The Lyris Annual Email
Optimizer Report
October 2010
Table of Contents
Executive Summary …………………………………………………………………… 1
Background and Objectives …………………………………………………………... 3
Respondent and Company Profile …………………………………………………..... 4
Use of Email Marketing Techniques and Practices ………………………………......... 6
Measuring Email Marketing ROI …………………………………………………….. 9
Opt-in List Building …………………………………………………………………. 9
Tactics Driving Deliverability Results ………………………………………………… 11
Segmenting Lists to Deliver Results …………………………………………………... 11
SMM + Email Marketing = Better Results ……………………………………………. 12
Email Testing Methods ……………………………………………………………….. 13
Effectiveness of Email Automation ……………………………………………………. 14
Channels Integrated with Email Marketing ………………………………………….... 15
Views on Web Analytics ………………………………………………………………. 17
Summary and Implications …………………………………………………………… 18
About Lyris ………………………………………………………………………….... 22
Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Executive Summary
An online survey of 1,397 email and online marketers in
North America completed in June 2010, revealed:
t How they use online and email marketing tools,
techniques and practices
t What they are doing to get better results
t What delivered the best results
e study is unique in that it focused on results and what
marketers are doing to achieve them, rather than on bench-
marks or process.
e report revealed the following key finding:
Email and online marketers are not using some of
the most basic email marketing tools, techniques
and practices as frequently and extensively as
they should.
Some of these tools, techniques and practices are fundamen-
tal to email marketing campaigns, critical for estimating their
impact and important in providing some basis from which to
assess effectiveness and optimize marketing campaigns.
Despite the fairly low usage of these tools, techniques
and practices, the majority of email and online marketers
perceive their current use of these tools and practices to have
increased somewhat or much more compared to the previous
year. While these results reflect a change in the right direction,
they also reveal that email and online marketers are still missing
opportunities for growth that can optimize the results of their
email programs. For example:
Building Opt-in Email Lists
Only two thirds (66%) of those surveyed follow opt-in email
list building techniques and practices in an industry where
lists are essential to successful email marketing. Of these, the
most popular opt-in list building technique is through Web-
site registration, a practice that is probably the most passive of
all practices in the industry. Yet a large majority (71%) follow
this practice and credit it with driving the greatest opt-in rates.
Other more active and visible practices such as free white-
papers, guides and tools (28%), Webinars/Webcasts (25%),
third-party lists (20%), in-store point-of-sale messaging (15%)
and retail receipts (7%) are less commonly used as opt-in list
building techniques by those surveyed.
ROI Measurement
Only 64% of those surveyed use ROI measurement
of email marketing campaigns very often/sometimes.
Among smaller companies, i.e., those with fewer than 100
employees, incidence of ROI measurement drops to
58%. And among companies with smaller monthly email
volume, i.e., less than 25,000 monthly, ROI measure-
ment is completed by only 47% of respondents. With this
limited use of ROI measurement, marketers have no
basis on which to determine the impact or return of their
campaign efforts. Without some baseline ROI metrics, it
will be difficult or even impossible to justify marketing
budgets from year to year and from campaign to campaign.
Even more surprising is the perception by more than half
of the survey sample (56%) that their current use of ROI
measurement is much/somewhat more than the previous year.
is clearly suggests that ROI measurement among email/on-
line marketers is still not an integral part of the marketing
process and deserves higher prioritization from management.
e ways in which ROI is measured was also surpris-
ing. 52% of respondents measure email marketing ROI
in terms of increased revenue, 45% in terms of new leads
generated and 44% in terms of new customers. Even
in light of the current economic slump and resulting
pressure for companies to drive increased revenue, few
measured ROI based on profit.
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
An encouraging finding is that the majority of the 64%
that measure email marketing ROI acknowledge that email
marketing results have improved either significantly or some-
what as a result of ROI measurement.
Web Analytics
As expected, Web analytics is used by a large majority of
respondents (71%) and are perceived by most to yield
positive results in terms of email marketing campaign
effectiveness.
Respondents believed that Web analytics provided
additive benefits to their email marketing efforts by
providing insights into email marketing initiatives and helping
improve their email marketing results.
Email Testing
Findings related to email testing mimic those of ROI
measurement. Only slightly more than half (59%) among
those sampled use email testing.
More importantly, the extent of email testing among this low
proportion of users is surprisingly limited. When asked what
percentage of their email marketing campaigns includes some
form of email testing, close to half (49%) of marketers who
incorporate testing into their email marketing campaigns test
only a small fraction (about 10%) of their email campaigns.
Similarly, only 11% of email marketers who incorporate
testing into their email marketing campaigns test a large
majority (75% to 100%) of their campaigns.
is essential marketing best practice is a major missed
opportunity for email and online marketers today.
