Email Marketing Confidence Varies Across Europe

State of Email Marketing EUROPE © Markedu Lda. [web] www.markedu.com or www.markedu.pt [email] hello@markedu.com
Bonus: Free expert advice from 11 leading email marketers including:
Dela Quist Michael Leander Vivek Sharma Chad White Robert Haydock João Ribeiro Drayton Bird Dave Chaffey
STATE OF EMAIL MARKETING EUROPE
Insights on the state of email marketing in EUROPE 2017

State of Email Marketing in Europe – things are looking
better, but still some way to go
It is no big secret that email marketing has become essential to many businesses. In spite of all the buzz
about social media, content marketing and such, the email channel remains the best performing marketing
channel there is.
Markedu published the first ever State of Email Marketing study in 2010. Through engagement with
hundreds of brands, we found that email marketing was not a priority. Back then.
But that has changed. More brands are now looking for smart ways to exploit the benefits of email
marketing. And are also exploring ways to use advanced data driven marketing methods such as marketing
automation, nurturing and triggered communication.
At Markedu we review email communication from hundreds of brands from across Europe each year. The
overall quality of communication has improved. But – as this study will reveal - European brands still struggle
with certain aspects of email marketing.
In the following we give you a quick snapshot of the State of Email Marketing in Europe. Should you have
questions, please feel free to get in touch.
Warm regards
Michael Leander - CEO and Founder of Markedu
P.S. This report would not have been possible without the support from GIDMA – performance focused
consultants in data-driven marketing, marketing automation and email marketing. http://www.gidma.com
State of Email Marketing EUROPE 2017 © Markedu Lda. [web] www.markedu.com or www.markedu.pt [email] hello@markedu.com

Get country-specific results
In this report you will find data comparing the survey results for Europe to three countries – namely
Denmark, Germany and Portugal.
Markedu can deliver the following country specific reports.
Portugal download free here http://www.markedu.pt/relatorio-email-marketing-portugal/ Denmark
download free here http://www.markedu.dk/email-marketing-statistik-danmark/
United Kingdom – pricing starts at € 499. Contact us at hello@markedu.com
Netherlands – pricing starts at € 499. Contact us at hello@markedu.com
Germany – pricing starts at € 999. Contact us at hello@markedu.com
More countries will be added in the 2018 report.

Now is your chance to prove it. Showcase the result of your hard work and get a
chance to win at the EDDM Awards - the only email marketing and data-driven
marketing awards for all of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The next EMEA Email & Data Driven Marketing Awards is just around the corner.
Important deadlines*:
• Early bird: ends 20th February 2018
• Final submission call 28th March 2018
• Final entries needed by 28th March 2018
• Awards night: Lisbon 19th April 2018
• Future Email Conference Lisbon 20th April 2018
Go to https://www.markedu.com/eddmawards to register your interest and
get your special invitation voucher worth € 150
* Any activity targeting an audience in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) is eligible to participate. Campaigns executed
between 1st January 2017 and 25th of March 2018 are eligible to attend.
Click here to learn more about the EDDM Awards
Are you an outstanding email marketer or
data-driven marketer – or both?

I write 200-250 emails a year. This is what I have learned.
I write 200-250 emails a year. We rely on them to build our business, so they’re very important to us.
This is what I have learned.
First, contrary to what many seem to think, your customers’ brains and emotions do not mysteriously morph when
they are on-line, nor do marketing principles change. But in fact most emailers have not studied marketing in any
depth and so make silly mistakes. As a result most email, like most advertising, is very bad.
Why is this?
To start with people are naïve about email. They think it is free. It is not. You have three costs.
1. You pay someone to create and run it for you.
2. Or you pay for the time and talent it takes to create and manage – money you could use profitably elsewhere
3. Or you pay in lost sales caused by the way bad emails irritate your prospects or customers.
Email is a highly personal medium – me to you. Yet much of it looks wrong– not personal but looking like a leaflet - a
common mistake in direct mail.
What works in email is what works in direct mail or advertising. First comes good targeting: even the most brilliant
message will not work to the wrong people. Creatively you must use emotion and relevant surprise, and promise
precise benefits, especially the avoidance of pain or misery.
Just as in traditional media, those who communicate most do best. A good example is the highly successful Daily
Reckoning which sells investments – and, as its name suggests, e-mails every day.
Also, as in traditional media, long copy usually beats short when selling complex or expensive things. For example. I
counted the words in a typical Daily Reckoning email. There were 2,444.
The fact that most marketers are expensively ignorant of these facts is another matter.
Drayton Bird, UK
The Chartered Institute of Marketing
named Drayton Bird one of 50 living
individuals who have shaped today's
marketing.
Drayton has worked with many
brands, including Amex, Bentley, IBM,
Microsoft, Philips, P&G, Unilever, Visa.
He has also worked with major ad
agencies including Y&R, JWT, FCB and
Leo Burnett.
Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP founder said:
"People all over the world have been
lucky enough to learn from him"

Table of Contents – State of Email Marketing Study
• Survey methodology
• The overwhelming majority of brands in Portugal believe email helps meet marketing objectives
• Most Portuguese brands believe they can accurately measure the sales impact of email marketing
• Only in Portugal do brands find that social media is better than email marketing in terms of
generating sales.
• Data privacy is still an issue in Portugal – only 1 in 4 businesses are confident that they operate
within the limits of the law
• How confident are you that your email communication renders correctly across all devices?
• Frequency of email communication on the rise
• What do email marketers find difficult
• Which results do email marketers in Portugal expect – on average
• What are email marketers using currently and what do they plan to use soon
• How do you currently handle email marketing – inhouse or external?
• Additional audience background

