National client email
report
2013
Sponsored by
NATIONAL CLIENT EMAIL rEpOrT 2013
COpYrIGHT: THE DIrECT MArKETING ASSOCIATION (UK) LTD 2013
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Contents
Contents ................................................................................................................................................1
cont. .....................................................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................3
Sponsor perspective ................................................................................................................................4
Executive results summary .......................................................................................................................5
2. Overall results .....................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Importance of email marketing within organisations ..............................................................................6
2.2 Purpose of email marketing ................................................................................................................7
2.3 Budget allocations ............................................................................................................................8
2.4 Budget projections ............................................................................................................................9
2.5 Constraints .......................................................................................................................................9
2.6 Email marketing management ............................................................................................................11
2.7 Staff hours .......................................................................................................................................12
2.8 Ability to calculate revenue contributions .............................................................................................12
2.9 ROI ..................................................................................................................................................14
2.10 Digital revenue contribution ..............................................................................................................14
2.11 Overall revenue contribution .............................................................................................................15
2.12 Revenue contributions of different email approaches ..........................................................................15
2.13 Performance of different types of email message ................................................................................16
2.14 Metrics - trends ..............................................................................................................................17
2.15 Metrics - predictions........................................................................................................................19
2.16 Satisfaction with email programmes ..................................................................................................20
2.17 Email marketing concerns ................................................................................................................21
2.18 Email marketing competence ...........................................................................................................22
2.19 Email marketing education ...............................................................................................................22
2.20 Integration approaches - ROI ............................................................................................................24
2.21 Integration approaches - relationships ...............................................................................................25
2.22 Contact strategies ...........................................................................................................................26
2.23 Maximum contact frequencies ..........................................................................................................26
2.24 List growth .....................................................................................................................................27
2.25 Segmentation practices ...................................................................................................................29
3. B2C and B2B results highlights ............................................................................................................30
3.1 Purpose of email marketing ................................................................................................................31
3.2 Budget allocations ............................................................................................................................32
3.3 Budget projections ............................................................................................................................32
3.4 Staff hours .......................................................................................................................................33
3.5 Ability to calculate revenue contributions .............................................................................................33
3.6 ROI ..................................................................................................................................................33
3.7 Digital revenue contribution ................................................................................................................34
3.8 Overall revenue contribution ...............................................................................................................34
3.9 Revenue contributions of different email approaches ............................................................................34
3.10 Popularity of different types of email message ....................................................................................35
3.11 Metrics - trends ..............................................................................................................................36
3.12 Metrics - predictions........................................................................................................................37
3.13 Email marketing competence ...........................................................................................................38
3.14 Email marketing education ...............................................................................................................38
3.15 Integration approaches - ROI ............................................................................................................39
3.16 Integration approaches - relationships ...............................................................................................39
cont.
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3.17 Contact strategies ...........................................................................................................................40
3.18 Maximum contact frequencies ..........................................................................................................40
4. B2C results – annual comparisons ........................................................................................................41
4.1 Importance of email marketing within organisations ..............................................................................41
4.2 Constraints .......................................................................................................................................42
4.3 Email marketing management ............................................................................................................42
4.4 Satisfaction with email programmes ....................................................................................................43
4.5 Email marketing concerns ..................................................................................................................43
4.6 List growth .......................................................................................................................................44
4.7 Segmentation practices .....................................................................................................................44
5. B2B results – annual comparisons ........................................................................................................45
5.1 Importance of email marketing within organisations ..............................................................................45
5.2 Constraints .......................................................................................................................................46
5.3 Email marketing management ............................................................................................................46
5.4 Satisfaction with email programmes ....................................................................................................47
5.5 Email marketing concerns ..................................................................................................................47
5.6 List growth .......................................................................................................................................48
5.7 Segmentation practices .....................................................................................................................48
Methodology ..........................................................................................................................................49
Glossary of terms ....................................................................................................................................50
About the DMA .......................................................................................................................................51
About Alchemy Worx ................................................................................................................................52
Copyright and disclaimer ..........................................................................................................................53
NATIONAL CLIENT EMAIL rEpOrT 2013
COpYrIGHT: THE DIrECT MArKETING ASSOCIATION (UK) LTD 2013
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2012 was an amazing year to live and work in Britain. We had the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee; the Olympics arrived in
London and England crashing out of another major tournament on penalties! For those of us excited by the goings
on in our inbox, what would the impact be? How did busy environment actually impact campaign results, email
tactics and email marketing’s position within businesses?
Responses to the annual national client email report reveal some interesting answers.
2012 saw maximum contact frequencies rise signicantly with the number of organisations never sending more
than 1 email a month to subscribers almost halving to 14%. How much of this was driven by fresh content from the
external environment can be debated, but recipients responded well to the increased frequency. Just over half of
respondents reported, open, click and conversion rates improving in 2012.
This is supported by the feedback on the strength of ROI from the email channel. Respondents estimating an average
return of £21.48 for each £1 spent on email in 2012.
It is no surprise then to see that email marketing remains critical to businesses. In fact 89% of respondents declared
email as “important” or “very important” to their organisation.
What perhaps is a surprise is that despite these signicant returns, there is a huge disconnect between email’s value
and position within an organisation. Despite its obvious success for business, respondents cited resources and
budget as the top two constraints to success. It is never too late to have a new year’s resolution – and it strikes me
that as an industry we need to help better communicate the value of email in 2013.
As chair of the EMC’s Benchmarking Hub, I would like to thank everyone who made this report possible.
First and foremost, I would like to thank all of the client email marketers who participated in the survey as well as
those ESPs who, in support of research, encouraged their clients to participate.
Secondly, this report, like the National Email Benchmarking reports, is made possible through generous time
given by certain individuals who constitute the Benchmarking Hub, namely: Matt Simons (Haves EHS); Joe Hunter
(ExactTarget), Fiona Robson (RocketSeed), Anthony Wilkey (Email Vision); and Lynn Hewitt of (Business Bound).
Yashraj Jain also deserves special acknowledgment for his tireless work in project managing the report; collecting
and analysing the data; and helping to structure and write the document you are now reading.
Further thanks are due to the report’s author, Mark Brownlow. Final thanks should be saved for the report’s sponsors:
Alchemy Worx.
James Bunting
Managing Director, Communicator Corp
james.bunting@communicatorcorp.com
Chairmen, Benchmarking Hub, Email Marketing Council, Direct Marketing Association UK Ltd.
1. Introduction
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In the last edition of the DMA Email Client Study, we acknowledged that 2011 was as a remarkable year for email and
we are delighted to report that this trajectory has continued in 2012. If 2011 was the year that email came of age,
then 2012 saw it become the cornerstone of many marketing programmes, with a third of respondents reporting
that email accounted for more digital revenue than all other digital revenue channels combined. There were also no
signs of fatigue after a successful 2011, with brands sending more email as a proportion of their databases, while
continuing to see improvements in key metrics such as clicks and conversions. In fact, an exponential improvement
took place in the real number of visitors to websites and revenue on balance sheets.
Of course, as send frequency increases, so must the value of those emails to the subscriber and this is reected by
marketers diversifying their programmes to include a broader range of message types. The report shows increases in
every email category from newsletters and surveys, to customer lifecycle touch points, targeted oers and win-back
mailings. And, as email marketing programmes become necessarily more sophisticated and diverse to increase the
value of each send, the services of dedicated email specialists become increasingly important in achieving that goal.
As the value, frequency and eectiveness of email programs has improved, it is perhaps unsurprising that the report
highlights an average ROI of over £20 for every £1 spent on email. That’s a gure that should attract the attention
of even the most sceptical budget-owners. And yet, 38% of respondents cited budget as a barrier to achieving their
goals. Marketers should be using the impressive ROI and brand engagement gures in this report to increase their
share of marketing spend. They should also be implementing eective measures of email’s contribution to sales
across all channels, as well as other brand KPIs, so that this inuential data is available to them at all times. If the
positive trend for email is to continue in 2013, we must see a signicant reduction in the 38% gure by the time of the
next report. That would represent real progress for our channel.
