Report: Marketers Saw Email Engagement Rise at the Height of the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a ripple effect on the marketing industry, and new research suggests that marketers actually saw some benefit in regards to email engagement back in the spring.

Validity recently published the “Disruption: How the 2020 Pandemic Changed Email” report, and statistics showed that email engagement rates rose to about 27% between March and April of this year. This was a notable increase from the average of about 25% for the time period.

“Engagement with email during this crisis was initially high, with engagement rates peaking at 27%,” wrote the authors of the report. “This may reflect increased use and consumption of digital communication channels as people worked from or remained at home early in the pandemic, and an increased reliance on email.”

Click-rates, however, were relatively unaffected by the pandemic. Around March and April, the average click rate hovered between 4% and 5%, which is on par with the average for that time of the year.

Marketing Changes and the COVID-19 Pandemic

A number of changes have rolled out as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and previous research indicates that marketers may be inclined to keep these alterations in the future.

The Harris Poll and OpenX conducted “The New Normal: Marketing in 2020 and Beyond,” and data suggests that 74% have made strategy changes due to the pandemic that they intend to keep.

Approximately 56% will continue to focus on digital channels, while 46% will retain changes made to their media mix. Additionally, 43% will continue to directly address issues in the news as a part of their marketing strategy.