EXCERPT

Special Rate Sponsor:

2011
Email Marketing
Benchmark Report
Practical instructions
New Research to generate,
and Insights for
qualify and nurture
Accelerating new business
Email Performance
leads based on proven, real-life
marketing Note: This is an authorized excerpt from the full
Marketing Sherpa 2011 Email Marketing
Benchmark Report. To download the entire Report,
go to: Sherpastore.com/2011Email MarketingBMR1
or call 877-895-1717
2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report
New Research and Insights for Accelerating Email Performance

Lead Author
Sergio Balegno, Director of Research

Contributing Authors
Jen Doyle, Senior Research Analyst
Jeffrey Rice, Research Analyst

Production Editor
Brad Bortone, Reporter
David Kirkpatrick, Reporter

2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

US $447 / ISBN: 978-1-936390-04-5
Copyright © 2010 by MarketingSherpa LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, faxing, emailing, posting online
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the Publisher.

To purchase additional copies of this report, please visit

http://www.SherpaStore.com

Yes, bulk discounts are available for multiple copies. Contact:

Customer Service
MarketingSherpa LLC
+1 (877) 895-1717 (outside US, call +401-247-7655)
Service@SherpaStore.com
499 Main Street
Warren, RI 02885 USA

i
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC. It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner.
For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com. For more copies, visit http://www.SherpaStore.com
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... ii

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ 2

New Research and Insights for Accelerating Email Performance ......................................................... 2
Research highlight 1. Email marketing maturity – a key indicator of success ....................................... 3
Three Phases of Email Marketing Maturity .................................................................................... 3
Chart: Half of all organizations stuck between Trial Phase and Strategic Phase of maturity ......... 3
Research highlight 2. Perception of ROI drives email marketing investment ........................................ 4
Chart: How organizations perceive email marketing ROI at budget time, by maturity phase......... 4
Research highlight 3. Facing significant obstacles to email marketing success ................................... 5
Chart: Most significant challenges to email marketing effectiveness, by primary channel ............. 5
Research highlight 4. Top tactics for delivering relevant content .......................................................... 6
Chart: Three dimensions of relevancy tactics - effectiveness, difficulty and use ........................... 6
Research highlight 5. Trends in email deliverability .............................................................................. 7
Chart: Deliverability improvements offset by continued challenges ............................................... 7
Research highlight 6. Metrics that matter most ..................................................................................... 8
Chart: Email marketing metrics tracked by percentage of organizations tracking them ................. 8

Chapter 1. The State of Email Marketing .............................................................................. 9

Facing significant new obstacles to email marketing success............................................................. 10
Chart: The significance of challenges to email marketing effectiveness ...................................... 11
Chart: Most significant challenges to email marketing effectiveness, by primary channel ........... 11
Chart: Most significant challenges to email marketing effectiveness, by organization size.......... 12
Chart: Most significant challenges to email marketing effectiveness, by maturity phase ............. 13
Marketer insights on their most difficult email marketing challenges................................................... 14
What email marketers are really trying to achieve .............................................................................. 17
Chart: The importance of email marketing objectives .................................................................. 17
Chart: Most important email marketing objectives, by primary channel ....................................... 18
Chart: Most important email marketing objectives, by organization size...................................... 19
Chart: Most important email marketing objectives, by maturity phase ......................................... 20
Marketer insights on their most important objectives for the coming year........................................... 21
Objectives email marketers are achieving most effectively ................................................................. 24
Chart: The effectiveness of email marketing at achieving objectives ........................................... 24
Chart: Objectives email marketing achieves most effectively, by primary channel ...................... 25
Chart: Objectives email marketing achieves most effectively, by organization size..................... 26
Chart: Objectives email marketing achieves most effectively, by maturity phase ........................ 27
Email marketing maturity – a key indicator of success........................................................................ 28
Three Phases of Email Marketing Maturity .................................................................................. 28
Chart: Half of organizations between Trial and Strategic phases of email marketing maturity .... 28
Chart: Organizations in each phase of email marketing maturity, by primary channel................. 30

ii
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

Chart: Organizations in each phase of email marketing maturity, by organization size ............... 31