Email Automation
Email automation – the practice of sending out automated
email messages, or triggers, that can be highly personal-
ized based on a recipient’s demographics, interests and/
or behaviors – is implemented by less than half (46%) of
respondents. And only one-third to one-fourth believe that
email automation significantly drove company results.
For those marketers who do use email automation,
perceptions about its benefits show that only about
one-third of respondents (34%) see freeing up staff time
as a leading benefit, followed closely by time to execute
more campaigns (31%). With the economic downturn
making marketing budgets and staff tight, the
adoption and implementation of email marketing automa-
tion – and the marked benefits that it provides – ranks as
another missed opportunity.
List Segmentation
Although close to three-fourths of survey respon-
dents claim to use list segmentation/targeting, the ways
in which lists are most frequently segmented are not
optimal. Segmenting by demographics – the most
popular method – has less positive results than other, less
commonly used tactics, such as segmenting by purchase
history, click-through rates, type and amount of purchase and
online purchase history.
Deliverability Optimization
Less than two-thirds of those surveyed optimize email
deliverability. Of this group, less than half follow the
very basic practices of cleansing/updating email lists
regularly (47%), unsubscribing bounced email addresses
(35%), asking subscribers to add email addresses to their
address book or safe sender list (10%) and employing email
authentication (10%).
Of note, only about one-fourth (26%) rely on a reputable
email service provider (ESP) to improve their email deliver-
ability, which represents a competitive advantage for those
that do.
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
Current use of social media marketing ranks in sharp
contrast to the data on email testing, automation and
ROI measurement. ough a less fundamental and more
unproven email marketing tool or practice, SMM is used by
63% of those surveyed, only one percentage point less than
the proportion that measures email marketing ROI. Of this
group, more than half (58%) perceive SMM to have resulted
in somewhat/significant improvement in email marketing re-
sults, a surprising data point considering that SMM is difficult
to measure and quantify, and it is a marketing medium with
evolving best practices.
Respondents to the survey stated that the
integration of SMM with email marketing
generated greater results than integrating email
with other marketing channels.
However, to date, many similar claims about the benefits of SMM
cannot be validated because the effects of SMM cannot yet be
readily measured with consistency.
A related finding shows that a large majority (70%)
believes that the current rate of usage of SMM is much/some-
what more than a year ago. is perceived increase is much
higher than the perceived increase in the use of other email
and online marketing tools and practices. is finding may
not be all that surprising given the media and marketing focus
on SMM in recent years.
Online Marketing Channel Integration
Only 60% of those surveyed integrate email market-
ing with other online marketing channels. SMM was
once again perceived as having the greatest positive im-
pact, as indicated by over a third (34%) of the sample.
Conversely, Pay Per Click (PPC)/Search Engine Marketing
(SEM) and display advertising integrated with email mar-
keting were both perceived to yield weak results, despite
the fact that these channels typically represent a significant
portion of marketing budget allocations.
e biggest challenges in integrating email with other online
marketing channels were resource-related: limited budget
(52%), insufficient staff (46%) and inadequate technology
(30%). Taking into account this data, email marketers should
consider implementing email automation programs. ese
programs deliver proven results, both in terms of effectiveness
and efficiency.
________________________________________
Background and Objectives
An online survey of 1,397 email and online marketers in
North America was completed in June, 2010. is study was
deployed and hosted by Decipher, Inc., a third party indepen-
dent market research company. e survey was sponsored by
Lyris, Inc.
e objectives of the survey were to understand:
t How online marketers are using Web analytics, PPC/
SEM, SMM, mobile and related online marketing tools
to improve email marketing results
t What strategies, tactics and tools email marketers are
using to generate improved results in today’s marketplace
t Which strategies, tactics and tools do email and online
marketers perceive as delivering better/best results?
Survey respondents had the following profile (this informa-
tion was self-reported):
t Professional marketers
t Experience in email marketing
t Users of, or familiar with, their company’s
email marketing solutions
t Purchase decision makers or influencers for
email and online marketing solutions
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Methodology
Incentives used in the survey to encourage participation were:
t Entry in a drawing to win a free 7-day Caribbean
cruise for two
t Entry in a drawing to win one of five Apple® iPads™
t Early access to the final survey results report
later in the year
t Download of a free email marketing best
practices guide
Survey content areas included:
t Frequency of use of 10 different email marketing
techniques/practices
t Perceived improvements as a result of using each
technique/practice
t Changes in use of each technique/practice vs. one
year ago
t Company Information:
- Company size, marketing department size, type of
industry, market focus, job title, email marketing
solution used
e primary focus of the survey was to understand the:
t Extent of use for various email marketing techniques and
practices
t Impact of each of these techniques and practices on email
marketing results
Email marketing techniques/practices/tools included in the
survey focused on:
t ROI measurement
t Opt-in list building
t Deliverability optimization
t List segmentation/targeting
t SMM
t Email testing
t Email automation (triggers)
t Integrating email with other online marketing channels
t Mobile marketing
t Web analytics
Respondent and Company Profile
Respondent Job Titles
About one-fourth of respondents (26%) belonged to top
management or were C-level executives. Nearly half (46%)
were Directors or Managers. Roughly one-fifth (19%) held
Associate or Assistant Managerial titles. And 6% were Email
Specialists. 4% had “other” titles.
