Emma Holiday Survey Finds Email is the Top Investment Channel for Omnichannel Marketers

Results Show an Emphasis on New Messaging, Creative and Personalization to Create a Better Omnichannel Experience this Holiday Season

Emma, a provider of best-in-class email marketing software and services, and a CM Group brand, announced the results of a customer survey that queried nonprofits, associations, restaurants and health and fitness organizations about their holiday marketing plans as they navigate the changing consumer landscape in the wake of the pandemic. The survey finds that innovation and creativity are at the forefront as organizations work to move away from last year’s pandemic-focused messaging, a period of time when many considered their primary challenge was having to do “more with less.” Notably, only 9% of those surveyed will stay with pandemic-oriented messaging, while 37% say that they plan to try new and innovative methods to reach and build relationships with their key customers and audiences.

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“Marketers are looking ahead to new opportunities to connect with audiences after a stressful year with constrained resources. They are prioritizing meaningful and impactful messaging, and are planning to test new approaches in order to be as impactful as possible in a crowded and uncertain environment,” said Javi Cano, Director of Marketing at Emma. “We’re excited to see that so many are prioritizing email and personalization as the cornerstone of their omnichannel strategy.”

Email will be a primary focus for marketers, with 47% of respondents selecting it as the primary channel that they have invested in or plan to invest in for better omnichannel marketing, the top response. Email marketing offers a personal connection between an organization and its audience and can act as a link between communication in other channels from the website to social media to phone and in-person events.

“During the pandemic, we had an influx of guests whose first experience with our restaurant was via takeout only. Now, as more has opened up, we’ve been able to convert many of those customers into dine-in guests through our successful email campaigns, giving them the full experience as part of our family, which will continue to be a focus for us,” said DJ Duporte, Senior Marketing Manager at North Italia.

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Organizations have a variety of goals for the holiday season, from fundraising to sales, which influences their top goals. Marketers are equally prioritizing meaningful messaging that will connect with audiences and personalized promotions and offers that will drive performance. In order to ensure that they hit these goals, marketers have the following top priorities for testing this holiday season:

• 42% plan to test new creative
• 39% plan to test new messaging
• 39% plan to test personalization

“In order to connect effectively with audiences this holiday season, we recommend that organizations create a program to build testing, segmentation and personalization into everything they do,” said Cano. “With a continuous feedback loop of learning and insight, organizations can ensure that their investments in new messaging and innovations pay off this holiday season and beyond.”

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