Chapter 2. Email Budgets and Bottomlines ....................................................................... 32

The perception of ROI drives email marketing investment .................................................................. 32
Chart: Email marketing ROI a reality for more than a quarter of organizations............................ 32
Chart: How organizations perceive email marketing ROI at budget time, by primary channel..... 33
Chart: How organizations perceive email marketing ROI at budget time, by organization size ... 34
Chart: How organizations perceive email marketing ROI at budget time, by maturity phase....... 35
A method for quantifying ROI .............................................................................................................. 36
Chart: Organizations with a method for quantifying email marketing ROI are in the minority ...... 36
Chart: Organizations with a method for quantifying email marketing ROI, by primary channel ... 37
Chart: Marketers with a method for quantifying email marketing ROI, by organization size ........ 38
Chart: Marketers with a method for quantifying email marketing ROI, by maturity phase............ 39
Email marketing ROI benchmarks ...................................................................................................... 40
Chart: Email marketing ROI as percentage as reported by majority of respondents .................. 40
Chart: Email marketing ROI as percentage, by primary channel ................................................. 41
The changing marketing budget landscape ........................................................................................ 42
Chart: Organizations increasing and decreasing marketing budgets - the impact on tactics ....... 42
Chart: Net change (organizations increasing minus decreasing budgets), by primary channel ... 43
Chart: Net change (organizations increasing minus decreasing budgets), by organization size . 44
Chart: Net change (organizations increasing minus decreasing budgets), by maturity phase ..... 45
Chart: Marketing budgets don't include staffing costs for majority of organizations ..................... 46
Online’s share of the marketing budget .............................................................................................. 47
Chart: Share of marketing budget allocated to online marketing by majority of organizations ..... 47
Chart: Share of marketing budget allocated to online marketing, by primary channel ................. 48
Chart: Share of marketing budget allocated to online marketing, by organization size................ 49
Chart: Share of marketing budget allocated to online marketing, by maturity phase ................... 50
Email’s share of the online marketing budget ..................................................................................... 51
Chart: Share of online budget allocated to email marketing by majority of organizations ............ 51
Chart: Share of online marketing budget allocated to email marketing, by primary channel........ 52
Chart: Share of online marketing budget allocated to email marketing, by organization size ...... 53
Chart: Share of online marketing budget allocated to email marketing, by maturity phase.......... 54
Substantial email marketing budget increases projected for 2011 ...................................................... 55
Chart: Extent of changes to email marketing budgets in the coming year ................................... 55
Chart: Extent of changes to email marketing budgets in the coming year, by primary channel ... 56
Chart: Extent of changes to email marketing budgets in the coming year, by organization size.. 57
Chart: Extent of changes to email marketing budgets in the coming year, by maturity phase ..... 58

Chapter 3. Getting Relevant by Being Personal ................................................................ 59

Top tactics for delivering relevant content ........................................................................................... 59
Chart: Three dimensions of relevancy tactics - effectiveness, difficulty and use ......................... 59
Relevancy tactics used ....................................................................................................................... 60
Chart: Tactics organizations are using to improve relevancy....................................................... 60
Chart: Tactics used to improve email relevancy, by primary channel .......................................... 61

iii
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

Chart: Tactics used to improve email relevancy, by organization size ......................................... 62

