It’s hard to believe its almost the end of quarter one and I just just thinking, it feels like, that we’ve seen the back of another year! Whatever your feelings may have been about 2016 in general, from an Email-Marketing point of view at least, it was a standout according to research and my own projects.

While the beginning of a new year is traditionally a time to look ahead, it’s also important to evaluate the year that has passed and see what lessons we can learn from it. I’ve been thinking a lot about 2016 (despite quarter one being almost done and dusted) and what lessons I can take from the year just gone that will help me this year. It seems I’m not the only one – I recently came across a great report from Email Marketing platform Campaign Monitor reviewing the top trends in email marketing to come out of 2016.

Most organisations do some form of email marketing even if it’s just sending the occasional newsletter or product update. When there are so many other newer and more exciting marketing platforms at our fingertips it’s easy to forget about email marketing but if 2016 is anything to go by, we should be paying it more, not less, attention in the future.

According to Campaign Monitor, email was one of the top marketing strategies of 2016, and return on email marketing expenditure was up at $44 for every dollar spent. This is higher than 2015’s total of $38 and demonstrates that email marketing is still one of the most profitable marketing strategies around.

Mobile is also growing in popularity when it comes to email marketing with a 68% open rate on mobile emails during 2016. This is likely to continue in 2017 so get optimising those emails for mobile if you haven’t already!

Email automation is generating more revenue than ever according to Campaign Monitor. In 2016, 320% more revenue was generated with automated emails than non-automated emails. If you’ve been procrastinating over starting an automated email campaign, 2017 is definitely the year to get cracking.

Efficient marketing is all about finding the most cost effective strategies and applying them to your brand. From looking at the email marketing figures from 2016 it’s very clear that email marketing, especially automation, should be at the top of the list of marketing strategies that can potentially bring you a very high return on investment.

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