Question: Which of the following most closely matches your
current job title?
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Industry Categories
Companies included in the survey represent a wide variety
of industries. e three largest industries represented in the
survey were Advertising/Marketing (14%), Computer
Hardware/Software (7%) and Retail (7%).
Question: Which of the following most closely matches the
industry category of your company?
Primary Company Market Focus
Over half of respondents (56%) belong to companies with a
business-to-consumer focus; 43% are from business-to-busi-
ness focused companies. Only 2% have a business-to-govern-
ment focus.
Question: What is the primary market focus of your
company?
Company Size
e majority of respondents to the survey (59%) came from
companies with 100 employees or less. Of these, about one
third (30%) had fewer than 10 employees. Less than half
(41%) had over 100 employees, of which less than one fifth
(19%) had over 1,000 employees. Median company size was
57 employees.
Question: How many employees are in your company?
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Size of Marketing Department
More than half (59%) of companies represented in the survey
have five or more employees in their marketing department
while the remainder (41%) have less than five employees. 10%
of survey respondents belong to marketing departments with
over 50 employees. Median size of marketing departments is
4.5 employees.
Question: How many employees are in your company’s
marketing department?
Question: What is your monthly email volume ?
Monthly Email Volume
Over half (55%) of respondents estimate their monthly email
volume to be 25,000 or greater, with the median monthly
email volume at 95,000.
Use of Email Marketing Techniques and Practices
About three-fourths of survey respondents (76%) use Web
analytics very often/sometimes. List segmentation or targeting
was the next most frequently used marketing technique or
practice (69%), followed by opt-in list building (66%).
ROI measurement is used very often/sometimes by only 64%
of respondents, which suggests that
over one-third of
email marketers do little to no ROI analysis on
their email marketing campaigns.
is is a surpris-
ing finding considering that marketing budgets are being
scrutinized more closely than ever due to the current economic
climate. is finding suggests that marketers are missing a major
opportunity to optimize marketing effectiveness and deliver
proven results to management.
In contrast,
SMM is used very often/sometimes
by 63% of respondents, despite the difficulties
that marketers encounter in measuring SMM
effectively and accurately.
Deliverability optimization
(61%) and integrating email with other marketing channels
(60%) are used slightly less in tandem with email marketing.
Surprisingly,
only 59% use email testing, a basic
and fundamental best practice to optimize email
marketing performance.
Equally surprising is that even
less (46%) use some kind of email automation or triggers,
another basic timesaving and efficiency-boosting technique in
an industry that often laments its lack of staff and resources.
Interestingly, only a minority (21%) of the marketers surveyed
use mobile marketing despite recent rapid advances in, and
widespread adoption of, mobile technology.
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Question: How often does your company use each of the
following techniques or practices as part of their email
marketing efforts?
Email Marketing Practices by Company Size
e data suggests that the use of various marketing techniques
and practices is dependent upon, and correlates to, company
size, with larger companies using a wider variety of market-
ing techniques and practices more often. is makes intuitive
sense as large companies will likely have more sizable market-
ing departments and more ample marketing budgets, and thus
the resources to employ a multitude of marketing techniques
and practices with greater frequency.
Question: How often does your company use each of the
following techniques or practices as part of their email
marketing efforts?
NOTE: Letters next to numbers in the fallowing tables indicate that there is statistical
significance between the data in both columns, specifically, that the number alongside the
letter is significantly higher than the corresponding number in the column without the letter.
Email Marketing Results Improvement
Only 71% of those who frequently implement list segmen-
tation/targeting and 69% of frequent users of Web analytics
perceive these two tools or practices to have improved email
marketing results.
Perceived improvements in email marketing results as a
result of using other marketing tools or practices are even
lower. Only about two-thirds of respondents see improve-
ments in email marketing results as a result of frequent use of
deliverability optimization (66%), opt-in list building (64%),
ROI measurement (64%), email testing (63%) and integrat-
ing email marketing with other marketing channels (60%).
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
e survey data specific to ROI measurement deserves to
be underscored since over one-third of survey respondents
(36%) do not frequently engage in ROI measurement. is is
despite the fact that ROI measurement includes multiple
techniques and is a fundamental and proven best practice across
marketing disciplines.
In contrast, SMM is used frequently by about two-thirds of
email marketers and is perceived to have improved marketing
results by over half (58%) of respondents. is is despite the
fact that SMM is a fairly recent marketing practice that has yet
to prove its quantitative impact on marketing.
