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It’s no secret that businesses of all kinds have suffered from inconsistent resources in 2020 due to the pandemic; last-minute staff changes, sudden shortages, new regulations and laws - all obstacles to the clean, easy functioning of businesses across the U.S.A.
When it comes to email marketing, it’s been a combination of MORE demand for email marketing from businesses of all kinds and uncertain staffing resources--stay-at-home orders, personnel changes as some parents have to allocate more time to staying home with their kids, marketing budgets changing to reflect business realities, and more.
With all that in mind, it’s worth noting that email sends have remained high--and we have seen this play out with our clients. One of the best aspects of email is that it’s a marketing channel that is adaptable to a lot of different work styles. A recent study from Litmus demonstrates email marketing flexible can be, based on the behavior of email marketing professionals throughout 2020.
In a study of 2,000 survey respondents, Litmus’ 2020 State of Email Report found that 60% of SMB marketing executives and business owners said that their companies increased email volumes in 2020. This in spite of the fact that 56% of those firms reported having fewer staff available to execute marketing plans.
In 2020 78% say email is important to company success; up from 71% in 2019, while 74% say it is vital. 94% say email is one of their three most effective marketing channels, and 77% place it in the top two.
While only 11% of the marketers surveyed reported increasing their email budget this year, other studies have indicated that a strong percentage of trusted brands are holding their budgets for email at the same level as before--even while they cut other channels’ budgets in the name of doing business as lean as possible.
Email has value even outside of direct performance metrics, and brands recognize that--it increases consumer confidence, and helps to encourage brand recognition.
The Litmus study also indicates that email is the preferred channel for most marketers for outreach efforts; more marketers are planning on leaning into personalization, and a high percentage of those who responded to the survey reported pivoting their strategies during the initial pandemic crisis to embrace roles as thought leaders, and to provide information and updates to prospects. Email is helping businesses keep connected.
Despite difficulties in terms of staffing and resources, overall sending (AND spending) is up in 2020 for emails, which bodes well for marketers and businesses alike. As we head into 2021, brands are focused on channels that bring the most value to their marketing efforts, and email is clearly near or at the top for a lot of businesses.
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If you've never tried shared email advertising as part of your local marketing mix, we'll help you with everything you need to get going. Contact us now.
