COPYRIGHT: THE DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION (UK) LTD 2019
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MARKETER EMAIL TRACKER 2019
dotdigital is delighted to be sponsoring the DMA Marketer tracker again – and for the rst time following our rebrand
from ‘dotmailer’ to ‘dotdigital’. The opinion of every marketer who contributed to this study will provide food for
thought, particularly in assessing the impact of the GDPR.
The DMA’s meticulous research continues to empower the digital marketing community as a whole. On a personal
note, it pleases me to see that marketers credit email as the cornerstone of their marketing strategy – powerful on its
own, but even more potent when used in conjunction with other channels like social media and mobile.
What struck me most in this report is that email ROI has shot up from £32 to £42 – email’s return on investment is
undeniable. As such, marketers are measuring ROI more than ever before; many are able to access the tools they need
to quantify the impact of email. Moreover, marketers may have beneted from better quality email addresses in their
arsenal, post GDPR.
While limited budget and resources continue to worry, it’s nice to see that marketers are growing condent in
their ability to dominate on email. Adopting more advanced tactics, they are unlocking sales, generating customer
engagement, and maximising brand loyalty.
While condence has boosted overall, it’s disappointing to see that marketers who feel they have basic or no
knowledge at all has increased by 15%. Common business challenges could be to blame, such as no access to proper
training, limited resources, and disparate or insucient data. The only way to mitigate the eects will be to invest
more in upskilling marketers with additional email tactics.
Consumers, like marketers, also favour email. They use it more than any other channel to engage with brands.
But this doesn’t mean that companies are scaling down other channels. In 2018, businesses integrated email with
the activities of seven other channels. We view this as a big step forward towards better omnichannel marketing
experiences.
It is interesting to see that the lifetime value of an email address continues to increase – 33% year on year – in line
with a strong return on investment. Both B2B and B2C brands value email as a reliable and protable engagement
tactic, despite any concerns they may have had over the GDPR.
25 May 2018 was a date that loomed forever in marketers’ minds. However, ten months after the GDPR came into
eect, it’s fair to say that its impact hasn’t been as adverse as expected. In fact, 56% of marketers feel positive about
the eects of the legislation. Just 20% feel negative about the new regulation – skewed slightly towards B2Cs,
perhaps due to the upheaval of handling changes to their larger databases.
This study also revealed similar ndings to our very own benchmark report from last year, Hitting the Mark. We
discovered that 66% of brands are not practicing any email segmentation, while the DMA has found that only 43%
of campaigns are segmented. While this clear correlation in our research is reassuring, it’s discouraging to see that
brands are not using their data to segment eectively. Additionally, research found that a quarter of campaigns are
neither segmented nor automated. Consumers today carry the expectation of a personalized experience. So, we hope
that by 2020 there will be a higher adoption rate of these customer engagement tactics – the tools and the data are
there for the taking.
Phil Draper
Chief Marketing Ocer at dotdigital
Foreword - dotdigital