Mobile marketing is used frequently by only one-fifth (21%)
of respondents. Of all the online marketing techniques in
this survey, mobile marketing is employed the least. is is
surprising in that, according to analysts, consumer mobile
adoption has been on the rise for the last three years and is
estimated to continue on that trajectory into 2011 and beyond.
Mobile is also perceived by a little more than one-third (36%)
of those surveyed to have the least impact on improving email
marketing efforts. is may suggest that either 1) mobile
marketing is still in its infancy and marketers have not
optimized this technique alone or in tandem with email
marketing or 2) marketers have optimized the use of mobile
plus email marketing and have not seen positive results from
their programs.
Question: To what extent would you say that your
company’s email marketing results have improved due to
the use of each of these marketing tools or practices?
Improvement in Email Marketing Results by Company Size
Perceived improvement in one’s email marketing results due to
the use of email marketing techniques/practices also appears
to be a function of company size. Companies with more em-
ployees (over 100 employees) tended to perceive significantly
more improvement in email marketing results due to the use
of email marketing techniques and best practices, as compared
with smaller companies (i.e., with 100 or fewer employees).
Exceptions to this trend are found among frequent users of
social media marketing and mobile marketing. e perception
of improvement in email marketing results among frequent
users of these two marketing tools was equally low, regardless
of company size.
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Compared to the previous year’s email marketing efforts,
respondents generally perceived an increase in their use of
email marketing tools and practices.
t 70% believe the current use of SMM combined with
email is much/somewhat more than a year ago.
t 51% to 62% believe their current use of other email mar-
keting tools/practices – namely Web analytics (62%), list
segmentation/targeting (60%), email integration with
other online marketing channels (56%), ROI measure-
ment (56%), deliverability optimization (55%), opt-in
list building (53%) and email testing (51%) – is much/
somewhat more than a year ago.
t On the other hand, less than half used email automation
(46%) and mobile marketing (45%) much/somewhat
more than a year ago.
e perception of increased use of email automa-
tion and mobile marketing comes as a surprise
because current use of these tools/practices is still
quite low compared to other emerging and prov-
en tools/practices, such as social media and email.
is suggests that the previous use of these tools by
email marketers was even lower and less frequent
even as recently as one year ago.
Question: Compared to the previous year, how has your
company’s current use of each of these marketing tools and
practices changed?
Measuring Email Marketing ROI
Only 64% of respondents measure email marketing ROI. at
means that
36% of email marketers do not measure
email marketing ROI.
e three leading ways that survey respondents measure email
marketing ROI are:
t Increased revenue (52%)
t New leads generated 45%)
t New customers gained (44%)
13% claim to measure email marketing ROI through
greater brand loyalty, a difficult and complex marketing metric.
Another 13% also admitted to not measuring ROI consistently.
5% did not know how their company measures ROI.
Question: What are the top two ways you measure email
marketing ROI?
Opt-in List Building
Only 66% of survey respondents use opt-in list building very
often/sometimes. at means that 34% of respondents use
opt-in list building infrequently, rarely or never. Of these,
the use of Website registration forms (71%), a rather passive
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
approach to building opt-in email lists, is most frequently
used. Email marketing (69%), Newsletters (55%) and SMM
(54%) are all fairly active means to building opt-in lists, yet are
used less frequently.
Less than half use a variety of other tactics to build their opt-in
email lists, such as Word-of-mouth or viral marketing (45%),
SEO (43%), Promotions (43%), Trade shows/ conferences/
industry events (38%), Partnerships with other companies
(33%), Banner ads (32%) and PPC/SEM (30%), Whitepa-
pers, guides, tools (28%) and Webinars/Webcasts (25%).
ird-party lists (20%), In-store/Point-of-Sale (POS) messaging
(15%), Mobile marketing (11%) and Retail receipts (7%) are
the least used tactics.
Question: Which tactics does your company use to build its
opt-in email lists?
Tactics that Drove Greatest Opt-in Rates
Website registration forms (35%), Email marketing (33%)
and SMM (21%) were the top three opt-in list building tactics
used by those surveyed. Despite their use by the majority of
email marketers surveyed, perceptions of their ability to drive
the most opt-in response rates were modest. Website registra-
tion forms, used by a majority of email marketers (71%), were
seen as actually driving the growth of opt-in lists by only about
one third (35%) of those surveyed. Email marketing, used
by 69%, was seen as driving list building by a third (33%)
of the sample.
SMM’s effectiveness in driving opt-
in list growth rates was particularly low – only
about one-fifth, or 21% rated SMM effective as a
tactic – despite a robust 54% claiming that their
company uses SMM to build opt-in lists.
In-store/POS messaging (5%) and Retail receipts (2%) were
once again listed as the tactics that have had the least impact
on driving opt-in rates. is may be due to the fact that retail-
ers represented a minority (7%) of the companies sampled in
this survey.
Question: What are the top three tactics that you think
drove the greatest opt-in response rates at your company
over the past year?
