A stunning 87% of publishers and marketers alike are investing in email newsletters or email marketing this year, according to a study by marketing platform LiveIntent. And 52% are increasing their investments.
Moreover, 94% of brands say scaling their email is a priority this year.
This follows a period of increased email engagement. Of brands that sent email during the quarantine, 47% saw an increase in opens. And of those had ads in their emails, 52% enjoyed a boost in CPMs.
“It makes sense that during a time of crisis people would turn to the places they trust the most to keep them informed,” states Kerel Cooper, CMO at LiveIntent.”We anticipate this relationship continuing to grow as we navigate the vaccine roll out and our new post-COVID world.”
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“Our readers have opted-in to our newsletters because they’re looking for wisdom, inspiration and fun,” adds Joshua Jaffe, President at Horoscope.com.
“Email is delivering our content to our readers without the distractions of walled gardens -- letting our readers focus on our content rather than being distracted by the maelstrom of noise in channels with User Generated Content,” Jaffe says.
Almost 30% of publishers utilize their email programs primarily to collect first-party data, while 36% seek to build deeper connections with their audience, and 34% seek to drive sales or subscription sign-ups.
Moreover, of those polled, 25% view the email address as the most valuable piece of first-party data for an identity-driven future, and 87% believe emails will be very important after the end of third-party cookies.
LiveIntent surveyed more than 200 senior marketers and publishers in March of this year.
In other recent research, LiveIntent found that programmatic ad revenue has grown for web publishers versus direct sold over the past year.
Take the case of Likemind, a web publisher focused on
learning.
“Email revenue has traditionally been driven primarily by 1:1 relationships with advertisers and will continue to be a primary focus for
us,” states Peter Chang, CRO of Likemind.
But Chang adds that “as advertisers have leaned into their CRM databases, we have seen an increase in email
revenue driven by programmatic buys as part of larger campaigns by smart advertisers that understand performance and measurement.”
This research is based on
activity during the period by LiveIntent’s 2,500 publishing and advertising clients.