The top stats from the report are available to download as an infographic.
The report gives a detailed picture, helping marketers to benchmark their email activity against 
industry standards and focus on aspects of their activity that need improving. The report includes: Usage and frequency of email marketing; investment in email marketing; data and targeting; ROI and measurement; suppliers and solutions.
Overview:
Despite the growing use of social media and concerns over inbox overload, email continues to be a critical tool for B2B marketers, according to this Benchmarking Report. But what’s the best time to send out emails and how big a role do subject lines and message content play in successful email marketing?
B2B Marketing’s Email Marketing Benchmarking Guide, produced in association with Circle Research, is designed to provide detailed insight and analysis into the effectiveness of email marketing. The comprehensive research polled 250 client-side marketers to create a benchmark of what methods of email marketing gets them the best results to boost the performance and success of emails.
The research also looks at key areas such as usage and frequency of email marketing; email marketing budgets and allocation; database relevance and accuracy; ROI and measurement; as well as use and performance of email marketing.
B2B marketers can use the report to meet their email marketing objectives. It is a key resource for anyone involved in using email as a key communications tool, heads of interactive or online marketing, heads of marketing, marketing communications managers, marketing directors, marketing executives, marketing managers, vice presidents of marketing. 
This research will help you:
• Benchmark your current email marketing activity – enable comparison with other B2B marketers on activity, spend, ROI, suppliers and solutions.
• Qualify your own results – determine whether you are maximising the potential of your activity or spend.
• Evaluate and optimise your email marketing tools and techniques – define criteria and usage strategies and understand effectiveness.
• Review key trends in email marketing activity – examine patterns in database relevance and accuracy, personlisation, technique effectiveness and key challenges that marketers face.
• Optimise your future spending plans – enable the right email marketing strategy to be utilised and delivered going forward
• Enhance your measurement techniques and strategies
Section 1 – About the respondents
1.1 Respondent companies by size
1.2 Industry sectors
1.3 Job titles
1.4 Geographical location
Section 2 – Usage and frequency of email marketing
2.1 Importance of email marketing
2.2 Types of email messages
2.3 Use of frequency of different campaign types
2.4 Objectives and prioritisation
2.5 Use versus frequency of use
2.6 Level of integration
2.7 Technique effectiveness
2.8 Factors boosting effectiveness
Section 3 – Investment in email marketing
3.1 Email marketing budgets
3.2 Email budget allocation
3.3 Expected change in spend over the next 12 months
3.4 Time allocated to email marketing
3.5 Time versus money allocation
3.6 Expected change in workload over the next 12 months
Section 4 – Data and targeting
4.1 Database renewal
4.2 Techniques used to refresh databases
4.3 Methods for segmenting data
4.4 Communications tailored by segment
4.5 Email personalisation
4.6 Effectiveness of personalisation
4.7 Compliance with the Data Protection Act
Section 5 – ROI and measurement
5.1 Extent to which you can measure ROI
5.2 Level of ROI achieved
5.3 Metrics monitored
5.4 Most actively monitored metrics
5.5 Total metrics tracked versus most tracked metrics
5.6 Typical rates
5.7 Satisfaction with performance against metrics
5.8 Metrics performance rates
5.9 Variation of effectiveness according to time
5.10 Most effective times for email marketing
5.11 Least effective times for email marketing
Section 6 – Suppliers and solutions
6.1 Use of email marketing platforms
6.2 Email marketing platforms used
6.3 Email platform performance
6.4 Automation functionality
This guide is suitable for:
• Marketing directors
• Heads of interactive/online marketing
• Heads of marketing
• Vice presidents of marketing
• Marketing managers
• Marketing communications managers
• Marketing executives
• Anyone involved in using email as a key communications tool
Just got round to reading
Posted by Julian Wells on 
