Studies Confirm Email Marketing is Hot in a Recession

It's true that marketers are cutting budgets, but recent studies show that highly effective channels like email marketing are actually getting increased investment. According to the recent Shop.org and Forrester Research study "The State of Retailing 2009: Marketing Report," email marketing is second only to Search in terms of the top area of investment for retailers in 2009. In fact, only 4% of the retailers surveyed reported that budget cuts would affect email marketing – and of those increasing budgets, 65% would be directing added funds to email.


With research firm Borrell Associates reporting that advertisers spent $12.1 billion on email marketing in 2008 (a figure that eclipses that spent on display/banner advertising and search), it's clear that companies understand the power of email marketing to drive business. However, the success of email marketing is not without some casualties among its direct marketing brethren. Borrell predicts that spending on direct mail will drop 39% during the next five years.

While increased investment in email marketing is certainly a good sign for the health of the industry, how marketers choose to apply that money is critical. Investing in increased relevance through targeting and segmentation will be essential to the success of marketers' email programs. Budget is certainly key to these programs' survival, but it's a commitment to email best practices that will ensure the future efficacy of the channel.

If you're currently fighting to get more budget to improve your email marketing programs, these statistics should provide you with some useful data points to support an increased investment.