Dela Quist
CEO, Alchemy Worx
Sponsor perspective
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Email continues to be highly valued with impressive ROI
• Email marketing remains critical to business, with 89% of respondents declaring email to be “important” or
“very important” to their organisation
• Email marketing’s ROI is strong: it returned an estimated average of £21.48 for each £1 spent in 2012
• For roughly a third of respondents, email marketing accounts for 50% or more of all digital business revenue
• Click and conversion rates are the factors that marketers rate most often as important to achieving
business goals
More budget and in-house resource set aside for email marketing – but marketers still feel constrained
• Budget allocation to email marketing increased slightly in 2012, with 15% more marketers spending at least
30% of their budget on email than in 2011. Over half expect their budget to increase across 2013
• More organisations are managing email marketing in-house, with sta hours dedicated to email marketing
rising accordingly
• Marketers are more comfortable with email marketing basics than in 2011, but there is still a need for more
customised, advanced training and education opportunities
• The disconnect between email’s value and email’s position in the organisation continues, with internal
resources and budget the top two constraints to success cited by respondents: marketers need to better
communicate email’s value internally
Customers respond positively as email tactics mature
• Just over half of respondents reported open, click and conversion rates improved in 2012. Even more expect
their numbers to improve in 2013. Only less than 12% reported any decline in these metrics
• Despite relatively low volumes, trigger email campaigns accounted for 21% of email revenue. Over 75% of
email revenue is now generated by alternatives to generic one-size-ts-all campaigns
• Marketers are making use of a far wider number of email marketing approaches, but there is still signicant
room for improvement. For example, just under half still don’t send a welcome email
Marketers nesse their list-building and usage strategies
• Marketers are getting better at using dierent techniques to build their lists. Organic website trac and
transactions remain the top two acquisition sources
• Marketers are also increasing their use of segmentation: the number segmenting into more than six dierent
audiences rose 28% in 2012
• The growth of diverse email streams has also encouraged marketers to develop strategies for maximum
email contact levels. Some 11% more have such a strategy than in 2011
• Maximum contact frequencies have risen signicantly, with the number of organisations never sending
more than one email a month to subscribers almost halving to 14%
More sophisticated integration of email with other channels
• Marketers are using email for an increasing range of objectives beyond straightforward revenue generation,
including retention, engagement, acquisition and brand awareness
• Marketers report that the best other channels to integrate with email are online marketing, social networks,
direct mail and mobile marketing – both for ROI and protable relationship building
Executive results summary
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The DMA’s 2013 National client email report reveals a number of impressive evolutionary steps – both reactive and
proactive – as the medium becomes increasingly rened
Reactively, economic diculties have seen email’s role as a cost-eective and reliable source of response gain
signicant recognition, leading to vastly increased use of the email channel. DMA benchmarks, for example, show strong
year-on-year growth in the volume of email sent through ESPs, with 20% more emails sent in June 2012 than in June 2011
1
.
But email marketing has also matured greatly and at pace, beginning with a growing understanding of email’s wider
role in the marketing mix. This understanding has translated into a more diverse direct response role for email: in
campaigns designed to drive social network activity or oine event registrations, for example. It has also produced
an even better appreciation for the channel’s long-term role in building relationships and for its indirect role, with an
accumulative eect on brand awareness, search volume, and similar.
The past year in particular has also seen email marketing continue to grow in strength and versatility beyond the
reliable ‘old’ standards of a content newsletter or broadcast email promotion. This is most obvious in the growth of
behavioural email, where emails are sent out on a one-to-one basis and initiated by some kind of ‘trigger’ event. This
might be a subscriber action (like a purchase or browsing a particular website section) or a genuine event (like a
birthday or the anniversary of a product purchase). For example, 30% more of the top 1,000 retailers in the USA used
cart abandonment emails in 2012 than in 2011
2
.
The ongoing success of social networks also continues to inuence email. This inuence refers not only to formal
tactical and strategic integration of the two channels, but also to the way social network activity has changed
consumer expectations of the nature and style of communication between organisations and their customers.
Perhaps the largest change, though, comes from the continuing rapid increase in mobile email, with its consequences
for email design, strategy and tactics. A 2012 Google survey
3
already puts smartphone penetration at 51% of the UK
population, with 62% of these smartphone owners using their device for email at least once a day. YouGov predict
4
over 55% of UK mobile phone users will have an email-friendly smartphone by May 2013. And a late 2012 Return Path
analysis
5
found that “mobile open share has increased 300% since 2010 and shows no sign of slowing, with four out of
10 emails sent being read on a mobile device.”
With all of these trends and transformations, how do marketers feel about email marketing and its role in their
organisations? How are they actually using email? And what results are they getting? The DMA’s 2013 National client
email report set out to nd the answers…
In this report, we rst present overall survey results and interpretations. We then compare B2B with B2C ndings,
before looking at responses from B2C and B2B organisations separately.
2.1 Importance of email marketing within organisations
The strategic importance of email remained high in 2012, with 89% of respondents declaring email as “important”
or “very important” to their business.
The continuing strength of email’s status, which is still on a slight upward trend, is a reminder of the channel’s
durability and provides further evidence that newer marketing channels have not eroded email’s importance. Instead,
they have accentuated this importance, with email’s ubiquity among Internet users making it a useful complement to
other online initiatives.
1. DMA (2013) National email benchmarking report H1 2012
2. Internet Retailer (2013) Cart abandonment e-mails gain more attention from e-retailers
3. Google (2012) Our Mobile Planet: United Kingdom
4. YouGov (2012) Smartphone growth in the UK?
5. Return Path (2012) Return Path Report Reveals Nearly Half of All Emails Received Now Read on Mobile Devices
2. Overall results
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How important is email marketing within your business strategically?
2.2 Purpose of email marketing
Most traditional media coverage of the sector tackles retail email and email’s role in driving revenue, yet this objective
is cited less often by respondents than “retention” (cited by 78%) and engagement (70%).
This reects the recent transformations in email marketing described in the introduction: marketers are using the
channel in a range of roles and recognising the broader impacts beyond immediate sales, particularly in terms of
loyalty, branding and long-term eects. The recent DMA Email tracking report
6
, for example, found 63% of consumers
keep emails in their inbox for longer than a day (25% keep them for longer than a week).
The associated ability to generate an ongoing brand presence compares favourably with the visibility and longevity
of, for example, Tweets or Facebook posts. It also speaks to email’s nudge eect
7
, where the sender and subject lines
inuence purchase decisions, even when the email remains unopened.
The strong showing for engagement also demonstrates the pervasive impact of social marketing needs and goals
– where engagement plays a particularly prominent role – on those goals set for other marketing approaches.
A challenge, of course, is to dene “engagement” and set appropriate objectives. The open rate has known
measurement weaknesses (specically image blocking preventing image-based tracking), but there may be
promise in new email intelligence tools that provide information on, for example, “read rates”.
6. DMA (2012) Email tracking report 2012
7. Alchemy Worx (2009) Dela Quist on the Nudge Eect
48%
41%
8%
2%
1%
55%
36%
5%
4%
0%
57%
32%
9%
1%
1
%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Very important Important Neither important
or unimportant
Unimportant Very unimportant
2010 2011
2012
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1
Another problem with goal setting is that traditional email marketing metrics do not measure all active responses to
email. The DMA’s Email tracking report, for example, found 22% of consumers might “go to the company’s website via
another route” after receiving an interesting email from a trusted brand.
These strong, indirect responses also have obvious implications for dening “inactive” subscribers: just because a
recipient is not “opening” or clicking on an email does not mean they are not “engaged” with the sender’s brand.
What is the purpose of your email marketing programmes? Which business goals does it help you to achieve?
2.3 Budget allocations
When asked about future budget changes, 63% of respondents to the client survey in 2011 said they expected
increases. Allocations did increase, but not to that predicted extent. For example, compared to 2011, the number of
respondents spending 30% or more of their budget on email marketing in 2012 rose by 15%.
Given continuing economic problems and uncertain budgets, it’s not clear if an increased percentage allocation
translates into more actual money, since this also depends on whether the overall budget is growing or shrinking.
After all, internal resources and budget were cited as the two most important constraints to achieving (email)
marketing goals (see Chart 2.5).
What proportion of your marketing budget is spent on email?
4%
58% 58%
68%
70%
78%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Other Acquisition Brand
awareness
Revenue
generation
Engagement Retention
Proportion of marketing budget spent on email marketing
55%
16% 16%
13%
48%
19%
11%
22%
51%
12%
17%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
10 percent 20 percent 30 percent 40 percent and more
2010
2011
2012
20%
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2.4 Budget projections
Over half of respondents (56%) expect their expenditure to increase in 2013. Nevertheless, expectations regarding
future budget allocation are not as optimistic as in 2011.
While only one in twenty marketers expects their budget to decline, 39% do expect it to remain unchanged (26%
more than said so in 2011).
Looking forward, how would you expect your company’s expenditure on email to change?
