Commentary
Email Marketing Vendors Gaining Sophistication
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, July 16, 2012
Forrester’s 37-criteria evaluation of email marketing vendors, in The Forrester Wave, identified six significant providers in this category, Epsilon, ExactTarget, Experian CheetahMail, Responsys, StrongMail, and Yesmail Interactive and researched, analyzed, and scored them. The report details findings about how each vendor measures up to help interactive marketers select the right partner for their email marketing efforts.
The study found a vibrant and volatile Email market, even though the email channel is so well established. The report says that even though Email marketers aren’t completely clear of list growth and boosting opens and clicks, their use of advanced email practices is much more prevalent than in the 2009 evaluation of email marketing vendors.
Addressing challenges and employment of tactics speaks to the “gaining sophistication” of Email marketers described by Forrester in the report:
Continuing Marketing Challenges in Next Two Years | |
Challenge | % of Respondents (Multiple Choice OK) |
Integrating email with other channels | 57% |
Leveraging dynamic content | 50% |
Leveraging segmentation | 43% |
Managing email frequency and cadence | 38% |
Increasing open and click-through rates | 38% |
Finding new email subscribers | 36% |
Creating and managing email content | 35% |
Retaining current email subscribers | 34% |
Having adequate staffing resources | 31% |
Source: Forrester Research, Q1 2012 | |
Frequency of Applied Tactics (% of Respondents) | ||
Program | At Least Monthly | Daily |
Run welcome email programs | 93% | 86% |
Coordinate email with site promotions | 85% | 36% |
Segment users based on past purchases | 73% | 47% |
Segment users based on site behavior | 68% | 35% |
Coordinate email with display | 53% | 19% |
Clean lists of inactive users | 51% | 30% |
Coordinate email with mobile | 43% | 16% |
Source: Forrester Research, Q1 2012 | ||
According to the report, client references said that good account management mattered most when considering email vendors. But many also care about email vendors’ multichannel integration, customer database support, and ability to power non-email campaigns.
Account Management Matters Most In Email Vendor Selection | |
Vendor Offerings | Average Rank (8.0 “least important;” 1.0 “most important.”) |
Good account management | 1.96 |
Integration with other online tools | 3.73 |
Automation of next-best action | 3.85 |
Support for your database of record | 3.96 |
Professional services | 4.54 |
Support for channels outside of email | 5.01 |
International campaign support | 5.89 |
Proprietary offices around the world | 7.05 |
Source: Forrester Research, Q1 2012, Email Marketing Customer Reference Survey | |
To address the implications of the changes in the email market, the study included those vendors that could manage marketers’ immediate email marketing needs and also know how and why to integrate email into cross-channel conversations. Six email vendors, out of an original pool of 48, met these requirements.
The report concludes by noting that this evaluation of email marketing vendors is based on the criteria deemed to be most critical to the market at this time and is intended to be a starting point only. The authors encourage readers to view detailed product evaluations and adapt the criteria weightings to fit their individual needs.
To access the complete study in PDF format, with additional charts, graphs and data, please visit here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.