Survey Methodology
The inaugural State of Email Marketing Report was first published by Markedu in 2010.
(see that report here). Multiple country or region specific reports exist.
The 2017 results are based on:
European report:
2.294 respondents
1.889 brands participated
Portugal report:
455 respondents
369 brands participated
Denmark report:
89 respondents
84 brands participated
Moving forward this report will be published each year. Please note that no ESP (Email
Marketing Survey Provider) was involved with the preparation of the report. The results
you are about to read are completely unbiased.
Learn more about survey respondents on the last pages of this report.

Jenna Tiffany
Michael Leander
Gerrit van Leeuwen
You are invited to The Future Email Conference
in Lisbon on April 20th, 2018
Hear cutting-edge case-stories. Get inspired by inspirational and visionary
speakers. Meet and mingle with your peers from across EMEA. If your business
wants to continue to deliver results using any type of email marketing, this is a
must-attend conference.
Some of the topics covered at the conference in Lisbon
▪ AI – Artificial intelligence in email marketing
▪ How to optimize your subscriber engagement
▪ Email on the go and immersed experiences
▪ How to improve creativity and content
▪ Personalization and dynamic content
You cannot miss this unique conference in sunny Lisbon
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CONFERENCE HERE
PS: 19th April 2018 EDDM Awards Night in Lisbon
Confirmed Speakers
Organized by

1. The overwhelming majority of brands in Europe believe email
marketing helps meet marketing objectives
Compared to the rest of Europe, brands in Germany and Portugal are generally more
convinced about the efficiency of email marketing
The question asked was: “Answer with yes or no: Email marketing newsletters & email marketing
promotions helps me meet my marketing objectives”
89,20
83,50
88,60
83,50
11,80
16,50
11,40
16,50
75,00
80,00
85,00
90,00
95,00
100,00
Portugal Rest of Europe Germany Denmark
Yes No
When we dive deeper into this question,
we find the following variations:
B2C companies most confident
about email marketing efficiency
Those with 4-5 years of experience
are most confident about email
marketing efficiency

1(a). The overwhelming majority of brands in Europe believe email
marketing helps meet marketing objectives
When we dive deeper into this question, we find the following variations:
B2C companies most confident about email marketing efficiency
Of those who said they only sell to consumers, 94% said that email marketing helps them meet their
marketing objectives.
For those strictly selling on the B2B market, only 88,9% believe that email marketing helps meet
marketing objectives.
Those respondents whom said they are selling to both to B2B and B2C, computed the lowest number,
namely 85,7%
Marketers with 4-5 years of experience are most confident about email marketing
efficiency
Of those with less than 3 years of email marketing experience, the answer is 89,1%.
Those with 4-5 years of experience: 100%
Those with 6-9 years of experience: 90,3%
And those with over 10 years of experience, surprisingly, only 77,8% feel that email marketing helps
them meet their marketing objectives.

What 21 years of (hard-core) email marketing experience has
taught me
As a young CMO, I became familiar with email marketing by chance in 1996. Formerly a recognized expert in the CRM field,
I instantly loved the channel. Mostly because I could track the result of each communication. And because it turned out to
be a great channel for getting results.
Since 2002 I’ve helped corporations all over the world get results with email marketing. What strikes me is that the issues
people had in 2002 are still the same today. I’ve learned a lot over the years, but am still somewhat puzzled that the
following issues that still stand in the way of getting results.
• Email marketers care too much about themselves and what they want, not a whole lot about their audience and
what they want. Mistake. Outside-in thinking is crucial to success in email marketing.
• Data chaos is still the norm. Marketers do not seem too keen on consolidating all of their customer and prospect
data. Data used for email marketing is siloed, divorced from transactional data, and other behavioral or insight data.
That’s a mistake.
• Content is random, email marketers lack tactical prowess and business acumen. Content is typically decided and
created or sourced based on gut-feeling, personal taste and a whole lot of randomness. That’s a mistake.
• Abhorrent attitude towards frequency. Common sentence heard around the watercooler: “We can’t send too often,
people will unsubscribe.” Frequency should be decided based on testing and observing audience behavior. Many email
marketers communicate inconsistently and/or with low frequency. That may be a mistake.
• No testing or wrong methods for testing. Classic. Whenever we show test results from simple A/B split testing
campaigns, audiences are - like – “wow”, “incredible”. Yet very few marketers test anything. And many of those that do,
don’t know how to do it properly.
For me, email marketing has come full circle. It is fully possible to control all aspects of data, tightly integrate with CRM
and/or ERP, leverage real-time (behavioral or intent) data and even personalize content on the fly. But none of that
matters if the aforementioned issues aren’t resolved.
Good luck, Michael Leander.
Michael Leander, Denmark
An omnichannel proponent, he is a
direct marketer with loads of
practical experience implementing
high performance programs &
campaigns.
Connect on:
Visit website:
• www.gidma.com
• www.michaelleander.me
• www.markedu.com

2. European brands: 52,80% say they can accurately measure the sales
impact of email marketing – but in Germany that number is 65,70%
The question asked was: “Answer with yes or no: I can accurately measure the impact of our email
marketing activities as it relates to generating sales”
The ability to measure the impact of sales is quite important. German brands lead the way.
65,50
52,80
65,70
50,60
34,50
47,20
34,30
49,40
0,00 10,00 20,00 30,00 40,00 50,00 60,00 70,00 80,00 90,00 100,00
Portugal
Rest of Europe
Germany
Denmark
Yes No
65,7% of German brands report that
they can measure the impact that
email marketing activities has on sales.
This puts German brands ahead of the
European average. Interestingly only
50,6% of brands in Denmark say they can
measure email marketing impact on sales.