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Tactics Driving Deliverability Results
Less than two-thirds (61%) of survey respon-
dents optimize their email deliverability results.
Of this group, the top three tactics that respondents feel have
driven improved deliverability rates were Cleanse/update
email lists regularly (47%), Increase email relevance (47%) and
Unsubscribe bounced email addresses (35%).
Reliance on a reputable ESP (26%), Optimize the mix of
text and HTML messages (23%), Proactively manage your
online reputation (19%), Employ email campaign SPAM
filter testing (15%), Minimize the use of graphics in email
content (14%) and Provide regular & ongoing opportuni-
ties for changes in email preferences (14%) were the tactics
respondents perceived as having the least impact on driving
improved deliverability.
Ask subscribers to add company email address to their
address book (10%), Employ email authentication (10%) and
Proactively manage ISP relationships (9%) were at the bottom
of the list of tactics that respondents believe improve email
deliverability results.
Interestingly, deliverability experts strongly advise email mar-
keters to use some combination of all of these tactics and prac-
tices to improve deliverability rates.
Question: What are the top three practices that you think
drove improved deliverability results at your company over
the past year?
Segmenting Lists to Deliver Results
Close to three-fourths of the survey respondents
(69%) use email list segmentation or targeting.
Surprisingly, these users stated that the number
one most effective method for segmenting email
lists to deliver results for their companies was by
using demographics (45%).
Other proven ways to segment lists, such as by Purchase
history (28%) and Click-through rates (27%), Type of
purchase (25%), Website activity (25%) and Open rates
(23%) were less commonly used.
Surprisingly, Organizational function (23%), Job title (20%)
and Amount of purchase (12%) were the least common ways
used to segment lists.
Question: What were the top three most effective ways you
segmented lists to deliver results for your company over the
past year?
Results from List Segmentation
Among those who segment their email lists (69% of respon-
dents), the top three areas in which results were seen were:
t Increased open rates (39%)
t Greater email relevance (34%)
t Lower opt-out/unsubscribe rates (28%)
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Other areas perceived as having improved results were Greater
revenue (24%), Increased sales leads (24%), Better deliverabil-
ity (24%), Greater customer retention (21%), Greater num-
ber of transactions (18%), Lower spam complaints (15%) and
Greater customer retention (15%). Interestingly, these areas
are more measurable than some of the top-rated areas.
Question: What are the top three areas in which your
company saw improved results this past year due to list
segmentation or targeting?
SMM + Email Marketing = Better Results
Among those who used social media marketing
(63% of survey sample) combined with email
marketing, about half (54%) believed this
integration led to better results:
t 21% perceived significantly better results and 33% saw
somewhat better results
t 18% saw neutral to negative results
Almost one-third (29%) did not use SMM with email marketing.
Question: If you used social media together with email
marketing to get better results this last year, how much
better were your results?
Social Media Sites
63% of respondents engage in social media marketing. Face-
book was selected as the most-used social media site (80%),
followed by Twitter (71%).
Other social media sites are used by less than half of respon-
dents’ companies: LinkedIn (48%), YouTube (43%), Compa-
ny blog site (38%) and Company online community (20%).
Facebook is also considered the social media site
that produced the best email marketing-related
results (according to 28% of respondents) while
Twitter was a distant second (10%).
ese numbers
regarding email marketing-related results probably speak to
the fact that the measurement of social media’s impact is still
in its infancy and lacks a long history of validation.
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Question: What social media sites does your company use?
Question: Which social media site produced the best email
marketing-related results?
Email Testing Methods
More than half of the survey sample (59%) use some test-
ing methodology as part of their email marketing practice.
But 40% of respondents did not use any kind of
testing methodology.
A/B split is the most frequently used email testing methodol-
ogy (51%) while Splitting lists in portions & sending a differ-
ent message to each (22%) was a distant second. Multivariate
testing (11%) and Multi-cell testing (6%) were distant third
and fourth choices respectively.
Question: What testing methodology do you use most often?
Use of Testing in Email Campaigns
Surprisingly, on average, only 26% of email
marketing campaigns include some form of email
testing.
While about half of respondents (49%) incorporate some
form of testing in their email marketing campaigns, only 10%
or less of email campaigns include email testing. In short, not
enough email marketers include testing in their campaigns.
And those who do include testing only do so in a small
proportion of their company’s email marketing campaigns.
More specifically:
t Only 17% include email testing in 51% to 75% of their
campaigns
t Only 11% include email testing in 76% to 100% of campaigns
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Question: What percentage of your email campaigns
include some form of testing?
Effectiveness of Email Testing Methods
ree-fourths of respondents indicated that Varying subject
lines was very/somewhat effective in driving email campaign
results, followed by Varying content/messaging (68%).
Varying the offer (57%), Varying the time of deployment
(53%) and Varying graphic templates (43%) followed next in
terms of effectiveness.
