Is Email Marketing Dead? Here’s What Statistics Show

Is email marketing dead? Considering later developments both in the technological arena and the field of marketing, sprinkled on top of a rapid generational change, this question presumably pops up in the heads of many business owners and marketers alike. 

The rise of social media and messaging apps, changes in consumer behavior of younger generations, and rapid technological advancements – this is not a full list of later trends that put email marketing in a presumable jeopardy. 

Nonetheless, and despite potential challenges posed by later trends in marketing, technologies, and worldwide, the data prove that the popularity of this marketing channel among marketers keeps on growing. With an estimated revenue of more than 10 billion U.S. dollars worldwide in 2023, email marketing keeps on beating other channels also in regards to ROI. 

In this article we are looking at possible reasons supporting misconceptions that email marketing is dead, as well as providing compelling arguments proving this concern wrong.  

Email marketing in milestones: critical points and what they meant for contemporary email marketing

• Emergence of commercial Internet and email services (1990s)

The 1990s saw the commercialization of the Internet and the emergence of popular email services like Hotmail (1996). In 1997 Hotmail had grown to 12 million users, demonstrating the rapid adoption of email as a communication medium. 

Since then, the number of email providers has substantially increased and diversified, proving – email is not dead. Proportionally, the number of email users in 2024 has grown to almost 4,5 billion, making email an incredibly popular tool for marketing worldwide. 

• The passing of the CAN-SPAM Act (2003)

By 2003, spam emails accounted for over half of all email traffic, highlighting the need for regulatory measures. This resulted in the adoption of the CAN-SPAM Act in 2003, adopted by the United States Congress, and establishing national standards for sending commercial emails. 

The CAN-SPAM Act substantially improved the practices of email marketing bringing them to the state we know them now – with relevant content, automatic opt-out mechanisms, and sender’s legal information included. 

• The shift to mobile email consumption (2010s)

The 2010s saw a significant shift to mobile, with more and more users accessing emails through their smartphones. By 2018, almost half of all emails were opened on mobile devices, emphasizing the importance of mobile optimization in email marketing strategies.

• Integration of AI and automation in email marketing (late 2010s) 

Advancements in AI and automation technologies began to be significantly integrated into email marketing tools in the late 2010s. Automated email messages have almost 71% higher open rates and 152% higher click-through rates than non-automated ones.

• Surge in email marketing during COVID-19 pandemic (2020)

Since the start of the pandemic, email marketing volume increased by almost 50%, as email became one of the few channels for reaching out to customers. By pushing businesses towards digital communication, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in email marketing during the first years of the pandemic and its advancement and diversification later. 

How Effective Is Email Marketing: Current State 

While the data show that email marketing keeps on growing steadily, do they also support its overall effectiveness? The answer is yes. It is estimated that email marketing drives ROI around $36 for every dollar spent. This makes email marketing the second most efficient channel in ROI generation after PPC (pay-per-click advertising) and SEO.While precise ROI can vary by industry and strategy, email marketing continues to offer one of the highest returns on investment among digital marketing channels. That is why every third marketing specialist uses it in their work, while 87% plan to increase the usage of this marketing channel in their work.

Email marketing revenue worldwide

Source: Statista 

Apart from an ability to generate high ROI, what are other aspects that characterize this marketing channel and its current state?

1. Personalization and segmentation: Today it is hard to underestimate the importance of advanced personalization and segmentation, which are getting increasingly sophisticated. While email segmentation is considered to be the most efficient email marketing strategy, it also leads to 30% more email openings and 50% more clickthroughs in comparison to unsegmented ones. Email personalization is the second most effective strategy, with 72% of marketing specialists supporting this fact.

Factors affecting email personalization

Source: Litmus 

2. Mobile optimization: With the majority of emails being opened on mobile devices (with 43% of emails opened on mobile devices in 2018, and growing), mobile optimization of emails is getting critical. This includes responsive design, interactive content, and clear calls to action to ensure a seamless experience on smartphones and tablets.

3. AI integration: The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in email marketing allows the creation of content that is better optimized and personalized leading thus to a better customer experience and even higher ROI. According to the recent findings, 51% of marketers across US, UK and Europe believe that marketing emails created with the use of AI are more effective in comparison to regular ones. 

Marketing content aspects reported to be advanced by AI

Source: HubSpot Blog Research, Marketing Trends Report, 2023

4. Gamification, interactive design, and GIFS: Why are these design elements so important and why are they growing in trend as an inseparable part of successful email marketing? Well, because they are engaging. According to recent data interactive email content leads to an increase in click-to-open rate by 73%, while videos can make this indicator spike up to 300%.

