Email marketing is still the most relevant online channel with the highest ROI of all marketing activities (DMA). 2.6 billion people worldwide have an email account (Litmus). In Germany 80 percent use email services regularly (WFA / OWM). In this article we don’t only show why the channel is so popular and effective, but also explain the most important advantages and take a look at the potentials.

Benefits of Email Marketing

Individuality: Personalization is one of the most successful marketing techniques. Personalized messages increase the relevance of the communication. The subscribers interaction with the mailings is correspondingly higher. If a company is able to deal with personal data in real time, analyze it and dynamically adapt the communicated contents based on the analysis results, all prerequisites are met to send context-sensitive individualized mailings. The possibilities remain versatile and the handling is simple.
Measurability: In email marketing, every customer interaction is measurable. There is an extensive selection of key figures that are important for success measurement. The key figures include the click-through rate, which has an average of over 5 per cent (IBM) in email marketing across industries and the opening rate, with an average of over 25 per cent (IBM). In order to optimize the results, wide ranges of tests are possible in email marketing.
Up-to-dateness: Relevance in digital marketing is nowadays especially created by up-to-dateness, speed and context sensitivity. With the use of real-time marketing automation technologies, these factors are combined optimally.
Customer contact: In order to give the customer the feeling of being valued, personal approach and individuality is necessary. In order to build up a long-term dialogue, email marketing is an inexpensive, direct and fast variant.
Costs: Sending emails is cost-effective. For every euro you spend, you get on average 38 € profit. Thus, email marketing is the digital marketing tool with the highest ROI (DMA). 46.5 percent of companies think that the ROI will be even higher in 2020 (Litmus).
Effectiveness: For 91 percent of companies, email marketing is the most effective channel for generating revenue (The Relevancy Group) prior to display advertising (81 percent) and social media marketing (76 percent).

Outlook and potential

Litmus has asked 20 experts about the future of email marketing. In their statements, the experts predict how email marketing will evolve and give an outlook on the potential that still remains in the channel.
The experts are convinced that hyper-personalization in email marketing will reach a new level.
Furthermore the statements show that email marketing is no longer seen as a channel with only a high ROI but also, with the right integration, it will make other platforms and channels more successful. Subscribers will be able to make purchases directly in the email without leaving their mailbox. The campaigns will increasingly focus on an “App Shopping Experience”, with integrated videos and other interactive extras. (More in our article: More attention for interactive emails). Email remains omnipresent and will be even more valuable in the future.
Email marketing is thus not only the most efficient marketing strategy when it comes to costs and the ROI. The relevance of emails is considerable for most people and the channel still has a lot of potential for optimization and further development. Email marketing is the top channel for companies to build a steady dialogue with their customers.