2.5 Constraints
Constraints to reaching (email) marketing goals reveal the problems marketers face when looking to get more
investment in email and make use of advanced tools or technology to improve results.
Which of the following stop you from achieving your marketing goals?
63%
31%
6%
56%
39%
5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increase Stay the same Decrease
2011
2012
38%
26%
22%
19%
22%
54%
38%
30%
28%
27%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Internal resource Budget
I
nternal process In-house technology Lack of data
2011 2012
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Compared with 2011, there are across-the-board, often signicant, increases in the importance attached to
almost every constraint listed.
In absolute terms, the top constraints are internal resources, cited by 54%, and budget, cited by 38%. The 28% citing
in-house technology is also notable, as this represents the biggest increase from 2011 (+47%), though this is partially
explained by more marketers actually using in-house technology (see Chart 2.6).
There is an apparent and ongoing disconnect between email’s importance, email’s performance and email’s ability to
capture budget.
As later charts demonstrate, email continues to produce great results in terms of revenue. Respondents also report
that process metrics like clicks and conversions are rising. So why the budget and resource constraints?
To some extent, email is a victim of its own success. Senior managers may ask why investment is needed, when
results are excellent with current budgets. Marketers may also be failing to internally communicate both email’s
benets and the potential benets of more investment.
Email marketers and the email marketing media often focus on metrics specic to the email world, notably opens and
clicks. Broader appreciation for email marketing within an organisation comes from properly communicating email’s
contribution to business units and bottom line success, such as increases to web visitor numbers, order numbers,
revenue, registrations or coupon redemptions.
However, senior management support may still not be enough. After all, a lack of such support was only cited by a
fth of respondents. Clearly, then, a general tightening of marketing budgets is (still) a fundamental problem in a
weak UK economy.
15%
10%
9%
13%
12%
21%
13% 13%
10%
3%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Senior support
ESP technology Lack of concept
Lack of interdepartmental/
geographical communication
Degradation
2011 2012
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2.6 Email marketing management
Around 75% of respondents manage at least some of their email marketing in-house, with 61% of those doing so
using an ESP’s system.
How do you manage your email marketing programme?
Despite the availability of ESP ancillary services for campaign management, the number outsourcing everything to an
ESP dropped to 8% from 14% in 2011. More marketers are outsourcing at least some functions to an agency, reecting
the rise in ESP-independent services for managing or helping with campaigns. Nevertheless, at least two-thirds of
those that use agencies are still keeping some email management functions in house.
The growth of in-house email marketing management can be explained by various factors:
• More experience and condence with email marketing, though Chart 2.18 suggests insucient improvement
in perceived levels of competence from 2011 to fully explain the changes
• Budget restrictions, leading to increased use of existing in-house labour resources. This factor is supported by
the data on increasing sta hours in Chart 2.7
• Transition to a hybrid email marketing model
19%
10%
61%
32%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Outsource it to an
agency
Outsource it to an
ESP
In-house, using
ESP’s system
In-house, operations
managed by
specialists
12%
14%
74%
16%
8%
76%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Outsource it to an
agency
Outsource it to an
ESP
In-house
2011
2012
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The last point speaks to the trend commonly identied in other DMA benchmark reports. Marketers are not
switching from broadcast mail to one-to-one automated trigger and behavioural email. Instead, many are
retaining broadcast email while developing additional automated, data-driven email streams. Those making the
transition may need outside help for conception and setup. Those that have completed it may be able to reduce
outside agency or ESP use once automation is in place, and rely on internal resources for the always-changing
broadcast promotions or content newsletters.
2.7 Staff hours
More evidence for a shift of email management to in-house comes from data on internal sta hours dedicated to
email marketing. For example, the number of organisations where sta worked more than 90 hours per month on
email rose 36%, from 28% in 2011 to 38% in 2012.
How many sta hours are dedicated to email marketing in an average month?
2.8 Ability to calculate revenue contributions
Many of the constraints to email marketing goals identied in Chart 2.5 would be reduced if marketers could clearly
communicate the strong revenue contribution of email to the business. An understanding of email returns is also
critical for accurate evaluation and planning of email campaigns.
A rst step, of course, is actually being able to calculate that revenue. Some 61% of respondents said they were
able to do so, representing barely any change from the 2011 number.
An inability to calculate revenue might be due to one of several reasons. For example:
• The organisation does not understand the importance of tracking email revenue
• The organisation lacks the tools or integrations to measure email response beyond an open or click
• The marketer recognises that email responses are not fully captured by even sophisticated email and web
analytics tools
53%
19%
10%
15%
3%
48%
14%
15%
7%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
0 - 30 31 - 90 91 - 180 181 - 360 361 +
2011
2012
16%
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This last point is perhaps the most problematical. As we saw in Section 2.2, email response often takes place outside
the immediate email environment. Here are the full results from the DMA’s Email tracking report 2012 when consumers
were asked which three actions they would most likely take when receiving an interesting email:
• 14% might go to a comparison shopping engine
• 22% might go to the sender’s website using their browser (i.e. without clicking on an email link)
• 27% might visit the shop or retail outlet
• 40% might bear the information in mind for later
• 55% might save the email for later use
These numbers make it clear that online tracking tools will struggle to capture all responses to email.
Those organisations with cross-channel customer data often estimate the impact of their emails by comparing
average revenue generated by their subscribers with average revenue earned from non-subscribers. Unfortunately,
this comparison is misleading, since subscribers tend by denition to be better customers who would likely spend
more anyway, even without receiving emails.
Possible alternatives for getting a better handle on email’s net impacts are:
• Compare sales patterns across all channels with email deployment dates to identify matching spikes
• Compare online trac patterns (e.g. pageviews) with email deployment dates to nd matching spikes
• Conduct holdout tests, where a group of subscribers receive no email, to compare customer activity,
response, sales etc. between mailed and non-mailed subscribers
Holdout tests require, unfortunately, multichannel customer data. However, they give a far truer picture of email’s
impact by including oine sales and other sources of email revenue not measured in conventional email campaign
reports. They also account for those sales that would happen anyway, even if you didn’t send an email, so which
cannot truly be attributed to the email programme.
Are you able to calculate the revenue generated from your email marketing activities?
61%
33%
6%
60%
34%
6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Yes No Don't know
2011
2012
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2.9 ROI
An ability to measure revenue allows marketers to calculate the prots attributable to email and also the ROI, both of
which can be used to gain internal approval for email marketing investment.
How much is the approximate return you get back for every pound spent on email marketing?
Of those able to report gures in the survey, a fth are producing an astonishing £51 or more in returns for each £1
spent on email marketing.
If we assume the average return for that top category is £55 (it’s likely much higher) then we get an estimated
average return across all organisations of £21.48 for each £1 spent on email marketing.
This gure compares with numbers
8
from the USA, where a 2012 survey by the USA’s DMA found email produces
$28.50 for every dollar spent.
2.10 Digital revenue contribution
Another indicator of the value of email is its share of business revenue. The majority of organisations (62%) produce
30% or more of their digital business revenue through email. For roughly a third of respondents, email marketing
even accounts for at least as much digital business revenue as all other channels combined.
The associated value of email marketing to the economy is clear, given the UK’s National Oce of Statistics
9
estimated
website sales at £129.1 billion in 2011 and total ecommerce sales at £482.9 billion.
What does email contribute overall to the business as percentage of DIGITAL business revenue?
8. Ken Magill (2012) Email Response Rates Pathetically Low
9. National Oce of Statistics (2012) ICT Activity of UK Businesses, 2011
22%
27%
17%
7%
4%
%
20%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
£1 - £5 £6 - £10 £11 - £20 £21 - £30 £31 - £40 £41 - £50 More than
£51
27%
11%
18%
10%
13%
21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
10 percent 20 percent 30 percent 40 percent 50 percent 60 percent
and more
Percentage of contribution to digital business revenue
3
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2.11 Overall revenue contribution
According to respondents, email also plays an important role in driving total business revenue.
Just over half of organisations (53%) generate 20% or more of this overall revenue through email marketing. It’s
interesting here to compare this total revenue contribution with email’s share of the marketing budget. In 2011, there
was still an imbalance, with email producing a higher proportion of revenue than its budget share might suggest. This
gap narrowed in 2012. For example, email claims at least 30% of the budget share for 38% of respondents (see Chart
2.3) and produces at least 30% of total revenue for 40% of respondents.
What does email contribute overall to the business as percentage of TOTAL business revenue?
2.12 Revenue contributions of different email approaches
Section 1 mentioned how the last year has seen growth in more advanced trigger approaches to email marketing. The
importance of this development is clear from the below chart.
