Survey: 3 out of 10 Marketers Lagging in Implementing Email Marketing Automation
Many marketers are turning to email to reach out to customers and prospects, but in terms of automation, new research suggests that they are still lagging.
GetResponse and SmartInsights recently conducted the “Email Marketing and Automation Excellence 2018” report, and statistics showed that 28 percent of respondents consider themselves to be “basic” when it comes to email marketing automation. This is to say that they do not use many of the features of marketing automation. Just eight percent of respondents said that they use all email marketing automation features and optimize them to get the best results.
But despite these statistics, marketers still heavily lean toward email above all other tactics, thanks in part to its effectiveness. Three out of 10 marketers ranked their email marketing effectiveness as at least “good” and an additional 18 percent said it was “excellent.” This was compared to just 25 percent who said the same about social media marketing, and 22 percent who rated SEO as “good” in reference to effectiveness.
That being said, email marketing is also the area where marketers appear to be diverting most of their budget this year, compared to 2017. Nearly half (47 percent) said that they will increase their email marketing budget in 2018.
Personalization and Email Marketing Effectiveness
One way marketers may be able to further improve the effectiveness of email is through personalization, according to previous research.
According to “The Email Individualization Imperative” report from The Relevancy Group and OneSpot, statistics showed that average open rates increase when emails are personalized. Marketers had an average open rate of 28 percent for personalized promotional emails and newsletters in the second quarter of 2018. This was compared to 27 percent for the same quarter in 2017, and 25 percent for the second quarter of 2016.
In addition, the average click-through rate for these types of emails was 17 percent in Q2 2018. This is an increase from 16 percent in Q2 2017, and 14 percent in Q2 2016. The researchers of the report credit increased adoption of personalization and segmentation for the statistical difference.