Testing use of HTML vs. text email (35%) was
not considered as effective.
Additionally, Use of dynamic vs. static content (32%) was not
considered as effective.
Question: Of the following methods of email
testing, please indicate how effective you think each
method was in driving company results in the past year.
Effectiveness of Email Automation
Less than half of all respondents (46%) use some form of email
automation or triggers in their email marketing campaigns. Of
these, about one-third to one-fourth of respondents believe
that different types of email automation significantly drove
company results during the past year.
Triggered emails (35%) was considered the most effective type
of email automation, followed by Welcome emails (32%), Dy-
namic content (29%) and Mail merge (25%).
e percentage of respondents not using each of
the four different types of email automation were:
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
at is surprising given the well documented ability of these
mature tools to effectively increase resources and improve results.
Question: Of the following types of email automation,
please indicate the extent to which each one drove company
results during the past year
Benefits from Email Automation
e top four areas of improved results from the use of email
automation were:
t Frees up staff time (34%)
t Greater email relevance (32%)
t Time to execute more campaigns (31%)
t Higher open rates (31%)
Other areas of improved results were:
t Greater engagement (26%)
t Lower opt-out/unsubscribe rates (21%)
t Increases in sales leads (20%), greater revenue (20%)
t Greater customer retention (18%)
t Greater customer acquisition (14%)
Question: What are the top three areas in which your
company saw improved results due to email automation?
Respondents’ greatest pain point is the shortage of
staff time. e survey data shows that marketers
are getting positive relief from email automation,
yet few employ this online marketing technique.
Channels Integrated with Email Marketing
Social Media (61%) and Web analytics (61%) tied as top on-
line marketing channels integrated with email marketing by
the 60% of respondents who noted that they integrate other
marketing channels with email marketing.
Natural search engine optimization/SEO (38%), Paid search
engine marketing PPC/SEM (26%) and Display advertising
(24%) were integrated with email less frequently.
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Mobile marketing (13%) was the least cited marketing
channel used with email marketing. is is not all that
surprising since mobile marketing is used by only a minority
(21%) of those surveyed.
Social media (34%) and Web analytics (29%) were viewed
as having the greatest impact when integrated with email
marketing. Once again, this perceived impact and importance
of social media on email marketing remains counter-intuitive
since metrics used in social media are still fluid and unproven
over the long-term.
Question: Which types of online marketing channels are
integrated with your company’s email marketing?
Question: Which one of these online marketing channels,
when integrated with email marketing, has had the greatest
positive impact on results?
Results of Online Marketing Channel Integration
Results seen from integrating email with other online market-
ing channels appear largely perceptual in nature and less based
on hard numbers. Improved brand building/brand awareness
(47%) and Greater engagement (35%) were the two most
cited results of email integration with other online channels.
However, both of these benefits are traditionally difficult to
measure.
More plausible were the remaining responses:
t Higher open rates (29%)
t Increase in sales leads (28%)
t Greater revenue (typically the main objective of online
marketing channel integration)
t Greater customer retention (22%)
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
t Greater customer acquisition (22%)
t Lower opt-out/unsubscribe rates (23%)
Question: What results has your company seen by
integrating email with other online marketing channels?
Email Marketing Integration Challenges
e top three challenges respondents said they face when
integrating email marketing with other marketing channels
shared a common thread – limited resources:
t Limited budget (52%)
t Limited staff (46%)
t Inadequate technology (30%)
Other, lesser challenges were more organizational in nature:
t Unclear business case for integration (23%)
t Lack of collaboration with other departments (20%)
t Lack of collaboration within marketing (15%)
Question: What are the top three biggest challenges in
integrating email with other online marketing channels?
Views on Web Analytics
e majority of respondents somewhat/strongly agreed to
statements about the benefits of Web analytics, as seen in the
following data. is reinforces conventional wisdom within
the industry that Web analytics are widely used by email mar-
keters.
Question: What is your level of agreement with each of the
following statements about Web analytics?
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Summary and Implications
Use of Techniques/Practices/Tools
Among the various techniques, practices or tools used by
email marketers, Web analytics (76%) and list segmentation/
targeting (69%) top the list (used very often/sometimes).
Additionally, Web analytics and list segmentation/targeting are
the techniques/practices perceived to have resulted in the most
improvements to the company’s email marketing campaigns.
Email testing (59%) and email automation (46%) are used
very often/sometimes by only about half of respondents.
Conversely, a large portion of respondents stated that
email testing (41%) and email automation (54%) are used
infrequently, rarely or never.
Mobile marketing is the least used (36%) of all online
marketing techniques/practices.
Use of SMM very often/sometimes is fairly high (63%).
Conversely, over one-third (37%) of respondents employ
SMM infrequently, rarely or never. Perception of improve-
ment in email marketing results because of SMM is also
relatively high (58%) despite the fact that the impact of social
media is difficult to measure.
