The Science of Email 2014: 3 Key Takeaways

A recent report, "The Science of Email", analyzes the trends of email marketing and usage in 2014, and packs an awesome amount of data into a digestible format. Understanding these trends will allow marketers to experiment and improve the efficiency of their campaigns.

Utilizing email has become a key element in the marketing industry. However, it is a rapidly and constantly changing subset in the marketing world that companies need to monitor in order to maximize their email efficiencies.

This recent report from Litmus and Hubspot analyzes the trends of email marketing and usage in 2014, and packs an awesome amount of data into a digestible format. Understanding these trends will allow marketers to experiment and improve the efficiency of their campaigns. To hold you over until you can read the entire article (you should) here are some key takeaways:

How many words is a picture REALLY worth?

Interestingly enough most respondents indicated that they prefer emails with images over emails with text. However the observational data of the study pointed out that click through rates actually decreased significantly as the number of images increased.

Something else to think about: Many email clients block images, which could affect the efficiency of image based email, even though it is preferred by recipients.

Unwanted mail? Filter. Delete. Unsubscribe.

While those terms may seem like an email marketer’s nightmare, the findings are actually more positive than you’d think. Recipients indicated that they were more likely to delete or unsubscribe from a list than “mark as spam” (the true nightmare term). Also as email providers functionality and filtering has improved, less people feel the need to use a separate “spam” email for commercial offers.

Something else to think about:  Creating campaigns that deliver highly relevant and useful emails to your subscriber list is essential to keeping them on it.

Emails, emails everywhere…

The study highlighted the fact that today more than ever, people read their emails via a variety of devices. Smartphones while commuting, laptop and desktop machines while working, and tablets while relaxing. Different screen sizes and loading times will drastically affect the viewing experience (and therefore overall email effectiveness) for the user.

Something else to think about:  Optimize and test your emails for all variations of devices. If something is not displayed or loaded correctly, it’s likely the email will be deleted.

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Surveys such as this can go a long way to understanding subscriber’s thoughts and feelings about the email they receive from corporate campaigns. With a better understanding, and utilizing email automation applications, companies can drastically improve their email marketing and overall business.