Given the current global economic climate, it comes as no surprise that companies are looking to reduce spending. Marketing, is perhaps the hardest hit department, with 68% of marketing leaders indicating that they had their budgets reduced by at least 5-10% for the second half of 2023, and 13% had their budget cut by between 20-40%.
There’s now a clear need for marketers to evaluate their strategies to ensure they’re using their budgets effectively and to do more with less. To do that, it’s important for organizations to understand how they can build brand trust and increase engagement, with a view to creating demand and maximizing ROI.
Reductions in marketing budgets in the second part of 2023
These are the top priorities for marketers in 2024:
Yet, when looking at where marketers have been investing the most in 2023, email marketing has been the priority marketing channel.
Marketers have also been investing in social media (66%) and SEO / content marketing (56%) to engage with consumers and diversify their strategies.
Marketing channel investment focus
Primary communication channel with customers and prospects
With marketing budgets increasingly under the microscope, it’s important for marketers to remain focused on their target audience. It’s also vital to develop strategies to connect with them across their preferred communications channels, inspiring trust in the brand and allowing for authentic engagement.
Preferred method of communication with a business or brand?
Marketing leaders agree that email is an important tool for amplifying their brand.
Email trust elements
Looking at sentiment triggers more closely, consumers indicated that emails with professionally branded signatures make them feel more confident (47%), think more positively about the organization (43%), and more inclined to respond to the emails (37%).
Emotional impact of professionally branded email signatures
In fact, over half (57%) of consumers indicated they feel negatively towards an organization when they receive emails without professionally branded signatures.
Emotional impact on emails without a professional, branded signature
Potential of using email signatures as a marketing channel for the second half of the year
Additionally, over half (59%) of marketers are hoping to generate up to 19% of their revenue through email signatures and 40% hoping to generate 20% or more.
Potential revenue generated through email signatures
With budgets being more heavily scrutinized, it’s important to look for tools that offer proper measurement capabilities. Senior leaders are more likely to focus on conversion rates (78%), while on a more micro level, marketers are looking at click through rates when it comes to email engagement.
ROI metrics most valued by seniors
Methods for measuring effectiveness
Of those marketers already actively using emails signatures as a marketing tool, the top two effectiveness metrics include click through rates on signatures links (72%) and increased website traffic (71%).
Metrics valued most to measure email engagement
As with all other digital channels, marketers need to be able to clearly calculate the ROI of any email signature marketing campaign.
In addition to tracking metrics, using calculations like the Equivalent Advertising Value of the email signature channel, they can easily analyze the effectiveness of their campaigns.
The opportunity that professional and consistently branded email signatures can offer is clear, with consumers seeing them as a marker of trust. The best email signatures are:
Simple
Professional
Contain relevant information
Preferred information in email signatures
At the same time, spelling mistakes are the number one reason consumers would stop engaging with an email, followed closely by poor formatting and a lack of professionally branded signatures.
The digital age makes it difficult to control brand image, but email allows for a more intimate connection with a brand. So, by getting the balance of information right and crafting content with care, marketers can build a lasting relationship with their audience.
At a time when budgets are shrinking, email remains a cost-effective marketing channel. Our research shed light on its many benefits for marketers:
- Consumers prefer to engage with organizations through email, over and above other channels, paving the way for consistent growth.
- Email signatures offer added opportunities such as boosting brand recognition, trust, and engagement.
- Email signature effectiveness can be easily measured, enabling marketers to clearly calculate ROI.
With over 60,000 customers in over 160 countries, Exclaimer helps companies create flawlessly branded email signatures that deliver the right message at the right time.
Take our interactive product tour today to see how we can turn your email signatures into revenue.