Chart: Tactics used to improve email relevancy, by maturity phase ............................................ 63
The time, effort and expense required of relevancy tactics ................................................................. 64
Chart: Relevancy improvement tactics - degree of difficulty ........................................................ 64
Chart: Relevancy improvement tactics rated difficult, by primary channel ................................... 65
Chart: Relevancy improvement tactics rated difficult, by organization size.................................. 66
Chart: Relevancy improvement tactics rated difficult, by maturity phase ..................................... 67
The effectiveness of relevancy tactics ................................................................................................ 68
Chart: Relevancy improvement tactics - level of effectiveness .................................................... 68
Chart: Relevancy improvement tactics rated very effective, by primary channel ......................... 69
Chart: Relevancy improvement tactics rated very effective, by organization size ........................ 70
Chart: Relevancy improvement tactics rated very effective, by maturity phase ........................... 71
Marketer insights on the most effective relevancy and personalization tactics ................................... 72
Satisfying subscriber preferences ....................................................................................................... 75
Chart: Satisfying subscriber preferences starts with collecting data ............................................ 75
Chart: Organizations collecting and using subscriber preference data, by primary channel ........ 76
Chart: Organizations collecting and using subscriber preference data, by organization size ...... 77
Chart: Organizations collecting and using subscriber preference data, by maturity phase .......... 78
What it takes to personalize email ...................................................................................................... 79
Chart: Data collected for email personalization goes beyond subscriber name........................... 79
Chart: Collecting and using subscriber personalization data, by primary channel ....................... 80
Chart: Collecting and using subscriber personalization data, by organization size...................... 81
Chart: Collecting and using subscriber personalization data, by maturity phase ......................... 82
Case briefing: Personalization tactics increase conversions ............................................................... 83

Chapter 4. Driving Email List Growth.................................................................................. 84

Top tactics for increasing subscriber lists ........................................................................................... 84
Chart: Three dimensions of list growth tactics - effectiveness, difficulty and use......................... 84
Email list growth tactics used .............................................................................................................. 85
Chart: Tactics organizations are using to grow email lists ........................................................... 85
Chart: Tactics used to drive email list growth, by primary channel .............................................. 86
Chart: Tactics used to drive email list growth, by organization size ............................................. 87
Chart: Tactics used to drive email list growth, by maturity phase ................................................ 88
The time, effort and expense required of list growth tactics ................................................................ 89
Chart: Email list growth tactics - degree of difficulty..................................................................... 89
Chart: Email list growth tactics rated difficult, by primary channel ............................................... 90
Chart: Email list growth tactics rated difficult, by organization size .............................................. 91
Chart: Email list growth tactics rated difficult, by maturity phase ................................................. 92
The effectiveness of list growth tactics ................................................................................................ 93
Chart: Email list growth tactics - level of effectiveness ................................................................ 93
Chart: Email list growth tactics rated very effective, by primary channel ..................................... 94
Chart: Email list growth tactics rated very effective, by organization size .................................... 95
Chart: Email list growth tactics rated very effective, by maturity phase ....................................... 96

iv
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

Marketer insights on their most effective list growth tactics ................................................................ 97

Social media as a list growth tactic ..................................................................................................... 99
Chart: Organizations using limited number of social sharing buttons in email campaigns ........... 99
Chart: Social sharing buttons used in email campaigns, by primary channel ............................ 100
Chart: Social sharing buttons used in email campaigns, by organization size ........................... 101
Chart: Social sharing buttons used in email campaigns, by maturity phase .............................. 102
Trends in email list growth ................................................................................................................ 103
Chart: Email list growth continues positive trend during the past year ....................................... 103
Chart: Email list growth trend, by primary channel .................................................................... 104
Chart: Email list growth trend, by organization size ................................................................... 105
Chart: Email list growth trend, by maturity phase ...................................................................... 106
Case briefing: .................................................................................................................................... 107
Solutions and providers for sending house email list ........................................................................ 108
Chart: Advanced solutions and service providers the top choice among email marketers ........ 108
Chart: Type of email solution or provider used, by primary channel .......................................... 109
Chart: Type of email solution or provider used, by organization size ......................................... 110
Chart: Type of email solution or provider used, by maturity phase ............................................ 111

Chapter 5. Making it Into the Inbox ................................................................................... 112