What percentage of your email revenue comes from the following types of emails?
42%
14%
15%
29%
46%
13%
25%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
10 percent 20 percent 30 percent 40 percent and
more
Percentage of contribution to overall business revenue
2011
2012
23%
25%
30%
13%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Unsegmented email
to whole list
Segmented email
to whole list
Activity-based
triggers
Lifecycle-based
triggers
16%
9%
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Activity and lifecycle-based triggers produced 21% of total email marketing revenue. This is despite the fact
that trigger email volumes are typically very small as a proportion of total email volume. After all, it’s hard to send
more than one birthday email a year to customers. One North American review
10
of 170 organisations that use email
marketing found they sent 6.5 billion emails in Q3 2012, of which 166 million (2.5%) were trigger emails. The revenue
generated by trigger emails is far higher than their relative volume would suggest.
Segmented email campaigns accounted for 55%, so 76% of all email marketing revenue came from more advanced
practices than generic broadcast email.
2.13 Performance of different types of email message
Chart 2.13 conrms the suggestion that marketers are using a wider number of advanced email approaches.
What type of email message helps you to achieve your business goals?
Regular newsletters are still the most popular, but almost all types of email message showed increases in use to
achieve email marketing goals.
The biggest increases were observed for welcome emails (+253% compared with 2011), customer surveys (+164%),
thank you messages (+180%), win-back emails (+109%), purchase conrmations (+250%) and abandoned cart
reminders (+133%).
However, there still remains enormous potential for further development of email tactics. Welcome messages, for
example, are easily created using any professional ESP or email marketing software. Nevertheless, almost half of
respondents (47%) still don’t send one.
10. Epsilon (2012) Q3 2012 North America Email Trend Results: More Brands Rely on Triggered Messaging
45%
15%
14%
36%
22%
10%
21%
11%
68%
53%
37%
34%
30%
28%
25%
23%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Regular
newsletter
Welcome
message
Customer
survey
Regular newsletter
segmented based
on purchase habits
Thank you
message
Alert breaking
news
Win-back targeting
lapsed
2011
2012
12%
6%
4%
11%
7%
2%
4%
3%
20%
14% 14%
12%
9%
7% 7 %
3%
Abandoned
cart
Product
replenishment
Warranty
renewal
2011
2012
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
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This gap is made all the more frustrating by studies such as the one by Experian CheetahMail back in 2010
11
,
which found welcome emails typically produce 4x the opens, 5x the CTR and 8x the revenue per email of standard
promotional emails.
Options for welcome message content (which can be spread over several emails) include:
• Thank the subscriber for signing up and conrm the success of the action
• Establish the copy and design elements (sender name, logo etc.) that encourage recognition of future emails
• Remind subscribers of the benets of the emails
• Provide administrative links or information, such as contact or support information, or a link to a subscriber
preference centre
• Encourage readers to provide more information about themselves, for example through a survey or poll
• Encourage subscribers to whitelist the sender
• Oer a reward for signing-up, whether the incentive promised during the sign-up process or as a surprise
• Present the most popular oers or content
• Introduce related themes, such as the sender’s social network presence or information on important
website features
2.14 Metrics - trends
The majority of respondents found open, click and conversion rates improved through 2012.
How have the following trended over the past 12 months?
Open rates
11. Experian CheetahMail (2010) The Welcome Email Report
43%
37%
20%
51%
37%
12%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increased
S
tayed the same Decreased
2011 2012
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Click rates
Conversion rates
Compared with 2011, there was a notable drop in the number of respondents who saw these process metrics decline.
For example, those seeing decreased open rates fell from 20% in 2011 to 12% in 2012. Only 11% found click rates
dropped (compared with 19% in 2011) and the same number found conversion rates declining (less than half of the
24% who saw decreased conversion rates in 2011).
The improvement seems inevitable, given the pervading theme of this report, which sees email marketing
maturing, increased growth in segmentation (see Chart 2.25) and the spread of behavioural email (see Chart 2.13).
Benchmarks
12
from North America, for example, found trigger emails delivered an average 75.1% higher open rate
and 114.8% higher click rate than standard “business as usual” mails.
12. Epsilon (2012) Q3 2012 North America Email Trend Results: More Brands Rely on Triggered Messaging
45%
36%
19%
51%
38%
11%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increased Stayed the same Decreased
2011 2012
45%
31%
24%
53%
36%
11%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increased Stayed the same Decreased
2011 2012
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2.15 Metrics - predictions
Respondents are even more optimistic about their future metrics than they were in the previous National client
email report.
Some 59% expect open rates to increase, 68% expect click rates to increase and a mammoth 73% expect conversion
rates to increase. This is despite the perceived rise in email marketing constraints (see Chart 2.5).
How do you expect the following to trend in the next 12 months?
Open rates
Click rates
Conversion rates
57%
28%
15%
68%
25%
7%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increase Stay the same Decrease
2011 2012
56%
30%
14%
73%
20%
7%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increase Stay the same Decrease
2011 2012
53%
29%
18%
59%
31%
10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increase Stay the same Decrease
2011 2012
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The greater optimism about conversion rates suggests the focus is shifting towards the more important end of the
email conversion chain and away from open rates. This optimism also likely reects continued growth in trigger/
behavioural emails and segmentation, both of which ensure better matching and timing of oers and content to
recipient needs. Survey respondents may also be expecting to better adapt to mobile email.
The accelerated spread of mobile email brings changes to reading behaviour. For example, the share of email opens
occurring on mobile devices peaks in the evening, late at night and in the early morning
13
. A key change is also to the
range of available email display environments, with smaller screen sizes beginning to dominate.
Until recently, many marketers assumed HTML email-friendly smartphones and tablets would deal adequately with
emails designed for the desktop. While true, there is now growing realisation that adapting emails to account for
mobile email use simply leads to higher responses
14
.
As such, marketers are beginning to invest in responsive email design, where email layouts adapt on-the-y to the
properties of the screen they are viewed on. In particular, marketers need to make sure their email links account for
people using ngers and thumbs on touchscreens. For example:
• Links need to look like links: a mouse cursor changes shape to alert the user to the availability of a link.
Fingers don’t change shape when hovering over links, so there are no visual cues other than those built into
the email’s design.
• Links need spacing out so clumsy prodding still allows accurate “clicking”. Apple recommends a block of
around 44 x 44 points for each link.
Marketers should also consider how email content and oers might exploit the fact that more messages are now
carried around by recipients, and are not left behind on desktop computers at home or in the oce.
2.16 Satisfaction with email programmes
Respondent satisfaction with their email marketing programmes is largely unchanged from 2011. A majority (61%)
are either “satised” or “very satised” and only 20% are “unsatised” or “very unsatised”. Given the very strong
returns from email marketing and improvements in metrics (both historical and predicted), it’s perhaps surprising
that satisfaction levels are not higher than in 2011. There are two explanations:
1. The strong performance is counterbalanced by growing concerns and constraints.
2. As marketers become more competent and educated, their expectations rise and they can better perceive
the diculties, challenges and frustrations preventing them from turning knowledge and potential into
bottom line results.
How satised are you with your email marketing programme in relation to meeting your marketing goals?
13. Knotice (2012) Mobile Email Opens Report 1st Half of 2012
14. See, for example, StyleCampaign (2011) Media query trifecta
18%
44%
16%
20%
2%
16%
45%
19%
18%
2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2011
2012
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2.17 Email marketing concerns
The increased focus on click and conversion rates suggested in Section 2.15 is backed up by the factors respondents
consider most important to achieving business goals: the same two metrics top the list, both cited by 63% of marketers.
In general, there is far greater focus on all factors in email marketing than in 2011, reinforcing the impression of a
more enlightened industry that is aware of the challenges and constraints (but well-placed to meet them, as indicated
by performance results and metrics predictions).
The two biggest percentage changes in importance were to content (rated important by 110% more respondents
than in 2011) and data (+87%). This is no surprise, given the continuing resurgence in interest in content marketing
across 2012 and the growth of trigger/behavioural emails: the latter is only possible given the right data.
Marketers often assume content marketing means authoring new and expensive content. This need not be the case.
Much content can be repurposed from other channels, for example from blog posts, social network photos and event
reports, FAQ and support documents, or existing product and marketing literature. Surveys, interviews and social
network conversations can also produce content which has the added advantage of coming direct from customers
and prospects (and thereby resonating well with the same audience).
Thinking about the following factors, which of them are most important to you in helping you achieve your
business goals?
