuts to a quality email database, it takes time and effort but the value of the asset
built makes it worthwhile. So given the fact that a quality email database is seen as a major barrier, its surprising
that time after time on email strategy audit and consulting projects I find list building probably gets the least
focus of all email activities. Whats been done to improve list growth should be part of monthly and quarterly
review plans and not just review of campaigns, content and creative.
Tim Watson, Email Marketing Consultant & Founder, Zettasphere
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 50
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.5. Marketing automation
5.5.1. Email providers marketing automation capabilities
After introducing a new set of questions on marketing automation in last years Email Census, the
research has asked respondents the same questions in order to see the effect marketing
automation has had on email campaigns.
Company respondents are slightly more likely to say their email providers marketing automation
capabilities are advanced, increasing by two percentage points to 43%. However, companies are
still most likely to say their email providers offer basic automation capabilities.
Comparatively, agency respondents are much more likely to say that the marketing automation
capabilities provided by their clients email providers are basic. Close to two-thirds of agencies
(64%) stated this, with only 19% describing the automation capabilities as advanced.
Company respondents
Figure 37: How would you describe your email providers marketing automation
capabilities?
Respondents 2015: 483
Respondents 2014: 467
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 51
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Agency respondents
Figure 38: How would you describe the marketing automation capabilities
enabled by your clients marketing technology?
Respondents 2015: 246
Respondents 2014: 236
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 52
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Figure 39 shows which automated capabilities email platforms are providing to their customers.
Similarly to last year, most organisations have access to automated/triggered email messaging
(67%) via their email provider. Re-send to non-openers (56%) is a new capability added to the list
this year, as is dynamic content generation (48%).
The top four most common automation capabilities among agency clients are the same as those
specified by company respondents. While slightly more agencies say their clients email providers
offer automated/triggered email messaging (70%), re-sending to non-openers (61%) and
integration with other marketing channels and technologies (53%), companies are slightly more
likely to have access to dynamic content generation than their agency counterparts indicate (48%
versus 45%).
Company respondents
Figure 39: Which marketing automation capabilities does your email marketing
provider offer?
Respondents 2015: 376
Respondents 2014: 241
Note: Re-send to non-openers and dynamic content generation are new options for this years survey.
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 53
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Agency respondents
Figure 40: Which marketing automation capabilities are typically offered by your
clients email marketing providers?
Respondents 2015: 194
Respondents 2014: 131
Note: Re-send to non-openers and dynamic content generation are new options for this years survey.
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 54
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
5.5.2. Automation triggers
Figure 41 shows which triggers or behaviours companies and agencies are using to send out
automated emails.
The most prevalent use of automated emails among company respondents is when a user signs up
on the website. Around two-thirds (65%) of responding companies are using subscription or sign-
up to website as an opportunity to send automated emails.
Company respondents
Figure 41: Do you send out automated emails based on the following triggers or
behaviour?
Respondents 2015: 211
Respondents 2014: 241 | 2013: 449
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 55
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright Econsultancy.com Ltd 2015
Compared to last year, companies are significantly more likely to send an automated response to
a website visit / sign-up (59% compared to 46% in 2014). However, apart from the
aforementioned triggers, abandoned basket (37%) and lapsed customers (34%), most triggers are
being used by less than a third of the responding companies.
Voice of the experts
It is wonderful to see the uptake in the majority of these automated tactics within the last year but the list of
automated programmes doesnt stop here. Im a firm believer in identifying where your biggest pain point is and
seeing if an automated programme can help to solve this. For example, if the majority of your customers have
only ever purchased once, then you can set up an automated second purchase programme in order to nurture
them to make a second purchase. Replenishment programmes are also great revenue generators because they are
very customer-service focused.
Kath Pay, Director of Customer Success, cloud.IQ
In comparison, agencies indicate their clients are making greater use of the triggers available to
them. Only one trigger, content viewed on site (32%), is used by less than a third of agency
clients.
Agency respondents
Figure 42: Do your clients send out automated emails based on the following
triggers or behaviour?
Respondents: 129
-
Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 In association with Adestra Page 56
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, re