Top tactics for improving email deliverability ..................................................................................... 112
Chart: Three dimensions of deliverability tactics - effectiveness, difficulty and use ................... 112
Deliverability tactics used .................................................................................................................. 113
Chart: Improving email deliverability starts with removing inactive subscribers ......................... 113
Chart: Tactics used to improve email deliverability, by primary channel .................................... 114
Chart: Tactics used to improve email deliverability, by organization size .................................. 115
Chart: Tactics used to improve email deliverability, by maturity phase ...................................... 116
The time, effort and expense required of deliverability tactics .......................................................... 117
Chart: Deliverability improvement tactics - degree of difficulty................................................... 117
Chart: Deliverability improvement tactics rated difficult, by primary channel ............................. 118
Chart: Deliverability improvement tactics rated difficult, by organization size ............................ 119
Chart: Deliverability improvement tactics rated difficult, by maturity phase ............................... 120
The effectiveness of deliverability tactics .......................................................................................... 121
Chart: Deliverability improvement tactics - level of effectiveness .............................................. 121
Chart: Deliverability improvement tactics rated very effective, by primary channel ................... 122
Chart: Deliverability improvement tactics rated very effective, by organization size .................. 123
Chart: Deliverability improvement tactics rated very effective, by maturity phase ..................... 124
Trends in deliverability issues ........................................................................................................... 125
Chart: Deliverability improvements offset by continued challenges ........................................... 125
Marketer insights on the state of deliverability and tactics for improving it ........................................ 126

Chapter 6. Metrics that Matter Most .................................................................................. 128

Measuring email marketing performance .......................................................................................... 128
Chart: Email marketing metrics tracked by percentage of organizations ................................... 128
Chart: Email marketing metrics tracked, by primary channel ..................................................... 129

v
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

Chart: Email marketing metrics tracked, by organization size ................................................... 130

Chart: Email marketing metrics tracked, by maturity phase ....................................................... 131
A year of change in key performance metrics ................................................................................... 132
Chart: Organizations seeing measurable changes in email response rates .............................. 132
Chart: Net change (increases minus decreases) in response rates, by primary channel .......... 133
Chart: Net change (increases minus decreases in response rates), by organization size ......... 134
Chart: Net change (increases minus decreases in response rates), by maturity phase ............ 135
Marketer insights on using metrics to improve email performance ................................................... 136
How marketers measure emails delivered ........................................................................................ 140
Chart: How email marketers calculate 'Delivery Rate' ............................................................... 140
Chart: 'Delivery Rate' defined, by primary channel .................................................................... 141
Chart: 'Delivery Rate' defined, by organization size ................................................................... 142
Chart: 'Delivery Rate' defined, by maturity phase ...................................................................... 143
How marketers measure emails opened........................................................................................... 144
Chart: Calculating 'Open Rate'................................................................................................... 144
Chart: 'Open Rate' defined, by primary channel ........................................................................ 145
Chart: 'Open Rate' defined, by organization size ....................................................................... 146
Chart: 'Open Rate' defined, by maturity phase .......................................................................... 147
How marketers measure emails opened........................................................................................... 148
Chart: Calculating 'Click-Through Rate' ..................................................................................... 148
Chart: 'Click-Through Rate' defined, by primary market ............................................................ 149
Chart: 'Click-Through Rate' defined, by organization size ......................................................... 150
Chart: 'Click-Through Rate' defined, by maturity phase ............................................................. 151
How marketers measure emails converted ....................................................................................... 152
Chart: Calculating 'Post-Click Conversions' ............................................................................... 152
Chart: 'Post-Click Conversions' defined, by primary channel..................................................... 153
Chart: 'Post-Click Conversions' defined, by organization size ................................................... 154
Chart: 'Post-Click Conversions' defined, by maturity phase....................................................... 155
Benchmarking email newsletter performance ................................................................................... 156
Chart: How the average email newsletter campaign performs .................................................. 156
Chart: Performance rates for email newsletter campaigns, by primary channel ........................ 157
Chart: Performance rates for email newsletter campaigns, by organization size....................... 158
Chart: Performance rates for email newsletter campaigns, by maturity phase .......................... 159
Benchmarking email (other than newsletter) performance ................................................................ 160
Chart: How the average email campaign that is not a newsletter performs ............................... 160
Chart: Performance rates for email campaigns that are not newsletters, by primary channel ... 161
Chart: Performance rates for email campaigns that are not newsletters, by organization size .. 162
Chart: Performance rates for email campaigns that are not newsletters, by maturity phase ..... 163

Chapter 7. Putting Email to the Test ................................................................................. 164