68%
60%
63%
69%
63%
43%
48%
28%
39%
38%
63% 63%
59%
55%
53%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Click rates Conversion
rates
Content Deliverability Open rates
2010 2011 2012
61%
66%
63%
51%
36%
31%
23%
34%
18%
6%
50%
43%
36%
23%
17%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Return on
investment
Data Reputation Opt out rates Resources
2010 2011 2012
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2.18 Email marketing competence
There were no huge shifts in perceived email marketing competence. What we’re beginning to see, however, is some
progression up the initial learning curve, with slightly more marketers comfortable with at least the basics.
How would you rate your company’s overall level of competence in email marketing?
We might also expect to see a gradual rise in those with an advanced level of competence, but this is not the case. Why?
Chart 2.19 shows the main sources of email marketing education and most of these are, by denition, unable to
deliver detailed insights on complex issues or tackle the unique situations and needs of individual marketers.
While the industry does a solid job of general education, there is a need for more customised, advanced training opportunities.
These might be provided through ESPs, agencies and consultants. Alternatively, ESPs and software manufacturers can
continue working to ensure advanced tools and integrations are as user-friendly as possible, reducing the need for
advanced knowledge in the rst place.
2.19 Email marketing education
One of the themes of this report is the contrast between growing marketer constraints and concerns, and the
increased performance and high returns through email marketing. As such, marketers are doing a remarkably good
job of improving results while the environment for them to work in remains dicult.
Another reason marketers may be doing more with less is through a better understanding of optimisation and email
practices. Certainly the below chart shows marketers draw on far more sources of insight and advice than in 2011,
even if their self-reported level of competence hasn’t changed much.
As in 2011, industry email newsletters, blogs and webinars were the top three sources of information in 2012, with
each growing signicantly in relevance.
40%
30%
24%
2%
39%
33%
20%
6%
2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Advanced: would be
able to take advantage
of modern tools and tactics
Very comfortable with
the essentials
Basic, still feeling
our way
Only just started
out
None at all
2011
2012
4%
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Recognition of tradeshows saw the biggest percentage leap, with over twice as many respondents getting their
education from such events in 2011 than in 2012. Is there a lesson there for marketers at ESPs and other organisations
serving the email marketing community?
Where do you get your email marketing education from?
61%
54%
37%
35%
26%
80%
61%
48%
46%
44%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Industry email
newsletters
Industry blogs Industry webinars and
online presentations
The ESP we use Industry vendor
websites and white
papers
2011
2012
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
20%
30%
11%
29%
19%
28%
27%
25%
23% 23%
events (workshops,
seminars,
conferences)
Industry online
discussions
Tradeshows Communication with
other marketers
through social
networks
Direct exchange with
other marketers
through instant
messaging, phone,
face to face
2011
2012
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Only three sources of information declined in popularity. The number of “entirely self-taught” respondents dropped
by half to 7%: as the sector ages and matures, so the proportion of self-taught industry participants from the “early
days” declines. Ironically, both online discussions and social networking dropped in prevalence and are far less
important than more traditional information sources, like newsletters.
This is partly due to the novelty factor of such interactive venues wearing o, not to mention the problem with the
time commitment often required to read through, for example, Twitter and Facebook feeds. However, social network
and discussion groups, such as those run by the DMA on LinkedIn or the Only Inuencers Discussion List remain
strong sources of information, and the new “Communities” feature on Google+ also shows much promise.
2.20 Integration approaches - ROI
Given the apparent wider appreciation for email’s role in supporting a range of marketing objectives, it’s interesting
to see which other channels respondents feel email best integrates with. In terms of ROI, general online marketing
is (unsurprisingly) way out in front, cited by 65% of marketers. This is followed by social networks (38%), direct mail
(32%) and mobile marketing (25%). All other channels were cited by no more than 15% of respondents.
The high ranking accorded social networks conrms the end of the tedious “email versus social” debate. Marketers
have accepted that both can work in tandem, specically through:
1. Using email to drive participation in social networks and subscriptions to social network feeds
2. Using social networks to encourage email sign-ups
3. Using content and intelligence gained through social networks to drive email content and oers
It’s slightly surprising to nd event-related integration rated so low. Email is normally considered valuable to event
marketing: for driving attendance, keeping attendees updated with useful information and for follow-up surveys.
It will be interesting to see how all these results change through time, particularly whether integration with mobile
marketing will receive wider approval.
16%
9%
14%
0%
21%
15%
7%
5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Industry print The consultant we use None, entirely
self-taught
Other, please specify
2011 2012
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Email when integrated with which of the following marketing tactics delivers the best ROI?
2.21 Integration approaches - relationships
Respondent opinions on which channels integrate best with email from a relationship-building perspective dier
little from those for ROI. Online marketing and social networks are still the top two, albeit with fewer ‘votes’ than
in the ROI chart. The only other big dierence is how online fan communities are rated: three times as many
respondents claim integration of these with email is good for enduring and protable relationships than claim the
same for fan communities and ROI.
Email when integrated with which of the following marketing tactics delivers creates enduring and protable
customer relationships?
65%
38%
32%
25%
15%
15%
13%
12%
11%
10%
10%
8%
5%
4%
1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Online marketing
Social networking sites
Direct mail
Mobile marketing
Print ads
Webinars
Telemarketing
Public Relations
Field marketing &
experiential events
Trade shows
TV ads
Event sponsorship
Online fan communities
Radio
Podcasts
Online marketing
Social networking sites
Direct mail
Mobile marketing
Print ads
Webinars
Telemarketing
Public Relations
Field marketing &
experiential events
Trade shows
TV ads
Event sponsorship
Online fan communities
Radio
Podcasts
52%
34%
32%
25%
16%
15%
15%
12%
11% 11%
10%
9%
6%
5%
4%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
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2.22 Contact strategies
The majority of respondents (51%) had a contact strategy in place for the maximum amount of times each address is
contacted, up 11% on the 2011 gure.
This development likely reects growing awareness of the role of frequency in driving response, and its impact on
unsubscribes and spam complaints. The need for a contact strategy is also increased by the growth of trigger emails:
unlike with broadcast email, dierent subscribers can get very dierent amounts of email, depending on their activity
and characteristics. If you only send a generic monthly newsletter, a contact strategy is not as critical as when a
customer can potentially receive between one and 50 emails a month.
Is there a contact strategy for the maximum amount of times you contact an address (based on time and
behaviour)?
2.23 Maximum contact frequencies
Compared with 2011, maximum monthly contact frequencies have risen quite signicantly. Only 14% send a maximum
of one a month (down from 26% in 2011), while 33% have a maximum of at least six a month (up from just 15% in 2011).
These changes have clearly not aected open, click or conversion rates negatively. DMA benchmark statistics also
report unsubscribe rates at long-time lows in 2012
15
.
Of course, these gures refer to maximum, rather than average, frequencies. Those same benchmarks also
show actual average contact frequencies (at least for email sent through ESPs) were extremely low in H1 2012,
at just under two a month. Nevertheless, higher maximums give senders the exibility to exploit appropriate
opportunities, whether seasonal (such as increased emails during the Christmas shopping season) or behavioural
(such as post-purchase email streams).
Recipients, too, benet from increased frequency, provided the delivered value justies the increase (as tends to be
the case with seasonal and trigger emails).
15. DMA (2013) National email benchmarking report H1 2012
46%
49%
5%
51%
44%
5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Yes No Don't know
2011
2012
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Tolerance for more email may also be higher than typically assumed by marketers, since average consumer inboxes
are far less busy than those working in online marketing might think. The DMA’s 2012 Email tracking report
16
,
for example, found around 40% of those who do get brand emails get no more than three such emails a day on
average and about 63% get no more than six.
What is the maximum number of times you contact an address on your list in one month?
2.24 List growth
More evidence of growing competence comes from opinion on eective address acquisition sources.
Nearly every potential source was rated higher in 2012 than in 2011, suggesting marketers are getting better at
using dierent techniques to build out their lists.
Organic website trac was cited most often by respondents (54% - an increase of 64% on the 2011 gure), swapping
its 2011 second-place position with transactions (cited by 50%, up 9% on 2011).
Despite this top position, many organisations still do not fully exploit their website as a source of new subscribers.