3. Is social media better than email marketing in terms of generating
sales? No, says nearly 60% of European brands. But in Portugal it is
different.
The question was: “Answer with yes or no: In terms of generating sales, email marketing has proven more
effective than any of the social media network platforms we use”
46,99
59,50
74,30
56,00
53,10
40,50
25,70
44,00
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Portugal Rest of Europe Germany Denmark
Yes No
This is an interesting question. We asked because
we suspected that the emotional preference would
kick in.
You see, many marketers feel that social media is fun and
easy to do. Whereas email marketing is perceived to be less
fun and more difficult to do. Hence, we’ve experienced that
many marketers are inclined to prioritize social media
marketing over email marketing.
Perhaps this also has to do with the misconception that
email is dead. Well, email marketing is not dead. In fact, the
channel is growing steadily. And experts believe email will
not go away any time soon. Some even believe that emails
will become the new websites.
In Europe, brands feel that email marketing is better at
delivering results than using social media networks. But in
Portugal brands believe the opposite to be true.

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3(a). European brands find that email marketing is better than social media in
terms of generating sales.
This is in line with various research, which time and time again puts the ROI and efficiency of email marketing ahead of
marketing through social media networks.
Although the ROI number of reference (the one reported each year by the US Direct Marketing Association) has
decreased from some 42 dollars on every 1 dollars spent to around 30 dollars returned on every 1 dollar spent, the
consensus is that email marketing is a powerful medium.
But that’s not to say that email marketing should stand
alone. Clearly integrating email marketing with other
channels often seems to increase overall performance.
And that regardless of your specific objective.
In the following you see a graph from a survey by
Econsultancy. Here you see how email marketing is
perceived to generate the most satisfactory ROI of all
channels. Well ahead of social media and closely followed
only by SEO and content marketing.
Only 7% believe that social media produce an excellent
ROI whereas 22% believed that email marketing produces
an excellent ROI.

Email Is Always On
Today most people are never more than a meter from their smartphone. Paradoxically – bizarrely even,
we now interact with email any time or place, from the minute we wake until we fall asleep.
When a customer signs up to receive email from you, it is a signal they’re ready and willing to hear from
you. They would have had to be from Mars to be surprised to get multiple messages a week, particularly
when you can ensure they get content that resonates and interests them.
This immediacy and frequency email is checked boosts the potential for us to exploit the medium for
not only conversion, but brand awareness purposes as well. By sending more email, marketers can
increase the number of brand impressions in the inbox and fully utilise the people’s obsession with
their mobile devices. Frequency is therefore something you should push to the limit of your ability to
deliver relevance.
When it comes to the bottom of the purchase funnel, most marketers already know how to deliver
results from email. The growth in mobile email interactions and emerging new technologies that help to
automate the process, means that email can become a powerful delivery mechanism for new brand
impressions.
The main barrier to full integration of brand marketing with direct response is the lack of a customer
level view of all digital interactions. To succeed and be prepared for the next decade marketers should
focus their investment on customer-centric reporting tools and testing.
Dela Quist, Alchemy Worx
Dela Quist, CEO of Alchemy Worx is
an internationally renowned email
marketing thought leader who uses
innovative data analysis to
challenge many of the myths and
preconceptions in the industry.
Connect on:
Visit website:
• www.alchemyworx.com
• www.touchstonetests.io

4. Data privacy is still an issue - only 1 in 4 businesses in Europe are
confident that they operate within the limits of the law
The question asked was: “How confident are you that you know and completely understand the data privacy
legislation governing email marketing?”
Marketers remain cavalier about privacy issues, even while consumers express heightened concern.
Very
confident
25%
Somewhat
confident
60%
Not confident at all
15%
It is surprising so see that this important area of
marketing still is not a priority. Especially considering all
the recent and forthcoming changes affecting anything
to do with data protection and consumer protection.
Just think about the EU General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) coming into force in 2018. (more
here www.eugdpr.org)
But - as you can see in the graph - it is an issue all
around Europe. And it goes to prove that businesses
have quite a job to do to ensure compliance with
current legislation.