Testing and optimizing email marketing performance ....................................................................... 164
Chart: Minority of organizations routinely test email campaigns ................................................ 164
Chart: Organizations routinely testing email campaigns, by primary channel ............................ 165

vi
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

Chart: Organizations routinely testing email campaigns, by organization size .......................... 166
Chart: Organizations routinely testing email campaigns, by maturity phase .............................. 167
Campaign elements tested ............................................................................................................... 168
Chart: Campaign elements routinely tested to optimize performance........................................ 168
Chart: Campaign elements routinely tested to optimize performance, by primary channel ....... 169
Chart: Campaign elements routinely tested to optimize performance, by organization size ...... 170
Chart: Campaign elements routinely tested to optimize performance, by maturity phase ......... 171
Marketer insights on methods typically used to test email campaigns .............................................. 172
Methodology for email testing and optimization ................................................................................ 174

Appendix 1. Benchmark Survey Demographics .............................................................. 175

Chart: Survey respondents by primary channel ......................................................................... 175
Chart: Survey respondents by industry sector ........................................................................... 176
Chart: Survey respondents by organization size ....................................................................... 177
Chart: Survey respondents by marketing role and decision-making authority ........................... 179

Appendix 2. Email Marketing Glossary ............................................................................. 180

Appendix 3. Research Partner ........................................................................................... 198

vii
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
NEW RESEARCH AND INSIGHTS FOR ACCELERATING EMAIL PERFORMANCE
Email has long been established as one of the hardest working tools in the marketing toolbox. Strategically,
email plays an important role in achieving a wide range of marketing objectives. Tactically, email appears to
have unlimited potential especially when integrated with emerging marketing channels like social media. As
a mature tactic, performance improvements are no longer measured in quantum leaps but in incremental
steps. But when multiple improvement tactics are combined, performance is accelerated. And helping you
understand which email marketing tactics will be most effective is the purpose of this study.

For the eighth consecutive year, MarketingSherpa has conducted new

Benchmark Reports
research and comprehensively rewritten the 2011 Email Marketing
Benchmark Report to provide marketers the data and insights needed MarketingSherpa Benchmark
to make informative marketing decisions. In this study, more than Reports provide marketing
1100 marketers shared their valuable experience about what’s executives and practitioners the
working (and what‘s not) in email marketing today, to help you better comprehensive research data
understand how to accelerate email performance. and insights needed to compare
an organization’s practices and
In addition to learning more about the state of email from a strategic
performance against industry
and tactical standpoint, you’ll also gain a deeper knowledge of the
benchmarks, to guide strategic
following key issues from the most comprehensive study of email
decisions and tactical planning.
marketing available.

The impact of email marketing maturity

This study has revealed a clear correlation between the phase of an organization’s email marketing maturity
and the effectiveness of its email programs. Throughout this report, findings have been segmented by
phase of maturity to demonstrate the disparity in performance of organizations in each phase. This
information allows you to determine the practices and follow the lead of marketers with proven success.

Three dimensional views of email tactics

We found that, in many cases, marketers are more likely to use email tactics that are fast and easy to
implement than those that are most effective. By incorporating and analyzing three sets of data from the
study (effectiveness, difficulty and use) on some of email marketing’s most significant challenges, marketers
are able to correct their course of actions to improve performance.

All new metrics and benchmarks

Email marketers wanted more data for comparing their email marketing performance with similar
organizations and we’ve delivered. The 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report has taken a deeper dive
into the metrics that matter most to email marketers, and segmented this information by organization size,
primary channel and phase of marketing maturity for comparative purposes.

The research highlights contained in this Executive Summary section of the 2011 Email Marketing
Benchmark Report are a very small sample of the more than 150 charts with in-depth analysis from
MarketingSherpa researchers and the hundreds of insights from real-life marketers like you.

2
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT 1. EMAIL MARKETING MATURITY – A KEY INDICATOR OF SUCCESS

Throughout this report, we have segmented data by phase of email marketing maturity. Each phase
represents how systematic an organization is in its approach to email marketing. The phase of an
organization’s maturity is determined by the process they use (or don’t use) to plan, execute, measure and
report on email marketing programs. The purpose of this segmentation is to demonstrate the disparity in
the performance of email marketing programs by organizations in each phase of maturity, and the
relationship between the phase and an organization’s email marketing success.

