Datran Media, an e-mail and online marketing solutions company based in New York City, recently released their annual e-mail marketing survey, titled "The 2007 Email Marketing Survey: Looking Forward." The survey was conducted in December 2006 and found that marketers still looked to e-mail marketing as a major weapon in their arsenal.
Of all marketers surveyed, 83.2% indicated that e-mail marketing would be the most important advertising medium they would use in 2007. Search marketing was second with 61.7% of respondents indicating that it would be the most important tactic this year, while contextual targeting was third with 27.7%.
Display ads, ad networks, contextual targeting, traditional direct, print advertising, online video, mobile marketing, and RSS tactics rounded out the top 10. If all the hype and lofty expectations are fulfilled, online video and mobile marketing will climb up this list within the next few years.
So, why is e-mail marketing regarded so fondly? Of all respondents, 55.3% indicated that it was because it drove incremental revenue. In other words, it helps them to squeeze more juice out of its existing lemons. Another 19.1% said that it was because e-mail marketing reinforced its brand position, while another 8.5% said that it reactivated customers.
When posed the question, "How often will you use e-mail in 2007 compared to 2006?" 72.3% said that they would use it "More," while 23.4% said they would use it the "Same," and 4.3% said they would use it "Less."
In response to the question, "Do you currently use, or plan on using an outside vendor for e-mail marketing?" 55.3% of respondents said "Yes," while 36.2% said "No," and 8.5% were "Unsure."
Only 31.9% of respondents said they planned on using e-mail "More" during the 2007 holiday season, while 51.1% said they would use it the "Same" amount, and 17% said they would use it "Less."
Regarding the most important factors affecting e-mail campaigns, respondents were split on whether "Creative Optimization" or "Landing Pages" were the most important, each garnering 34% of the vote. "Time of day/day of week changes" and "Triggered Messages" were tied for second most important factor, with each getting 10.6% of the vote, while "Subject line testing" received 6.4%.
Respondents were overwhelmingly optimistic when it came to predicting 2007 ROI from e-mail, with 83% of them indicating that it would "Increase," 17% saying it would "Stay the Same," and no one saying it would "Decrease."
Sources:
http://success.datranmedia.com/research/dec06survey.php
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1004573
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