4(a). Data privacy: only 1 in 4 businesses are confident that they
operate within the limits of the law.
How Portugal, Germany and Denmark compare to the rest of Europe
Businesses in Germany seem to be more aware of the legislation as only 8,60% said they are not
confident that they completely understand the data privacy legislation governing email marketing.
In Portugal 24,90% said they are very confident that they do, which is slightly below the European
average of 28,70%.
Not confident Very confident
Portugal 15,00% 24,90%
Germany 8,60% 34,30%
Denmark 20,50% 22,90%
Rest of Europe 19,90% 28,70%
State of Email Marketing EUROPE © Markedu Lda. [web] www.markedu.com or www.markedu.pt [email] hello@markedu.com

Email Marketing as a communication channel within the
omnichannel marketing approach
Email is a powerful marketing channel and like every channel has its own specific characteristics. One of
them is that it has the power to be very personal and as such may have a strong positive impact. With the
development of technology it has become much easier to send loads of emails to a big audience. Sometimes
the ease of sending has withheld the development of personalization and customization of emails. Another
element is that many companies are still struggling to get their customer data completely and accurately
organized in one place and do not take advantage of the intelligence that data can add to email.
Personalisation is marketing trend number one, for all channels. For that you need the personal data of your
customers and prospects. And in order to get access to personal data you need the trust and a model that is
operationally compliant with the new European privacy regulation GDPR. Just a quote on the GDPR:
"This is perhaps one of the most significant milestones achieved in data protection in our lifetime and the
democratisation of the world’s biggest single digital market is now complete". Jan Philipp Albrecht MEP
The GDPR Enforcement date: 25 May 2018 - at which time those organizations in non-compliance will face
heavy fines amounting to the higher of 20 million or 4% of the annual world wide income. Contrary to the
1995 European privacy Directive, the regulation is direct European law which will be enforced in a
coordinated way throughout Europe. Every organization that emails to European residents will be impacted
by the regulation.
Our advise, make privacy by design and default part of your email marketing strategy and consider a
2-way cooperation with your customers as to their personal data. You will be compliant and the
impact or your emails will increase.
Marc Stubbé has a background in
media, digital and technology. He is
Managing partner of The CMR
Agency. The CMR Agency advises
companies to increase customers
engagement through new
sustainable personal data models.
Connect on:
Visit website:
• www.thecmragency.com
Marc Stubbé, The CMR Agency

5. How confident are you that your email communication
renders correctly across all devices?
Only 15,80% of businesses in Europe feel they are NOT in control in terms of how emails
present themselves across different devices and channels. Failing to render correctly across
all devices, will reduce efficiency of your email communication.
Very confident;
31,30%
Somewhat
confident;
52,90%
Not confident
at all; 15,80%
Very confident Somewhat confident Not confident at all
Tools to do it – email rendering and preview tests
Litmus - https://litmus.com/email-testing
Email on Acid - https://www.emailonacid.com
EmailReach - http://www.emailreach.com
Previewmyemail - http://previewmyemail.com

I cannot stress enough the importance of making sure your
email renders correctly in every device.
Every email client displays email differently. For example, the Gmail app on an iPhone will render an
email differently than the Gmail app on an Android device. Statistics show that 80% of email
subscribers will delete an email if it doesn’t render properly and 30% of those will unsubscribe all
together. Granted, getting an email to render properly in every email client isn’t the easiest thing to do
but why take the risk?
You have worked hard on organically growing, not buying, your email list. I hate to see all that effort
wasted with a broken email. Don’t guess, test!
John Thies, Email on Acid
John Thies is the CEO & Co-Founder
of Email on Acid, a service that
gives email marketers a preview of
how their emails are displayed in
the most popular email clients and
mobile devices. His career passion
is helping marketers send perfect
emails.
Connect on:
Visit website:
www.emailonacid.com
• 80% of email subscribers
will delete an email if it
doesn’t render properly
• and 30% of those will
unsubscribe all together.

6. Frequency of email communication on the rise – More than 70% of
European brands plan to increase email communication
The question asked was: “Answer with yes or no the following statements about frequency of email
communication”
33,60%
52,00%
65,50%
70,70%
66,40%
48,00%
34,50%
29,60%
0,00%
10,00%
20,00%
30,00%
40,00%
50,00%
60,00%
70,00%
80,00%
90,00%
100,00%
We send 6 or more email
newsletter each month
We send 3 or more promotional
email campaigns each month
We have increased the
frequency of email
communication in the past year
We are planning to increase
frequency of email
communication in the coming
year
Frequency indicators for email marketing in Europe
Yes No
.
Frequency of email communication
differs a lot depending on industry
and demographic. Central European
brands communicate less frequently

Email Marketing Rules and Myths
As I say in my book, "Email Marketing Rules," "Email marketing’s power is matched only by how
incredibly misunderstood the channel is." Although it is a high-performance channel, email
marketing is constantly undermined by all the myths out there about how it operates.
These myths keep many brands' email marketing programs from achieving their full potential,
in terms of both financial returns and creating great customer experiences.
Chad’s 5 of 25 email marketing myths and how to deal with them.
#1: Subject lines have the biggest impact on whether a subscriber opens an email
#2: Millennials don’t like email
#3: Can-spam requires brands to obtain consent before sending people email
#4: Subject lines can only impact open-rates
#5: Consumers are spending less time with email
See all the myths and the myth-buster answers here:
https://litmus.com/blog/biggest-email-marketing-myths
Chad White, Litmus
Chad White is the author of “Email
Marketing Rules” and Research
Director at Litmus. He has written
more than 3,000 posts and articles
about email marketing trends and
best practices.
Connect on:
Visit website:
• www.emailmarketingrules.com
• www.litmus.com