Three Phases of Email Marketing Maturity

Trial Phase Transition Phase Strategic Phase

Organization does not have a Organization has an informal Organization has a formal process
process or guidelines for process with a few guidelines with thorough guidelines they
performing email marketing. they sporadically perform. routinely perform.

Chart: Half of all organizations stuck between Trial Phase and Strategic Phase of maturity

We do not have a
process or
guidelines for
performing email We have a formal
marketing (Trial process with
phase) thorough
14% guidelines we
routinely perform
(Strategic phase)
37%

We have an
informal process
with a few
guidelines we
sporadically
perform
(Transition phase)
49%

Source: MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey

Methodology: Fielded Sep 2010, N=1,115

3
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT 2. PERCEPTION OF ROI DRIVES EMAIL MARKETING INVESTMENT

How executives perceive email marketing's ability to produce a return on investment will determine the
investment they are willing to make. Organizations in the strategic phase of email marketing maturity are
about twice as likely to believe that email marketing is producing a ROI as are their counterparts in the
transition and trial phases. Consequently, strategic phase organizations are more than twice as likely to
increase email marketing budgets liberally in 2011 for continuous improvement.

At the other extreme, organizations in the trial and transition phases of maturity are much more likely to
believe that email marketing is basically free and intend to keep it that way. These organizations are
destined to get what they pay for.

Chart: How organizations perceive email marketing ROI at budget time, by maturity phase

38%
Email marketing is producing a ROI.
Let's increase the budget liberally 20%
for continuous improvement.
19%

38%
Email marketing will eventually
produce a ROI. Let's increase the 43%
budget but do it conservatively.
41%

6% Strategic phase
Email marketing is unlikely to
10% Transition phase
produce a ROI. Why invest more?
8% Trial phase

18%
Email marketing is basically free.
28%
Let's keep it that way.
32%

Source: MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey

Methodology: Fielded Sep 2010, N=1,115

4
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT 3. FACING SIGNIFICANT OBSTACLES TO EMAIL MARKETING SUCCESS

Email marketers continue to struggle with the challenge of delivering highly relevant content to their target
audiences. Whether you are marketing to consumers, businesses or both, the more targeted your email
campaigns, the more content is required. Developing a sufficient amount of content is a time-intensive
process that many marketers do not have the resources to produce.

While relevancy will be the most significant challenge to email marketing effectiveness in 2011, there is a
range of second tier issues - from quantifying email marketing ROI to growing email lists - that are equally
challenging to marketers in all channels and have been addressed in this study.

Chart: Most significant challenges to email marketing effectiveness, by primary channel

68%
Targeting recipients with
66%
highly relevant content
56%

44%
Quantifying email
37%
marketing ROI
44%

41% Business channel (B2B)

Improving email
39% Consumer channel (B2C)
deliverability
31% Both channels (B2B2C)

40%
Getting people to opt-in
46%
to email lists
42%

38%
Legitimate email being
35%
perceived as spam
36%

33%
Lack of an effective email
33%
marketing strategy
40%

Source: MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey

Methodology: Fielded Sep 2010, N=1,115

5
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT 4. TOP TACTICS FOR DELIVERING RELEVANT CONTENT

The popular use of an email marketing tactic does not always reflect its effectiveness. We've taken a deeper
dive into the analysis of tactics throughout this study to gain a better understanding.

This chart incorporates three sets of data on relevancy tactics. The level of effectiveness is shown on the
vertical axis while the degree of difficulty to implement the tactic is shown on the horizontal axis. The size
of each sphere represents its level of usage.

This chart shows, for example, that the tactic of segmenting email campaigns based on behavior is used
more often than automatically sending email based on triggers, which is more effective and less difficult to
implement.