Basic requirements are:
• Ensure subscription forms or links are as prominent and on as many web pages as possible
• Test page positions, multiple positions, formats, colours, button sizes etc. to optimise response
• Ensure opt-in opportunities are built into online transactional processes: not just purchases, but downloads,
event registrations etc
• Link to an email policy to reassure those with privacy concerns
• Communicate the benets of subscribing clearly
• Use subscriber-friendly terminology and test copy, button text and calls to action
16. DMA (2012) Email tracking report 2012
13%
35%
20%
16%
9%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Once 2 – 3 times 4 – 6 times 6 - 8 times More than 8
times
Don’t know
7%
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Social media remained in third place, despite a small decline from 25% in 2011 to 23% in 2012, one of few techniques
that didn’t see increased recognition in 2012. Social media certainly deserves attention as a source of sign-ups, not
least because it oers a chance to move consumers from a more conversational channel (social media) to a more
conversion-friendly one (email). Opportunities include:
• Telling social network followers about upcoming (exclusive) email oers or newsletter content
• Posting links to the latest email, “best of” emails and email archives
• Posting links to the newsletter sign-up form and copy at the organisation’s website
• Embedding sign-up forms and promotional copy in the organisation’s social network prole pages
• Ensuring subscribers can easily share email oers and content with their own networks, eectively
endorsing the email list to their friends, family and colleagues
Which from the following are the most eective methods to acquire new email addresses?
33%
46%
25%
17%
16%
10%
54%
50%
23%
21% 21% 21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
People who
transact
Social media
telemarketing
Search
2011 2012
14%
8%
12%
0%
7%
17%
10%
18%
16% 16% 16%
15%
14%
0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Forward to a
friend
Banner Website pop-up
or lightbox
In-store Email list rental Other
2011 2012
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2.25 Segmentation practices
Continuing the “email maturity” theme, one of the more promising developments to emerge from the survey is a clear
increase in segmentation. For example, the number of organisations not segmenting at all fell by a quarter from 19%
in 2011 to 15% in 2012. In contrast, the number segmenting into more than six dierent audiences rose 28% from
29% in 2011 to an impressive 37% in 2012.
On average how many dierent customer segments does your business use to segment your mailings?
11%
38%
15%
7%
19%
34%
18%
29%
0%
15%
27%
20%
37%
1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Don’t segment our list Don’t Know
2010 2011
2012
29%
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The charts in this section compare B2C and B2B results. Charts tracking specic annual changes in B2C and B2B
results are given in Sections 4 and 5 respectively.
Most results and interpretations match those in the main section or are self-explanatory given the nature of the
dierences between B2C and B2B email marketing.
For example, B2C organisations dedicate more sta hours to email marketing than B2B organisations, an expected
result given the higher frequencies, bigger lists, more advanced tactics typical of B2C senders. The same argument
applies to email budget shares, where, for example, 37% of B2C marketers spent 30% or more of their marketing
budget on email (the equivalent gure for B2B is 22%).
Selected highlights are:
B2C emailers put at least as much or more emphasis on engagement and retention than their B2B counterparts.
This is perhaps surprising, given the traditional role of the B2B newsletter in strengthening customer relationships.
The strong overall role for retention may, of course, stem from the economic diculties of recent years, where
customer loyalty becomes scarcer and more valuable. B2C organisations do, however, place less-than-average
emphasis on building brand awareness. Since they tend to email far more often than their B2B colleagues, brand
awareness is more likely to be seen as an inevitable side benet, rather than a main objective that needs working on.
The return generated on email marketing spend by B2B organisations takes more of a U-form than with their B2C
equivalents. The majority (56%) of B2B organisations produce under £11 return per £1 spend. However, 22% create a
return on the pound of £51 or more. As with the overall results, if we assume the average return for the top category
is £55 (it’s likely much higher) then we get an estimated average return across all B2B respondents of £19.09 for each
£1 spent on email marketing.
The more even spread in returns in B2C organisations sees 42% returning under £11, 18% more than £50 and an
estimated average return of £23.21.
Email marketing is, perhaps unexpectedly, even more important to online B2B sales than to online B2C revenue,
with some 49% of B2B respondents seeing email contribute over 40% of total digital revenue, compared with 38%
seeing the same result in B2C. This result is mimicked in contributions to total revenue per se, with 29% of B2B
organisations seeing email contribute 40% or more to this revenue (21% in B2C).
B2C organisations have been particularly successful at moving beyond generic, broadcast email, with less than
20% of email revenue coming from unsegmented email to the whole list.
Given many retailers have post-purchase email capabilities, there is, however, considerably more scope for
developing product lifecycle campaigns, covering such things as purchase and shipping confirmations, review
requests, upsells, cross-sells, how-tos, product feature highlights, or introductions to customer service, customer
support or social communities.
In light of the importance of email to B2B revenue, there is also a strong argument for B2B emailers to push
for more resources and pursue the kind of advanced tactics previously limited to the consumer sector, such as
abandonment emails for white paper downloads, lifecycle campaigns for subscription sales and similar. Since
welcome emails have value irrespective of industry sector, it’s a little disappointing that only 43% of B2B
organisations put this message type to use.
Compared with their B2B colleagues, B2C organisations are unusually optimistic that open, click and conversion
rates will increase in the next 12 months. This likely speaks to the huge potential of simple trigger emails,
which are more easily implemented by B2C organisations, given they are more likely to have online transactions
and the required data. Studies of cart abandonment emails, for example, commonly report huge increases in
metrics when compared to “normal” emails. One such study
17
found a cart abandonment campaign generating
US$17.90 in revenue per email.
17. SeeWhy (2011) Shopping Cart Abandonment Emails Generate $17.90 per Email
3. B2C and B2B results highlights
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B2C marketers feel condent about their abilities: 75% are at least very comfortable with the essentials, highlighting the
need for more advanced sources of training and education. B2B marketers are, however, more divided in terms of levels
of competence. While a solid 43% consider themselves advanced, there are still 28% near the start of the learning curve.
Since much email marketing education focuses on retail, there is perhaps a need for more introductory-level training
specically for the B2B sector. B2B marketers are also less likely than their B2C counterparts to get their education
through online or one-to-one discussions. This suggests there would be value in more formal B2B networking
opportunities outside the social networks.
Dierences in the value of integration of email with other channels follow the usual patterns expected, given the
nature of B2B and B2C business. However, the former perceive far more ROI potential in email/mobile marketing
integration. This may simply reect a head start in the eld among B2B organisations, given that business users
traditionally showed much stronger take up of mobile devices. With the rise of consumer smartphones, the iPad Mini
etc., this dierence in perceptions may well change in future studies.
Most B2B organisations are not sending much email. For example, 56% never send more than three a month. Again,
this leaves a lot of potential for expanding B2B email programmes by applying some of the behavioural and trigger
email techniques more popular in B2C.
3.1 Purpose of email marketing
What is the purpose of your email marketing programmes? Which business goals does it help you to achieve?
B2B B2C
3%
64%
59%
64%
67%
77%
6%
53%
57%
71%
73%
78%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Other Brand awareness Acquisition
Revenue generation
Engagement Retention
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3.2 Budget allocations
What proportion of your marketing budget is spent on email?
3.3 Budget projections
Looking forward, how would you expect your company’s expenditure on email to change?
55%
42%
3%
56%
37%
7%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increase Stay the same Decrease
B2B B2C
49%
14%
20%
10%
14%
23%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
10 percent
Proportion of marketing budget spent on email
B2B B2C
20 percent
30 percent
40 percent or more
53%
17%
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3.4 Staff hours
How many sta hours are dedicated to email marketing in an average month?
3.5 Ability to calculate revenue contributions
Are you able to calculate the revenue generated from your email marketing activities?
3.6 ROI
How much is the approximate return you get back for every pound spent on email marketing?
24%
32%
19%
3%
0% 0%
22%
20%
22%
11%
7% 7%
18%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
£1 - £5 £6 - £10 £11 - £20 £21 - £30 £31 - £40 £41 - £50 More than £51
B2B B2C
62%
11% 11%
10%
6%
30%
18%
21% 21%
10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
0 - 30 31 - 90 91 - 180 181 - 360 361 +
B2B B2C
59%
38%
3%
61%
9%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Yes No Don't know
B2B B2C
30%
15%
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26%
9%
15%
12%
15%
22%
28%
13%
21%
7%
11%
20%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
10 percent 20 percent 30 percent 40 percent 50 percent 60 percent or more
Proportion of email revenue to total digital revenue
B2B B2C
48%
11%
12%
29%
45%
15%
18%
21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
10 percent 20 percent 30 percent 40 percent or more
Proportion of email revenue to total revenue
B2B B2C
3.7 Digital revenue contribution
What does email contribute overall to the business as percentage of DIGITAL business revenue?
3.8 Overall revenue contribution
What does email contribute overall to the business as percentage of TOTAL business revenue?
