Even though email marketing is not a new concept, it does not say still. Staying up to date on the most relevant trends will help marketers boost ROI and optimize their time. Of course, email marketing is not just about stats and numbers — a lot will depend on the marketers’ creativity and the product or service they promote. Still, understanding the trends and being aware of precise numbers will help point this creativity in the right direction. So, let’s start with the most important trends to remember in 2021.
Is Email Marketing Still Worth It?
While different marketers have different opinions on the subject, it looks like email marketing is still effective. Based on Statista’s data, over 300 million emails were sent every day in 2020.
Besides, 89% of all marketers still use email as the primary lead generation channel, even though there are other agenda as well:
Source: SmartInsights
According to GetResponse, the average email open rate in the last years was 22.15%. However, as the graph below shows, this figure varies a lot depending on the industry.
Source: HubSpot
Another curious stat from GetResponse is a low unsubscribe rate — just 0.02%. The spam rate filter is even lower, 0.02%. All of these data clearly prove that while email marketing may not be the most exciting channel for generating leads, it is still relevant — even though a lot will surely depend on your business specifics.
Perhaps, one of the reasons why email is still a preferred lead generation channel is that most people start their day by checking their inboxes. In contrast to that, social media’s positions do not seem that strong.
What does it all mean for marketers? The answer here is simple — if you are not investing in email marketing yet, 2021 might be the right year to get started.
The Potential of Email Marketing in 2021
On average, email marketing generates around $42 for every dollar spent, which converts to 4200% ROI. In contrast to that, other channels are not as effective.
Source: OmniSend
Email marketing is a primary tool for lead generation, sales, lead nurturing, and customer retention.
While 89% of all marketers use email for lead generation, 59% of the total number refers to B2B lead generation.
Over 20% of all sent emails are opened within an hour after delivery.
Over 50% of all buying decisions are influenced by email marketing.
All of these figures look very promising, but to make sure your email campaigns hit the high numbers, it is crucial to mind email frequency and timing. Let’s see how you can do that in the paragraph below.
When and How Often Should You Send Emails?
Converting a prospect into a lead is often about timing. Here are some stats that should help you figure out the best time to send your promo emails.
Over 80% of people would love to receive promotional material at least once a month, and over 60% — at least once a week. The third place, with 30+ percent, is for a weekly email schedule.
Given the above figures, it is no wonder that over a third of marketers contact their email respondents up to three times a week.
Tuesday to Wednesday is the best time for sending promo emails because the middle of the week has the highest open and conversion rates.
In contrast to that, weekend open rates are the lowest.
Source: CoSchedule
Holiday and discount seasons have the highest customer conversion rates for B2C industries. Autumn and winter, with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas, are the hottest seasons for email marketers.
Over 50% of marketers believe that there is no perfect timing for sending an email because different people have different daily routines and business schedules.
However, the figures are not always in line with this assumption, as the height CTR rates happen around 11 am on a business day. But, once again, this stat is only applicable for local businesses and will not work for international ones.
Can Email Automation Tools Help with Marketing Campaigns?
Of course, they can — after all, that’s what these tools were designed for in the first place. Among other benefits, the biggest plus of using automation tools is that they help save time.
Still, a deeper understanding of how email automation tools work should come in handy. For instance, 68.5% of marketers use email automation to create more personalized and targeted messages. On the downside, average unsubscribe and spam filter rates are higher on automated emails, with 0.58% and 0.06%, respectively.
At the same time, open rates on automated and non-automated emails are the same. Quite logically, the reason for a higher unsubscribe rate on automated emails is poor targeting and personalization. We will get to these two a little further in this guide. Right now, let’s see what types of emails can and should be automated:
- Welcome emails (used by 47% of businesses)
- Promo and sales material (46%)
- Invitations (27%)
- Blog updates (26%)
Other effective email types include:
Targeting & Personalization
The first and the most important reason to make your email campaigns personalized and keep them targeted is a higher open rate, which ultimately converts to higher sales. However, as this graph proves, there are more benefits to targeting and personalization:
Source: SalesCycle
Given these figures, it is pretty surprising that over 53% of marketers do not target at all, and only 4% use very specific targeting. The rest seem to favor email list segmentation for several audiences as the most time- and cost-effective solution.
At the same time, marketers should not forget that 58% of all revenue is gained with the help of emails that are both targeted and personalized. Addressing the recipient by name and making sure the offer could be of interest is just a start to achieve this kind of effect.
Paying special attention to the email subject line was and will remain one of the most powerful tools in email marketing. Around 47% of people open emails because of an intriguing subject line, and an even more overwhelming number — 69% — send these emails to the spam box because the subject line is not good enough. This leads us to the next and final point — things to avoid to make your email marketing campaigns successful.
Top Reasons for Customer Dissatisfaction
The following graph shows the top reasons for customer dissatisfaction.
Source: Explore
As you can see, half of all email recipients unsubscribe because marketers get too obtrusive. However, excessive email frequency is not the only mistake on a marketer’s list of offenses. Essentially, it still goes down to the value your product or service brings to its target user. So, once again, a successful email marketing campaign is about targeting the right people.
Wrapping it all up, email remains a powerful lead generation tool as long as marketers are ready to apply some effort to their campaigns. Like most things in life, email marketing is not about quantity, but about quality. If you set enough time to carefully target and segment your audience in 2021, you should be able to increase ROI.
