Why do email marketing?

By Mark Brownlow, Revised: August 2009

People unfamiliar with email marketing often wonder what all the fuss is about. Didn't spam kill email as a marketing vehicle? And if spam didn't kill it, what about blogs, Twitter and all the other clever ways we can communicate online? Isn't email outmoded?

Those wondering about the benefits of email marketing in today's ever-changing online and marketing environment will find the answers below.
It works:  Businesses engage in email marketing because it works. And works well. Here are the numbers...

According to research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing generated an ROI of $48.34 for every dollar spent on it in 2007. The expected figure for 2008 is $45.06, and the prediction for 2009 is $43.52. As such, it outperforms all the other direct marketing channels examined, such as print catalogs.

• The Ad Effectiveness Survey commissioned by Forbes Media in Feb/March 2009 revealed that email and e-newsletter marketing are considered the second-most effective tool for generating conversions, just behind SEO.
• Shop.org's State of Retailing Online 2009 survey of retailers found that "E-mail is the most mentioned successful tactic overall".
• In Datran Media's 2009 Annual Marketing & Media Survey, 80.4% of industry executives said the email channel performed strongly for their company. This was the top result.
• A December 2008 survey of hundreds of marketers by MarketingSherpa saw pay-per-click search ads rank top for ROI, followed by email marketing to house lists in second place.
• Marketing service Epsilon determined that clients were getting $0.14 revenue for each email delivered in Q3, 2008 (press release).
• A February/March 2008 retailer survey by shop.org revealed that email marketing has the second lowest cost per order (CPO) of any online marketing tactic. The CPO of $6.85 compares favorably with, for example, paid search's CPO of $19.33.
• A 2008 survey by Newsweaver and B2B Marketing Magazine of 175 UK B2B marketers revealed 78% considered email "critical" or "very important" to their B2B marketing strategy (press release). Newsweaver also surveyed Irish marketers, and 78.1% said that email is either "important" or "very important" to their overall marketing strategy (article).