Despite the appearance of new digital marketing platforms and tools, email marketing still holds a solid position among other marketing channels and instruments. Its adaptability, integration of technological advancements, ongoing design evolution, and continued personalization allow email marketing to remain a cornerstone strategy for engaging and retaining customers.

Email Marketing vs. Social Media

If a contemporary marketer would need to apply a famous Shakespeare dilemma to his work, he would probably ask, “Email marketing or social media?”  

The rapid growth of social media popularity might provide the biggest contribution to an overall concern about email marketing longevity. Nonetheless, the data showcase that marketing email is not dead and still holds the leading position regarding main metrics. 

Thus, while an open/view rate through email marketing accounted for a solid 21.5% in 2022, the same indicator for social media varied between 2% and 4% depending on the platform with an overall tendency to decrease. Similarly, email marketing accounts for more than a twice better click-through rate (2.9%) in comparison to social media (1.36%). Finally, with ROI accounting for $36 per $1 email marketing advances social media with its $2.8 per $1 ROI by almost 13 times. 

While the data above speak in favor of email marketing as a more efficient marketing tool, it is crucial to understand that email marketing and social media marketing have different advantages, approaches, and goals.

Email marketing’s strength lies in its ability to provide personalized, longer content to an (on average) older demographic group and facilitate professional business communication. In contrast, social media targets a younger audience with more personal, short-form content that excels in building brand awareness and fostering community engagement. 

With this information in mind, both channels can be turned into allies rather than competitors. By understanding and leveraging the unique advantages of each platform (and even combining them from time to time), marketers can create a well-rounded approach that maximizes the efficiency of their digital marketing efforts. 

Challenges Facing Email Marketing

In 2024, email marketing will continue to be a vital component of digital marketing strategies for businesses worldwide. However, like any dynamic field, it faces a certain set of challenges, or developments, which, if properly addressed, can propel the effectiveness of email marketing even further.  

1. Generating traffic in the right way 

As inboxes become increasingly crowded, standing out among the multitude of emails that users receive daily becomes more difficult. Thus, the creation of compelling, engaging, and personalized content becomes both crucial and challenging. Additionally, finding the right balance between the frequency and relevance of emails is crucial to avoid being marked as spam or simply ignored by users. Thus, according to HubSpot, for companies sending their emails to clients on a weekly basis, it makes sense to concentrate their efforts on Tuesdays and keep their enthusiasm to a minimum on weekends. 

Best and worst days for sending marketing emails throughout a week

Source: HubSpot

2. Keeping up with trends 

Being able to integrate the latest email marketing trends, such as artificial intelligence, personalization, and interactive email elements is essential for email marketing evolution and development. Marketers must invest time and resources into continuous learning and experimentation to ensure their strategies remain effective and compliant with industry standards and expectations. 

Thus, email marketing is the second most popular marketing channel for which content is generated with the use of AI (28%), with only social media being ahead with 31%.

3. Understanding customers and their needs 

Customer data, while providing companies with a chance to craft highly personalized emails, also requires careful analyzing and the ability to draw meaningful insights. Understanding customer preferences and behavior patterns, allows marketers to craft an exciting customer journey. 

Factors important for email marketing personalization

Source: Litmus 

4. Having low-quality data 

The quality of data used for email marketing campaigns significantly impacts their effectiveness. Low-quality data, including inaccurate, outdated, or incomplete information, can lead to poorly targeted emails, lower engagement rates, and potential compliance issues. Marketers face the challenge of continually cleansing and updating their databases to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the data. Studies show that email list decay naturally occurs at a rate of approximately 22.5% per year, indicating the importance of regularly updating and cleaning email lists to maintain data quality.

Future of Email Marketing

So, is email dead? No. And neither is email marketing. And let’s face it: both are here to stay and grow. Nonetheless, while it successfully keeps up its position as one of the leading marketing channels, it needs to change and evolve to keep up with the rapid change.  

With the number of email users constantly growing and expecting to hit 4.73 billion users worldwide in 2026, it is obvious that email is not dead. Nonetheless, aspects like personalization and user experience should become a priority for marketers in the years to come. 

By advancing customer experience with personalized recommendations, created and optimized by the use of artificial intelligence, better data analytics, use of interactive content, and integration with other marketing channels, email marketing will be here to stay.