When looking at which marketing channels to use, you will want to look at the facts and figures surrounding its effectiveness. We’ve all heard that email marketing is dead, but we think these statistics will show it most definitely isn’t and prove why email marketing should be firmly on your to-do list!
Let’s start with return on investment (ROI). Depending on whose figures you go for, this ranges quite heavily. According to Optinmonster, 18% of companies achieve an ROI greater than $70 for each $1 invested. A more common figure is around the $40 for every $1 mark (Omnisend, 2022). ConstantContact states the ROI is around $36 for every $1 (ConstantContact, 2023). However, the ROI is also sector dependent:
- Software & Technology: 40:1
- Marketing, PR, & advertising agency: 42:1
- Retail, e-commerce, & consumer goods or services: 45:1
- Media, publishing, events, sports, & entertainment: 45:1
- Travel, tourism, & hospitality: 53:1
According to the Direct Marketing Association, in the UK, the ROI averages 42:1, meaning firms get back £42 for every £1 they invest in email marketing.
So, that takes care of the ‘is it worth it?’ question. Let’s look at some other noteworthy stats.
Do people actually want to receive emails? The answer seems to be ‘yes’, and in fact, it’s the most preferred means of communication. In a survey, how people like to get their marketing messages can be broken down like this:
- email 55%
- SMS 17%
- Facebook 14%
- TikTok 3%
- LinkedIn 2%
- Twitter 2%
All other digital marketing channels received 1% of the vote.
That’s a significant gap between email and SMS, the next most popular form of digital marketing. So, it is safe to say people still respond to email marketing. (ConstantContact, 2023). Small wonder, then, that 2022 statistics from the Content Marketing Institute show that 69% of marketers use email marketing to connect with their audience. The company website (905) and blogs (78%) are the most popular, which is to be expected: create the content somewhere it can be permanently featured and 100% controlled, and then use email to signpost the audience to the content. This makes email the third most popular dissemination channel. (Oberlo)
Different types of emails have varying levels of success. Let’s look at some overall statistics for key metrics, figures you should be looking at to measure the success rate of your email marketing efforts
The average open rate for emails is around 19.7%. For welcome emails (sent when a customer first makes a purchase or signs up to receive content), the average open rate is 68.6%. In the UK, the average open rate is 21.8%. (GetResponse).
Segmenting your audience drives 30% more open rates and 50% more click-throughs (when people click on a call-to-action such as ‘buy now’) than untargeted email campaigns (HelpScout). Including a coupon or discount increases the likelihood of a purchase through email marketing by 67%.
Let’s get to UK-specific figures.
According to MarketingSherpa, 59% of customers prefer to get emails every week. 47% of people unsubscribe for receiving too many emails, making this the most common reason for customers disengaging (Statista). Personalised emails have an open rate of 29.3% compared to non-personalised (23.9%). And, in a survey by Litmus, mobile devices account for 55% of email openings in the UK – so make sure your emails are optimised for mobile!
And we’ll leave you with these final thoughts: According to Statisca, by 2025, the number of global email users is predicted to reach 4.6 billion. That’s more than half the world’s population. Also, by 2025, 376.4 billion emails are expected to be sent and received each day. Make sure yours doesn’t get lost in the noise.
… email marketing that delivers!
Shaun Reynolds has been specialising in email marketing since 2005 and, in February 2019, launched Email-Postman. Since then, we’ve helped over 100 clients across a range of industries and sectors build successful email marketing campaigns across various email marketing platforms. For further information or to discuss getting help with your email marketing, you can arrange a free call-back today by clicking here!