Use of email testing (59%) and email automation (46%),
two fairly basic email marketing techniques, are unexpect-
edly low and clearly lower than the use of SMM. Perceived
improvement in email marketing results (improved signifi-
cantly/somewhat) through their use is fairly moderate: 63%
for email testing and 50% for email automation.
Web Analytics
Of all of the analytical tools integrated into email marketing,
Web analytics is the most frequently used (71%). e percep-
tion is that Web analytics yield very positive results (69%).
ere is strong agreement to statements in the survey about
the benefits of Web analytics, namely providing important
insights into email marketing tactics (65%), enabling the
marketing team to develop better campaigns (61%) and
significantly improving email marketing results (58%).
Despite these fairly strong ratings in favor of Web analytics,
over one-third of respondents are neutral to negative about
each statement describing the benefits of Web analytics, sug-
gesting that additional training in this area might be needed.
ROI Measurement
e survey found only moderate use of ROI measurement
(64%) and similarly moderate perception of somewhat/sig-
nificant improvement in email marketing because of its use
(64%) among those who measure ROI.
13% stated that they do not measure email marketing ROI,
and 5% did not know or were not sure; another 18% measure
ROI infrequently/rarely.
ROI measurement is most commonly calculated in terms of
increased revenue (52%), new leads generated (45%) and new
customers (44%); 13% of respondents stated that Greater
brand loyalty was the ROI metric they use most frequently.
is is interesting in that brand loyalty is a metric that is his-
torically difficult for marketers to measure accurately.
Companies with 100 or more employees are depending on
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
ROI measurement more than smaller companies. is may
suggest that marketers in smaller companies do not feel they
have the time, expertise or bandwidth to incorporate ROI
measurement into their marketing practice.
Training in different ROI measurement techniques – and
the benefits of this type of measurement – might be needed
among email marketers.
Building Email Opt-in Lists
Only two-thirds (66%) of respondents follow opt-in list build-
ing techniques and practices. A full one-third (33%) follow
opt-in list building techniques infrequently, rarely or never.
Of those, 71% of marketers in companies with over 100
employees and 63% of marketers in companies with 100 or
fewer employees are leveraging these techniques and practices.
Website registration forms (71%) and email marketing (69%)
are the most commonly used techniques for building email
opt-in lists, while other practices such as Free white papers,
guides & tools (28%), Webinars/Webcasts (25%), ird-party
lists (20%), In-store point-of-sale messaging (15%) and Retail
receipts (7%) were all fairly uncommon.
e three tactics that drive the greatest opt-in rates are Website
registration forms (35%), Email marketing (21%) and SMM
(21%).
Deliverability Optimization
Only 61% (less than two-thirds) of respondents follow
techniques to optimize email deliverability. A shocking 39%
of respondents do not follow techniques to optimize email
deliverability or follow them infrequently or rarely.
Of those that follow techniques to optimize email deliverabil-
ity, less than half of these follow specific tactics to improve
deliverability, such as:
t Cleanse/update email lists regularly (47%)
t Increase email relevance (47%)
t Unsubscribe bounced email addresses (35%), a
surprisingly low percentage for such a fundamental practice
Other proven tactics were used even less frequently, such as:
t Minimizing the use of graphics in email (14%)
t Asking subscribers to add email address to address book
(10%)
t Employing email authentication (10%)
t Proactively managing ISP relationships (9%)
List Segmentation/Targeting
Close to one-third (31%) of respondents do not practice list
segmentation/ targeting on a regular basis.
Although close to three-fourths of respondents (69%) claim
to use list segmentation/targeting, the ways in which lists are
segmented to deliver results were not optimal. Demograph-
ics (45%) was the most common means by which email lists
are segmented, while other more proven tactics such as By
purchase history (28%), By click-through rates (27%), By
type of purchase (25%), By website activity (25%), By open
rates (23%), By amount of purchases (12%) and By Webstore
purchase history (9%) were all used significantly less.
Despite this, list segmentation/targeting was perceived as
yielding some of the most positive results.
e greatest results from list segmentation, according to those
surveyed, were:
t Increased open rates (39%)
t Greater email relevance (34%)
t Lower opt-out/unsubscribe rates (28%)
t Greater revenue (24%)
t Increased sales (24%)
t Better deliverability (24%)
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
Social Media + Email Marketing
63% of those surveyed use social media with email marketing.
Of those, only slightly more than half (54%) feel that they see
significantly/somewhat better results. Close to one-third do
not use SMM, and 18% think results are neutral or not any
better when email marketing and SMM are used together.
In terms of the best email marketing results, Facebook (28%)
is the top social media site, followed by Twitter (10%),
LinkedIn (8%) and YouTube (8%).
Email Testing
Only 59% use email testing very often/sometimes, with A/B
split as the method used most often (51%), followed by Split
list (22), Multivariate (11%) and Multi-cell (6%). Close to
one-fourth (23%) practice email testing infrequently/rarely
and the rest (18%) do not practice email testing at all.