3.9 Revenue contributions of different email approaches
What percentage of your email revenue comes from the following types of emails?
28%
27%
28%
9%
8%
19%
24%
32%
16%
9%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Unsegmented email
to whole list
Segmented email
to whole list
Activity-based
triggers
Lifecycle-based
triggers
B2B B2C
27%
16%
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3.10 Popularity of different types of email message
What type of email message helps you to achieve your business goals?
25%
31%
37%
21%
43%
75%
30%
36%
37%
38%
62%
63%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Thank you
message
Customer
survey
Regular newsletter
segmented based
on purchase habits
Welcome
message
Regular
newsletter
B2B B2C
4%
11%
7%
9%
12%
2%
3%
8%
9%
12%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Warranty
renewal
Product
replenishment
B2B B2C
11%
9%
31%
12%
17%
16%
19%
20%
27%
28%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Abandoned
cart
Alert breaking
news
Win-back
targeting lapsed
B2B B2C
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3.11 Metrics - trends
How have the following trended over the past 12 months?
Open rates
Click rates
Conversion rates
47%
12%
55%
32%
13%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increased Stayed the same Decreased
B2B B2C
53%
38%
48%
37%
15%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increased Stayed the same Decreased
B2B B2C
57%
35%
8%
50%
37%
13%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increased Stayed the same Decreased
B2B B2C
41%
9%
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3.12 Metrics - predictions
How do you expect the following to trend in the next 12 months?
Open rates
Click rates
Conversion rates
67%
25%
8%
79%
16%
5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increased Stayed the same D
ecreased
B2B B2C
52%
38%
10%
66%
24%
10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increased Stayed the same Decreased
B2B
B2C
62%
32%
7%
74%
19%
6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Increased Stayed the same Decreased
B2B B2C
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3.13 Email marketing competence
How would you rate your company’s overall level of competence in email marketing?
3.14 Email marketing education
Where do you get your email marketing education from?
28%
22%
25%
45%
38%
52%
62%
77%
21%
32%
31%
44%
53%
45%
60%
82%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Tradeshows Industry online
discussions
Industry vendor
websites and
white papers
The ESP we use Industry webinars
and online
presentations
Industry
blogs
Industry email
newsletters
B2B B2C
2%
7%
13%
23% 23%
17%
8% 8 %
16%
19%
23%
29%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Other, please specify None, entirely
self-taught
The consultant
we use
Industry print
Communication with
other marketers through
social networks
Direct exchange with
other marketers through
instant messaging,
phone, face to face
B2B B2C
36%
25%
23%
5%
40%
18%
6%
0%
0%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Advanced: would be able to
take advantage of modern
tools and tactics
Very comfortable
with the essentials
Basic, still feeling
our way
Only just started out
None at all
B2B B2C
43%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
4%
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3.15 Integration approaches - ROI
Email when integrated with which of the following marketing tactics delivers the best ROI?
3.16 Integration approaches - relationships
Email when integrated with which of the following marketing tactics delivers creates enduring and protable
customer relationships?
8%
13%
21%
14%
25%
19%
37%
51%
15%
16%
10%
18%
25%
45%
31%
52%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Public Relations Online fan
communities
Webinars Print ads Mobile marketing Direct mail Social networking
sites
Online marketing
B2B B2C
11%
5%
13%
29%
40%
24%
57%
12%
15%
16%
21%
37%
39%
72%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Public Relations TV ads Print ads Mobile marketing Social networking
sites
Direct mail Online marketing
B2B B2C
2%
19%
24%
3%
11%
5%
24%
13%
0%
1%
3%
4% 4%
6%
7%
9%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Podcasts Trade
shows
Telemarketing Radio Event
sponsorship
Online fan
communities
Webinars Field marketing &
experiential events
B2B B2C
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3.17 Contact strategies
Is there a contact strategy for the maximum amount of times you contact an address
(based on time and behaviour)?
3.18 Maximum contact frequencies
What is the maximum number of times you contact an address on your list in one month?
2%
6%
5%
14% 14%
13%
17%
6%
4%
7%
4%
6%
9%
4%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Radio Podcasts TV ads Trade shows Event sponsorship Field marketing &
experiential events
Telemarketing
B2B B2C
20%
30%
49%
45%
53%
42%
5%
0%
10%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Yes No Don't know
B2B B2C
18%
38%
18%
4%
8%
14%
9%
32%
21%
11%
22%
5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Once 2 - 3 times 4 - 6 times 6 - 8 times More than
8 times
Don’t know
B2B B2C
6%
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Charts specically tracking the 2011-2012 changes in B2C results are presented below.
Selected highlights contrasting with the overall results are:
• Although the number of B2C respondents rating email as “important” or “very important” increased in
2012 (to 86% from 82% in 2011), there was also a negative shift in perceptions, with far more of these
respondents choosing the “important” ranking. This likely reects a change in relative, rather than absolute,
importance, given the wider range of channels employed by B2C organisations, who have been particularly
proactive in uptake of, for example, social marketing
• As with the overall results, most constraints have increased in importance, though “lack of senior support”
is a notable exception. The inevitable budget and resource problems associated with a weak economy
are even more important here. The highest increase in importance compared with 2011, however, is a lack
of data, with 366% more respondents citing it as a problem. In a way this is a heartening result, since it
suggests B2C marketers are aware of the important role of data in driving more advanced applications of
email marketing, particularly behavioural and lifecycle email approaches
• B2C organisations have made particularly strong progress in segmentation, with over four in 10 such
organisations using more than six segments on an average email campaign
4.1 Importance of email marketing within organisations
How important is email marketing within your business strategically?
4. B2C results – annual comparisons
61%
21%
9% 9%
0%
48%
38%
2%
1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Very important Important Neither important
or unimportant
Unimportant Very
unimportant
2011
2012
11%
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4.2 Constraints
Which of the following stop you from achieving your marketing goals?
4.3 Email marketing management
How do you manage your email marketing programme?
Lack of interdepartmental/
g
eographical communication
ESP technology
Lack of Concep
t
Senior suppor
t
Internal process
In-house technology
Budge
t
Internal resource
s
Lack of Dat
a
Degradation
2011
2012
6%
15%
6%
6%
27%
21%
6%
33%
21%
39%
3%
7%
10%
12%
22%
27%
28%
33%
42%
60%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
8%
11%
81%
13%
6%
81%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Outsource it to an agency Outsource it to an ESP In-house
2011
2012
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4.4 Satisfaction with email programmes
How satised are you with your email marketing programme in relation to meeting your marketing goals?
4.5 Email marketing concerns
Thinking about the following factors, which of them are most important to you in helping you achieve your
business goals?
Click rates Content Conversion
rates
Data Deliverability Open rates Opt out
rates
Reputation Resources Return on
investment
45%
15%
55%
18%
39%
30%
12%
24%
3%
33%
62%
58%
67%
47%
58%
56%
30%
36%
17%
53%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2011
2012
13%
37%
19%
28%
3%
8%
48%
22%
20%
2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2011
2012
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4.6 List growth
Which from the following are the most eective methods to acquire new email addresses?
4.7 Segmentation practices
On average how many dierent customer segments does your business use to segment your mailings?
Don’t segment
our list
Don’t Know
21%
30%
15%
0%
13%
25%
18%
42%
2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2011
2012
Website pop-up or lightbox
People who transact
6%
1%
2% 2%
3%
3
%
0% 0%
6%
2%
11%
5%
9%
13%
15% 15% 15%
16%
18%
21%
22%
24%
52%
54%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Email list rental
Forward to a friend
Search
Banner
In-store
Social media
2011 2012
34%
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Charts specically tracking the 2011-2012 changes in B2B results are presented below.
Selected highlights contrasting with the overall results are:
• The importance of email remains high with B2B organisations, with 92% declaring it “important” or “very
important”. In contrast to B2C marketers, however, there is a strong positive shift in focus, with 36% more
respondents citing email as “very important” than in 2011. This may reect the relatively low costs of email,
when compared with direct mail, display advertising and event marketing in a time of budget constraint. It
may also reect recognition of email’s importance to revenues (see Sections 3.10 and 3.11) and its longer-
term role in building relationships, lead nurturing and inuencing sales cycles.
• The broad trend to more in-house email operations is particularly strong among B2B organisations,
with a full 97% now managing at least some email marketing in-house. The process, driven by the factors
outlined in Section 2.6, is made easier than in B2C, since B2B email may often involve a basic content-based
newsletter, fewer advanced tactics, less frequent sends and less sophisticated use of data. This may change
in the future with growing interest in, for example, automated lead nurturing programmes and import of
traditional advanced B2C tactics to the B2B environment.