7. What do email marketers find difficult?
Acquiring new subscribers is considered highly difficult amongst
European email marketers
The question asked was: “Which of the following do you find difficult?”
To be successful in email marketing, one
must master several areas. Traditionally
email marketers have been struggling to
find easy solutions that will allow them to
put behavioral data to good use. This
continues to be a major issue.
Continuously adding new subscribers is the
#1 challenge for European email marketers.
Marketers also find it difficult to get top-
management buy in. Something brands in
Portugal have in common with their
German counterparts.
71,60%
68,50%
52,80%
28,40%
31,50%
47,20%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Consistently acquiring new email subscribers is
highly difficult
Putting behavioral data from email campaigns to
good use is highly difficult
Getting buy-in from top-management to further
expand our email marketing capabilities is highly
difficult
Yes No

7.1 Getting top management buy-in is difficult
52,8% of European email marketers find it highly difficult to get buy-in from top-management.
Much less of an issue to marketers in Denmark (42,30%) as it is to marketers in Germany where
63,20% said it is difficult to get top management buy-in.
Somewhat surprising to us. Perhaps this must be seen in the light of the fact that the majority also say
they find it difficult to prove ROMI (Return on Marketing Investment).
. Getting top management buy in is difficult comparison
Said “Yes, it is difficult”
Europe 52,80%
Portugal 63,90%
Denmark 42,30%
Germany 63,30%

7.2 Putting behavioral data to good use
Using behavioral data in email marketing is a matter of sending targeted emails to individuals based on
their actions and current and past behavior. This is a highly effective strategy that will help brands
increase results and – ultimately – the ROI of email marketing.
While most email marketing tools track behavior, it is odd that marketers still find it difficult to put
behavioral data to get use. Or perhaps not. An e-consultancy survey from 2015 found that only 20% of
email marketers are using behavioral email marketing based on web activity, but 39% were planning to
use behavioral email targeting in the future.
Putting behavioral data to good use is difficult comparison
Europe 68,50%
Denmark 66,70%
Germany 60,00%
Portugal 69,10%

Person + Profile + Purpose = Performance.
Email marketing has always been about Reach. Reaching the right people with an attractive message, but this is
an evolutionary concept. Email marketing is reinventing itself by acknowledging Person + Profile + Purpose =
Performance.
The value is not IN the email list (like we used to say), it is through relationships with people that are on that list.
In misguided advise marketers in the past were told to remove barriers to signing up, so to remove all friction,
don’t ask anything: Just collect email addresses. Then asked to optimise their effort: The equivalent of trying to
paint the Mona Lisa in the dark.
The quality of an audience is defined for a large part by the completeness of the subscriber’s profile because
there is where Purchase Intent and other valuable data to segment and act on is found. Realise that the same
person can be worth either zero or multiple times your average email customer value, by acting on what you
are able to know.
Every email is a lifecycle email, whether you want it or not.
Each customer is in a phase of their customer lifecycle right now. They are going through the buying phases,
experiencing your products or almost churning. What you have to do is uncover these things that are already
happening. See where you can make the difference. We have all these beautiful marketing automation tools to
measure and find out what they are.
A subscriber might tolerate one-size-fits-all messages, but that is not the question nor a very good measure of
success. The question is; With all of that potential value is out there, what are you going to do about it?
I am glad to see that Marketing Automation is picking up steam with more and more email marketers seeing it
as an important part of their tools, as well as creating funnels and automated sequences. It signals the ambition
of creating a sophisticated and tied-in marketing function. When brands start with Marketing Automation and
can set-up campaigns faster, they will be able to shift focus from “Just Do It”, to “Just Do It Better”.
Jordie van Rijn, Netherlands
eCRM and Email Marketing
Consultant.
Connect on:
Visit website:
• www.emailmonday.com
• www.emailvendorselection.com

7.3 Consistently acquiring new email subscribers is very difficult
A whopping 71,60% of all email marketers in Europe say that they find it difficult to
consistently acquire new email subscribers. In Germany 93,30% say they are highly
challenged in this matter.
Here Germany stands out since 93,30% of brands report that they find subscriber acquisition highly
difficult. In Denmark “only” 66,70% of marketers find it difficult to acquire new subscribers.
We know that in order to continuously acquire new subscribers, a business must be committed. And
consistently leverage multiple channels to acquire new subscribers. A great acquisition strategy
ensures that the offer is communicated across all channels.
Europe 71,60%
Denmark 66,70%
Germany 93,30%
Portugal 71,80%

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Your brand is spending a big portion of your digital marketing budget on customer acquisition. You invest money in search
engine marketing (SEO and SEA) to drive traffic to your website hoping for the visitors to buy from you (a macro
conversion). However, most of those visitors leave the website anonymously because they were not ready to make the
final decision. Now imagine that you can convert 5 to 10% of those visitors that leave your website anonymously into email
subscribers (a micro conversion) and be able to start a dialogue and turn them into customers when they are ready to buy
from you.
How do you do this? Start by asking yourself what data do you need to drive results for your email program. Define the
minimum information you need to initiate the relationship and the data you believe is necessary for the ideal subscriber
profile. Remember: You can always ask for more details once the visitor turns into an email subscriber. Don't increase
friction in the form. Avoid asking for sensitive information you do not need at this point of the relationship.
Add sign-up forms mechanisms in prominent places of your website, don't hide them in your website footer. Use pop-ups
with sign-up forms. Despite the fact that most marketers believe that pop -ups are too disturbing and intrusive, if these are
setup correctly, you will see significant results in subscriber acquisition. Don't make the email subscription program part of
your "website registration". Make it a separated process where people can easily sign-up to receive your email
communication.
Give the visitor a compelling reason to subscribe to your email communications. "Subscribe our newsletter" is not enough,
you must have an email value proposition that delivers a compelling reason to subscribe, highlighting the benefits of the
email communication. Also, don't forget to tell them how often you will send these emails.
If you promise tailored content to the visitor at the point of sign-up, asking only for the email address, will not give you the
ability to segment and personalise your email content keeping your promise. To leverage the benefits of segmentation, you
need an excellent database, one with relevant and actionable data, and most importantly, accurate data!
Last but not least - test, test, test. Don't take best practices for granted, they can be a starting point, but you need to learn
what works best for you and there's no better way to do that than conducting tests that will allow you to optimise every
little detail of you email subscriber acquisition program.
João Ribeiro, GIDMA
João Ribeiro is a digital and data-
driven marketing expert with an
extensive experience having
planned and executed hundreds of
activities over the years. Based in
Portugal, he has achieved
significant results for clients around
the world.
Connect on:
Visit website:
• www.gidma.com
• www.markedu.pt