Chart: Three dimensions of relevancy tactics - effectiveness, difficulty and use

Usage indicated by sphere size

70%
Automatically send Segmented email
email based on campaigns based
60% triggers on behavior

50%
Level of Effectiveness

40%
Allowed Dynamically
subscribers to personalized email Segmented email
30% specify email content campaigns based
preferences on sales cycle

20%

10%

0%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Degree of Difficulty
Source: MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey
Methodology: Fielded Sep 2010, N=1,115

6
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT 5. TRENDS IN EMAIL DELIVERABILITY

Making it into the inbox involves a complex set of issues and is a perennial challenge for email marketers.
While many organizations are experiencing measurable improvements, nearly as many are experiencing
worsening conditions. The net result overall is a slight change for the better.

The effectiveness of tactics used to improve deliverability varies significantly and many marketers have
shared their insights in this study on what works best for them. For example, as one marketer told us,
“Removal of non participating subscribers has had the most influence on improving deliverability and email
performance rates in all aspects of email marketing. In other words, get rid of the deadbeat email addresses
and everything improves, and the spam companies leave our email alone.”

Chart: Deliverability improvements offset by continued challenges

Measureably worsening Measureably improving

Bounce-backs and
15% 27%
undeliverable email

Missing rate (not delivered

12% 22%
anywhere)

Inbox placement rate 11% 21%

Junk folder placement rate 18% 19%

Emails not opened in more

18% 18%
than 6 months

Emails not clicked in more

15% 16%
than 6 months

-20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30%

Source: MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey

Methodology: Fielded Sep 2010, N=1,115

7
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
 MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT 6. METRICS THAT MATTER MOST

Measuring the performance of email campaigns enables marketers to benchmark and optimize results. But
which metrics are worth tracking?

The vast majority of organizations track the fundamental delivery, open and click-through rates. But, as well
established as these traditional metrics are, we found there is still no clear consensus on the formula used
to calculate each of these metrics.

The more comprehensive an email program becomes, the more reliant a marketer becomes on incremental
downstream metrics like post-click conversions and revenue per email. These downstream metrics are
essential to tracking ROI back to email campaigns, and gaining the budgets necessary for continuous email
marketing improvements.

Chart: Email marketing metrics tracked by percentage of organizations tracking them

Click-through rate 92%

Open rate 90%

Delivery rate 81%

Clicks per link in email 51%

Clicks per email 51%

Post-click conversion rate 44%

Response by list segment 36%

Revenue per email 33%

Social sharing rate 18%

Source: MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey

Methodology: Fielded Sep 2010, N=1,115

8
© Copyright 2000–2010 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions contact service@sherpastore.com.
Fax form to: (401) 247-1255

Order Today!
Special Launch Sponsor:

2011 edition includes:

• 152 charts and tables
• 1100 surveyed marketers used
• Top email marketing challenges for 2011
• Special sections on email tactics, list growth,
relevancy, deliverablity, and metrics
• Testing and optimization methods for 2011 and
much more
Yes! I want to benefit from the most recent research
and analysis available on email marketing. I want to take
advantage of the $100 savings and I know my order is
risk-free because it’s covered by MarketingSherap’s 100%
satisfaction guarantee.

PDF + Print Copy

($447+ Postage & Handling)

Pages: 198 PDF Only

($397)
Published: December 2010
ISBN: 978-1-936390-04-5 Order Today:
Sherpastore.com/2011EmailMarketingBMR1.html

About
Name Title
Praised by The Economist, Harvard Business School’s
Working Knowledge Site, and Entrepreneur.com,
MarketingSherpa is a research firm publishing benchmark Organization
data and how-to guidance for marketing professionals.
Address
237,000 marketers read our exclusive Case Study
newsletters every week, and thousands attend our
City State/Prov Country Zip/Postal
Summits and Workshops on email, social media,
optimization and B2B marketing.

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Charge my: MasterCard Visa AMEX

MarketingSherpa guarantees your satisfaction.

If anything we sell doesn’t meet your satisfaction, return
it for a 100% hassle-free refund immediately! Card# Exp. Date

MarketingSherpa LLC Print Cardholder Name

499 Main Street, Warren, RI, 02885
Phone: 877-895-1717 Signature
(if outside the US call 401-247-7655)
Fax: (401) 247-1255
OR Bill Me* Check Enclosed to MarketingSherpa LLC
* Billing: I understand I will not receive the Guides
until payment is received Fax form to: (401) 247-1255