• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, February 14, 2024

Email is headed for a record period, judging by The State Of Marketing 2024, a new study from HubSpot. 

The following channels are expected to drive the highest ROI this year: 

• Website/blog/SEO — 16% 
• Social media shopping tools (e.g. Instagram) — 16%
• Paid social media content—14%
• Email marketing — 14%
• Content marketing — 14% 

• Finding ideas for new content — 16%
• Creating content that receives high levels of online engagement (clicks, shares, comments, etc.) — 16%
• Creating content that attracts more traffic to your website — 15%
• Reaching your target audience — 15% 
• Creating content that generates leads — 14% 

Email works, but brands have to be flexible. That means:

• Being ready to pivot in case of a major event — 27% 
• Creating content that reflects brand values — 25% 
• The importance of personalized experiences — 23% 

How do you achieve all that? The study recommends that brands:

• Use dynamic content to personalize at scale
• Integrate email programs to save time 
• Increase efficacy with AI and emerging technologies. 

Of the companies surveyed, 85% expect AI to have a transformative impact on content creation. 

Then there’s privacy. Are brands working on a plan to achieve cookie-free targeting? 

• Yes — 47% 
• No — 41%
• Not sure — 12%

Moreover, brands that have utilized it to create content report:

• Improved content quality — 85% 
• Enhanced efficiency — 84%
• Increased content production capabilities — 82% 
• Crafting more personalized content — 77%

HubSpot surveyed 1,400+ B2B and B2C marketers  in September 2023.

The study was conducted in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.