7. What do email marketers find difficult? Proving email marketing
ROI is a challenge, creating content not so much
55,90%
49,30%
41,00%
44,10%
50,70%
59,00%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Proving Return on Marketing Investment on our
email marketing activities is highly difficult
Maintaining low unsubscribe rate is highly
difficult
Creating content for email newsletters is highly
difficult
Yes No

Touchstone – The future of testing is here!
Decision making without testing is just guesswork
Don’t guess run a test (without hurting customers) today! http://bit.ly/ABtestnow

7.4 Creating content for email newsletters is less difficult
Of all the challenges, email marketers find it less difficult to create content for email newsletters.
Of the six statements, creating content was found the least difficult.
Danish email marketers said they found it less difficult to create content
3 tips to improve content creation for your email newsletters
1. Know what your audience are interested in: what they want to learn, what kindof inspiration
they want.
2. Create a content strategy, which outlines exactly what type of content you will share.
3. Establish content sharing partnerships. Preferably with brands able to share content relevant
to your audience and to your brand and purpose.
Said “yes, it is difficult”
Europe 41,00%
Denmark 39,70%
Germany 50,00%
Portugal 46,40%

Email is that is still a powerful workhorse and drives the highest
ROI out of all marketing channels.
Email marketing today is at an inflection point. The good thing about email is that it’s still a
powerful workhorse and drives the highest ROI out of all direct marketing channels. A big
misconception though among marketers is that the traditional tactics of sending more campaigns,
creating more segmentation, and building more triggers and customer journeys is enough to sustain
success without thinking seriously about the kind of content they’re sending. For the longest time,
email marketing has been about what offer to send and lacked focus about how exactly to present
content to individual customers.
We’ve all received emails with irrelevant content – maybe it’s a sale that’s already expired or an offer
for a product we’ve already purchased. This is the bad side of email where content misses the mark
and marketers miss an opportunity to engage customers with content that they actually respond
positively to. The things that we see work best are when marketers really take the time to invest in
content. Not just more content, but content that is personalized in real time at the moment of open
and leverages the massive amounts of data and creative assets they already have on hand.
Investing in content to drive email success happens at many levels and involves the right balance of
people and technology. Email has always enjoyed scale and reach, but content that speaks to
customers one-to-one is difficult if not impossible to scale manually without the power of technology.
As CEO of a technology company, I may be a bit biased of course, but the best success we see is when
marketers leverage technology that frees them up from the tedious manual aspects of email, allows
them to spend more time being creative, and enables them to harness the power of their data to drive
better results – both in traditional email metrics and the business impact of sales and revenue.
Vivek Sharma, Movable Ink
Vivek is leading the charge to make
email a more dynamic and relevant
communication channel for
marketers and consumers. With a
background in both sales & product
development, Vivek brings a potent
combination of engineering talent
and business savvy to his role as
Movable Ink's CEO.
Connect on:
Visit website:
www.movableink.com

7.5 Maintaining low unsubscribe rates is considered difficult in
Europe – not so much in Denmark
While the European average came out at 49,30% - only 30,80% of email marketers in Denmark said
they found it difficult to maintain low unsubscribe rates.
This may be because permission based email marketing is very much established - and respected
- in all Scandinavian countries.
Europe 49,30%
Denmark 30,80%
German 43,30%
Portugal 50,40%
3 tips to lower your unsubscribe rates (from GIDMA: www.gidma.com)
1. Create an inspiring and educational welcome flow. This will ensure that your subscribers
remembers you.A great welcome flow is proven to increase the lifetime of a subscriber.
2. Communicate regularly and not just when you need something from the audience. Make
your audience habitual readers of your content.
3. Put your subscribers in the driving seat: let subscribers decide how often they want to
hear from you, which content they want to receive.

7.6 Proving Return on Marketing Investment continues to be
difficult
Marketers in Europe are struggling with this one. Only the Germans seem to find it less difficult to
prove email marketing ROI. Email marketers in Denmark top the list.
Europe 55,90%
Denmark 59,00%
Germany 43,30%
Portugal 56,80%
3 steps you can take to prove email marketing ROI
1. Understand exactly what you wish to achieve; brand awareness, acquire qualified
leads, nurture leads etc. Then set specific goals.
2. Put a value to your actions; cost of a lead, cost of customer acquisition, cost of a sales
transaction etc. and then communicate those values and goals to top-management.
3. Track everything, from the first click to the last action leading to a sales transaction.

