by Jeff Rice, Research Analyst

The importance of email marketing objectives


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A few years ago, increasing sales revenue wasn’t the most important objective for email marketing; it was the most significant challenge. Many marketers have long since overcome this challenge to quantify email ROI. Today, 78% rate the use of email to "increase sales revenue" as very important.

Email isn’t limited to top line objectives. The objective rated as very important second most often is improving customer relations/retention. Email is the preferred communications channel for customers and prospects who wish to be kept informed.

MarketingSherpa’s research also discovered organizations marketing through business channels are about 50% more likely to rate "increasing lead generation" very important than are organizations marketing directly to consumers.

On the other hand, organizations marketing to consumers, whether directly or through business partners, are more likely to consider "building brand awareness" and "increasing Web site traffic" very important.

For additional research data and insights about email marketing, download and read the free Executive Summary from the MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report.


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MarketingSherpa 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

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Chart: Top tracked email trends