5.1 Importance of email marketing within organisations
How important is email marketing within your business strategically?
5. B2B results – annual comparisons
50%
3% 3%
68%
24%
8%
0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Very important Important Neither important
or unimportant
2011
2012
Unimportant
44%
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5.2 Constraints
Which of the following stop you from achieving your marketing goals?
5.3 Email marketing management
How do you manage your email marketing programme?
Lack of interdepartmental/
g
eographical communication
ESP technology
Lack of Concep
t
Senior suppor
t
Internal process
In-house technology
Budge
t
Internal resource
s
Lack of Dat
a
Degradation
2011
2012
14%
5%
9% 9%
12%
19%
19%
17%
24%
33%
3%
13%
14%
16%
19%
25%
27%
30%
33%
48%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
13%
13%
74%
18%
11%
71%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Outsource it to an agency Outsource it to an ESP In-house
2011
2012
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5.4 Satisfaction with email programmes
How satised are you with your email marketing programme in relation to meeting your marketing goals?
5.5 Email marketing concerns
Thinking about the following factors, which of them are most important to you in helping you achieve your
business goals?
40%
34%
36%
19%
26%
36%
10%
29%
5%
21%
64%
60%
59%
40%
52%
51%
15%
36%
16%
47%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Click rates Content Conversion
rates
Data
D
eliverability Open rates Opt out
rates
Reputation Resources Return on
investment
2011
2012
23%
39%
21%
17%
0%
25%
16% 16%
1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2011
2012
42%
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5.6 List growth
Which from the following are the most eective methods to acquire new email addresses?
5.7 Segmentation practices
On average how many dierent customer segments does your business use to segment your mailings?
29%
33%
20%
18%
0%
16%
30%
22%
32%
0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Don’t segment
our list
Don’t Know
2011
2012
0%
2%
4%
2%
8%
7% 7%
13%
2%
10%
20%
12%
11%
13%
16%
17%
19% 19%
22% 22%
27%
29%
48%
54%
We
bsite pop-up or lightbox
Social media
Search
People who transac
t
2011
2012
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Email list rental
Forward to a friend
Banner
In-store
NATIONAL CLIENT EMAIL rEpOrT 2013
COpYrIGHT: THE DIrECT MArKETING ASSOCIATION (UK) LTD 2013
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The National client email report is an initiative undertaken by the DMA ’s Email Marketing Council and, more
specically, the Email Benchmarking Hub, to complement the National Email Benchmarking Report which is
produced on a half-yearly basis.
This was conducted during October, November and December 2012 via a survey that was hosted online. This was
promoted on the DMA home page and via various ESPs who supported the companion report. A link to the survey
was also added to some, relevant DMA members’ weekly newsletters, social networks and websites. Therefore, both
DMA members and non-members were surveyed, and a good cross section of company types and sizes covering a
range of geographic locations were reached. The data was collated and analysed by the DMA’s research department
and sent to the report writer. The analysis was checked through for any discrepancies and the report proof read by
the members of the Benchmarking Hub of the DMA’s Email Marketing Council. The report was designed in-house by
the DMA’s design team.
The survey consisted of both qualitative and quantitative question types in order to get valuable information that
would be useful to both client companies using email marketing and providers of email marketing related products
and services. The questions were reviewed in 2012 to ensure they were up-to-date and reected the current market
scenario. There was a good response to the survey with 231 respondents.
There was a good mixture of both B2B and B2C respondents surveyed, with slightly higher number of B2B
organisations or those that serve both B2B and B2C.
Methodology
NATIONAL CLIENT EMAIL rEpOrT 2013
COpYrIGHT: THE DIrECT MArKETING ASSOCIATION (UK) LTD 2013
50
Denitions were provided to participants to decrease the risk of dierent ESPs providing responses based on a
diering understanding. For the purposes of this piece of research the following denitions are used throughout.
Acquisition: Any activity where the reason for sending the email is to acquire a new customer. This includes any list
rental from cold or prospect lists, and list trades or swaps with partners or aliates. Does not include emails sent to
existing customers where trying to up-sell or cross-sell.
Average: Unless otherwise stated, this refers to the mean.
Hard bounce rate: Where the recipient does not see the email due to invalid email addresses, domain failure,
ISP blocked etc.
Average hard bounce rate: The number of hard bounces divided by the number of emails delivered (in %).
Soft bounce: Where the email address is valid but the recipient does not see the email because of a temporary
delivery problem, inbox full, server down etc.
Average soft bounce rate: The number of soft bounces divided by the number of emails delivered (in %).
Average total click-through rate: Number of total clicks divided by number of emails delivered (in %).
Average unique click-through rate: Number of individuals who have clicked through divided by number of
emails delivered (in %).
Deliverability: Volume of emails sent less the number of bounces received.
Dynamic content: Content that is chosen by the system when the email is being created based on the recipient’s
attributes stored in the database.
Error codes rolled up across campaign (transmission): Counts of individual error codes aggregated at the campaign level.
Error codes rolled up across domain: Counts of individual error codes aggregated at the domain level over a period
of time or a number of campaigns.
Individual error codes: SMTP codes returned when emails are rejected.
Mean: The total of n gures divided by n. This is typically referred to as the average. For example, if the data is 2, 1, 1,
3, 8; the mean is (2+1+1+3+8)/5 = 3.
Average unique open rate: Unique opens divided by number of emails delivered (in %).
Opt-out: When a recipient unsubscribes or opts-out of further communications.
Response rate: The number of actual responses made as a result of the email campaign, expressed as a percentage of
the overall total email volumes and irrespective of take-up.
Glossary of terms
NATIONAL CLIENT EMAIL rEpOrT 2013
COpYrIGHT: THE DIrECT MArKETING ASSOCIATION (UK) LTD 2013
51
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is Europe’s largest professional body representing the direct marketing
industry. With a large in-house team of specialists oering everything from free legal advice and government
lobbying on direct marketing issues to research papers and best practice, it is always at the forefront of developments
in the industry.
The DMA protects the direct marketing industry and consumers. It promotes the highest standards through self-
regulation and lobbies against over-regulation. The DM Code of Practice sits at the heart of everything we do – and all
members are required to adhere to it. It sets out the industry’s standards of ethical conduct and best practice.
Our 16 DMA Councils cover the whole marketing spectrum – from the digital world of social media and mobile
marketing to the ‘real’ world channels of door drops and inserts. The Councils are made up of DMA members and
regularly produce best practice and how to guides for our members.
We also have a packed calendar of conferences, workshops and discussions on the latest topics and best practice, and
80% of them are free for members and their sta.
As the industry moves on so do we, which is why we’ve recently launched a number of new services for our members
– a VAT helpline, a Social Media Helpdesk and an IP Protection Service.
Visit www.dma.org.uk regularly to keep up to date with all our services.
About the DMA
NATIONAL CLIENT EMAIL rEpOrT 2013
COpYrIGHT: THE DIrECT MArKETING ASSOCIATION (UK) LTD 2013
52
Established in 2001, Alchemy Worx is the world’s largest email marketing agency. With over 70 employees and oces
in London and Atlanta, it uses hyper-specialization techniques to deliver both simple and highly complex life-cycle
based email programmes faster and more cost eectively.
Alchemy Worx provides strategy, design, content, testing, inbox placement and detailed post campaign analysis to
many big-name Brands; including Sony, Skype, Getty Images and Hilton Hotels.
Learn more about our hyper-specialized team here. You can also nd techniques that generate real value for your
email marketing programs by subscribing to Email Worx here and following us on Twitter.
About Alchemy Worx
NATIONAL CLIENT EMAIL rEpOrT 2013
COpYrIGHT: THE DIrECT MArKETING ASSOCIATION (UK) LTD 2013
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The National client email report 2013 is published by The Direct Marketing Association (UK) Ltd Copyright © Direct
Marketing Association. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in
any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the DMA (UK)
Ltd except as permitted by the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and related legislation.
Application for permission to reproduce all or part of the Copyright material shall be made to the DMA (UK) Ltd, DMA
House, 70 Margaret Street, London, W1W 8SS.
Although the greatest care has been taken in the preparation and compilation of the National client email report
2013, no liability or responsibility of any kind (to extent permitted by law), including responsibility for negligence
is accepted by the DMA, its servants or agents. All information gathered is believed correct at February 2013. All
corrections should be sent to the DMA for future editions.
Copyright and disclaimer