8. Which results do email marketers expect – on average?
This report did not intend to record the actual results of email marketing campaigns and newsletters. But
merely to gauge the expectations of email marketers.
Here the averages for expectations for CTR – Click Through Rate for Newsletters and for Promotions along
with the average expectations for Opt-out Rate in Europe.
Keep in mind that these numbers are based on expectations, not actual results.
Diving deeper, there is significant differences in expectations across industries and regions of Europe.
For example, marketers in the Nordic countries expect higher CTR’s and lower opt-out rates than email
marketers in the United Kingdom. Similarly most B2B marketers expect much higher CTR’s than the
average B2C marketer.
13,5%
Click-Through Rate
15,3%
Click-Through Rate
1,3%
Opt-Out Rate
PROMOTIONS/OFFERS ACCEPTABLE OPT-OUT RATENEWSLETTERS

The need for brands to send more and more interesting email
is stronger now more than ever
Consumers are inundated with messages day in and day out. They all begin to look the same
and your offer is lost in a sea of similar messages. Standing out is crucial, but technical
constraints of email clients limit what a marketer is able to do within emails.
Really interesting and effective methods for creating engaging experiences on the wider web,
such as JavaScript, limit your deliverability and increase the chances of your emails getting
flagged as spam when used in email. In the long run this will only hurt your business.
However, we have found a way around this that doesn’t hurt deliverability, works with all email
clients, and still garners the high engagement of interactive content. We insert a linked gif that
points to an interactive experience on a landing page or our website in our emails. It’s the same
idea behind linking to a video in email. This way the user journey is fluid and each step is
connected, limiting cognitive dissonance all while holding attention longer and demanding
action with interactivity.
Using this technique, linking out to an interactive experience with an interactive hint, has proven
itself time and time again. We see, on average, a 3x increase in CTR when compared to our
typical emails. With improvements like this It is apparent that this is where the industry is going.
Using interactive content in combination with email will soon be ubiquitous.
Robert Haydock, Zembula
Robert Haydock has a background
in the performance optimization of
digital marketing and advertising
campaigns. Robert co-founded
Zembula in 2013 after seeing a
need for a new marketing format
that intrigued consumers.
Connect on:
Visit website: www.zembula.com

9. What are email marketers using currently and what do they
plan to use soon
In the following we will present you with the results indicating what email marketers are currently
using along with where they intend to invest.
For each of the following, we have also compared with selected markets in Europe
9.1 Lead nurturing programs
An (automated) lead nurturing program is the process of sending a series of automated emails that
will trigger based on a person's behaviors or a preset time interval. This means you can provide the
right information, to the right person and at the right time.
Lead nurturing programs
Here you can learn more about lead nurturing: GIDMA - www.gidma.com/get-started
Europe Portugal Germany Denmark
Currently use 28,70% 21,40% 18,50% 12,90%
Plan to use 40,70% 38,80% 48,10% 32,90%
No plan to use 30,60% 39,70% 33,30% 54,30%

9.2 Double-opt in
Single op-in (SOI) means the subscriber is on your list once she has submitted the form.
Double opt-in (DOI), also known as confirmed opt-in (COI), requires the new subscriber to click
a confirmation link in a subscription activation email. If the person does not click the
confirmation link, you cannot add that person to your list of subscribers
Double-opt in
Resources to understand more about whether double-opt-in or single-opt-in is the best
strategy for you
• Chad White - Single Opt-in vs. Double Opt-in
• Wikipedia definition – Opt-in Email
• Contact GIDMA.com to see if they can help
Currently use 20,50% 24,60% 77,80% 20,00%
Plan to use 38,10% 35,30% 11,10% 24,30%
No plan to use 41,40% 40,20% 11,10% 55,70%

9.3 Lead scoring
Lead scoring is a methodology used to rank prospects against a scale that represents the
perceived value each lead represents to the organization. The resulting score is used to
determine which leads to prioritize and/or which channels or means to use to engage
individual leads.
Lead scoring can help email marketers in many ways. For example to quickly identify inactive
or hyper-active email subscribers.
Lead scoring
Resources to understand more about lead scoring and how it can help your business.
• American Marketing Association - What is lead scoring?
• Myk Pono - How to design lead nurturing and lead scoring
• Contact GIDMA.com to see if they can help
Currently use 19,50% 18,30% 22,20% 15,70%
Plan to use 47,90% 46,40% 37,00% 40,00%
No plan to use 32,60% 35,30% 40,70% 44,30%

The 3 biggest missed opportunities of email marketing today?
I've been fortunate to be involved in email marketing since around 2003 when I first wrote Total
Email Marketing. Today, email marketing goes hand-in-hand with marketing automation, or
rather it should do. But it frustrates me that much of the power of email marketing automation
isn't widely used.
Let me share these 3 specific ideas to get you started
1. Welcome sequences are a huge missed opportunity! When someone is added to your list
as a new subscriber, your first email to them can be seen as the most important email you send
to a prospect or customer. Don’t stop with a single Courier email! By crafting multiple, well-
branded emails in a welcome sequence rather than the simple auto response you can tell the
story of what your brand can offer subscribers and give different options to engage the
audience.
2. Dynamic content for personalization. When you’re working on your welcome sequence,
dynamic content, another marketing automation technique, can come to your aid. We all know
that if you mention someone by name or another personal attribute it will engage them more.
3. Lead scoring. The art of lead scoring involves setting up the rules for which types of
interaction are worth a set number of points and when a threshold is reached. Once a threshold
is reached, sales people can be notified to get in touch with a B2B or high value B2C prospect
through email.
Dr. Dave Chaffey is CEO and co-
founder of Smart Insights, the
management advice site for digital
marketers. He is also the author of
5 bestselling books on ecommerce,
including: “Digital Marketing:
Strategy, Implementation and
Practice” & “Total Email Marketing”.
Connect on:
Visit website:
www.smartinsights.com
Dave Chaffey, Smart Insights