Among those practicing email testing:
t Only 11% of respondents include email testing in most
of their email campaigns (i.e., 76% to 100% of email
campaigns)
t Nearly half (49%) include some form of email testing in
only 10% or less of their campaigns
t 20% do some form of email testing in 11% to 25% of
their campaigns
t 12% test in 26% to 50% of campaigns
And a mere 7% test in 76% to100% of their email campaigns
Varying subject lines (75%), Varying content/messaging
(68%), Varying the offer (57%) and Varying the time of
deployment (53%) are considered very/somewhat effective
email testing methods.
Email Automation
Less than half (46%) use email automation very often/some-
times.
Among email automation users, the perception of the
effectiveness of email automation is rather weak, since only
one-fourth (25%) to one-third (35%) of respondents believe
that it drove significant results for the company during the
past year.
21% to 40% do not use any type of email automation.
Triggered emails (35%) and Welcome emails (32%) are
seen to significantly drive company results, while Dynamic
content (29%) and Mail merge (25%) are seen as less effective in
driving results.
e top benefits of email automation are:
t Frees up staff time (34%)
t Greater email relevance (32%)
t Time to execute more campaigns (31%)
t Higher open rates (31%)
Greater training, as well as awareness and appreciation for the
benefits of email automation, should be made known to email
marketers.
Online Marketing Channel Integration
Only 60% of those surveyed integrate email marketing with
other online marketing channels. A full 40% of those surveyed
do not integrate email marketing with other online marketing
channels.
Social media (61%) and Web analytics (61%) are the
marketing channels most often integrated with email mar-
keting, followed by Natural SEO (38%), PPC/SEM (26%),
Display advertising (24%) and Mobile marketing (13%).
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
As one might expect, Social media (34%) is perceived as
having the greatest positive impact on email campaign results,
followed by Web analytics (29%), Natural SEO (15%), PPC/
SEM (10%), Display advertising (9%) and Mobile marketing
(3%).
e infrequent integration of PPC/SEM and display advertis-
ing with email marketing and the perception of weak results
due to this integration is surprising given that these market-
ing channels typically represent significant budget items as
compared to other marketing channels.
e top results seen by integrating email with other online
marketing channels are Improved brand building/brand
awareness (47%) and Greater engagement (35%), two ar-
eas that are quite difficult to measure. About one-fourth
selected each of the following results: Higher open rates (29%),
Increase in sales leads (28%) and Greater revenue (26%).
e biggest challenges to integrating email with other
online marketing channels are resource-related: Limited
budget (52%), Insufficient staff (46%) and Inadequate
technology (30%).
e perception that email automation yields only low to
moderate results is counter to documented results from
companies who follow email automation best practices with
consistency. e benefits of email automation in terms of time
and efficiency should be underscored.
Closing Summary
e Email Optimizer Survey yielded surprising results
about what techniques, practices and tools email and online
marketers are using, and how.
Most surprising is the
relatively narrow adoption of proven best practices
that are known to optimize results as well as the
effectiveness and efficiency of campaigns. is is the
number one pitfall all marketers can avoid.
e Email Optimizer Survey results represent a
real opportunity for email and online market-
ers.
at is, if most professional marketers are not leveraging
proven techniques, practices and tools to improve their results,
then there is nothing but upside for those who do. By leverag-
ing the best practices noted in this report, marketers can gain
a competitive advantage while realizing better results, faster.
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Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report
About Lyris, Inc.
Lyris, Inc. integrates email marketing with diverse online marketing channels to create more efficient
and effective marketing organizations.
All-in-One Solution: e company’s flagship offering, Lyris HQ, is an all-in-one SaaS (software as a
service) solution that combines email marketing with search, social, and mobile channels, enhanced by
embedded deliverability and web analytics. Lyris HQ provides online marketers actionable insights that
help them make intelligent decisions and improve results.
Full Service Capabilities: Lyris HQ can be managed by your own in-house marketing team.
Alternatively, our full-service account management team can manage your campaigns for you. is
seasoned group of experts can manage discrete projects in the areas of deliverability, welcome programs,
Web analytics, SEO, PPC and social media. Or we can manage your entire program – as an outsourced
extension of your in-house team.
Client Profile: A sampling of our clients include Access Intelligence, e British Museum, Eldorado
Hotel Casino, Expedia CruiseShipCenters, Forbes.com, Godiva Chocolatier, GuideStar, Marriott,
PC Recycler, Pioneer, Student Advantage, Sainsburys Supermarkets and Visa.
Lyris, Inc.
6401 Hollis Street, Suite 125
Emeryville, CA 94608
(800) 768-2929
Customer Service
(888) 597-4727
Product Sales
(888) 5465-9747
www.lyris.com
Lyris invites you to join in the conversation about this report on Twitter at #LyrisOptimizer