9.4 Behavioral targeting
Someone’s behavior tells you a lot about what they might be interested in. Using behavioral targeting
and event-based triggering of email communication, has proven to increase results quite substantially.
It is obvious that it would, since behavioral targeting is a method to add even more relevance to the
conversation. Improving the timing of communication is another obvious benefit.
Behavioral targeting
Learn more about how you can get started with behavioral targeting
• GIDMA - www.gidma.com/get-started
If you want to explode the results you get from your email marketing activities, let GIDMA help you
get started using behavioral targeting. Contact to learn more www.gidma.com or email
michael@gidma.com (English)
Currently use 29,60% 29,00% 37,00% 14,10%
Plan to use 53,40% 52,70% 51,90% 49,30%
No plan to use 16,90% 18,30% 11,10% 36,60%

9.5 Customization of emails
There is a lot of confusion between the two terms; customization and personalization.
Customization of emails means sending emails based on preferences indicated by the recipient. It is the
simplest form of the two: customization and personalization.
Customization of emails
Learn more about how you can get started customizing emails for better results
• Markedu – www.markedu.com
Currently use 47,50% 58,90% 66,70% 39,50%
Plan to use 45,30% 34,00% 29,60% 38,00%
No plan to use 7,20% 7,10% 3,70% 22,50%

9.6 Personalized welcome flows
With personalization you do not rely solely on input from the recipient, but rather use their past, present and
live behavior and intent to personalize emails to be the best possible fit for each receiving person.
Personalized welcome flows
Learn more about how you can improve your email welcome flows – and even personalize these
• Markedu – www.markedu.com
Currently use 39,10% 41,50% 55,60% 22,50%
Plan to use 45,90% 40,60% 33,30% 46,50%
No plan to use 15,00% 17,90% 11,10% 31,00%

9.7 One data repository
Data is becoming an increasingly valuable currency for marketers. Yet many marketers struggle to
make data actionable. The conversation around one-data repository has been going on for many
years.
Most marketers have not established one data repository yet. But – according to the results of this
survey - it does seem that marketers across Europe have plan to centralize all data in the (near)
future.
One data repository
Currently use 30,60% 29,50% 29,60% 11,40%
Plan to use 47,90% 52,70% 40,70% 34,30%
No plan to use 21,50% 17,90% 29,60% 54,30%

9.8 Email marketing service provider
Email marketing service providers enable marketers to do email marketing professionally. Well over 50% of the
businesses participating in this survey already use or plan to use an email marketing service provider.
Email marketing service provider
Want to engage a (new) email marketing service provider, check these resources
• GIDMA can help guide you to choose the right vendor - www.gidma.com/get-started
• Markedu has courses, seminars and workshops on email marketing - www.markedu.com
Unbiased email experts at GIDMA can help you understand which email marketing service provider is right for
you. Get in touch today: www.gidma.com
Currently use 54,10% 58,30% 66,70% 43,70%
Plan to use 21,80% 24,20% 14,80% 11,30%
No plan to use 24,10% 17,50% 18,50% 45,10%

9.9 Marketing automation provider
Though we’ve seen a great deal of consolidation in the past 5 years, there are still dedicated marketing
automation solution providers out there. But we also know that many marketers do not differentiate
between email marketing service providers and marketing automation service providers. This may
explain the large number of businesses in Portugal whom claim to currently use marketing automation.
Way above the rest of Europe where only 1 in 3 businesses report to be currently using a marketing
automation provider.
Marketing automation provider
Want to learn more about marketing automation and how this generates results
• GIDMA can help guide you to choose the right vendor - www.gidma.com/get-started
• Markedu has courses, seminars and workshops on email marketing - www.markedu.com
Currently use 37,80% 42,80% 33,30% 25,40%
Plan to use 32,90% 35,10% 33,30% 25,40%
No plan to use 29,30% 22,10% 33,30% 49,30%

10. How do you currently handle email marketing – inhouse or
external?
Most businesses in Europe do everything related to email marketing internally – and very few outsource
everything. In Europe and North America the trend is to outsource specific tasks and responsibilities to
experts or specialized agencies / marketing consultants. This to get better results as email marketing,
marketing automation and data-driven marketing at large is getting increasingly complex.

12 Additional audience background
How many years of experience
´
What type of audience
EUROPE
Both B2C and B2B 34,50%
Businesses (B2B) 33,50%
Consumers (B2C) 30,30%
Others (exp. government to citizens) 1,60%
EUROPE
1 year or less 25,80%
2-3 years 26,10%
4-5 years 20,60%
6-9 years 13,20%
10 years or more 14,20%

The State of Email Marketing Portugal could not have been
done without the support from these fine companies:

Email Marketing Confidence Varies Across Europe

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