Marketers Prioritize Email, Focus on Engagement According to New Survey From Selligent and StrongView

REDWOOD CITY, CA and BRUSSELS, BELGIUM--(Marketwired - Jan 20, 2016) - StrongView, a leading provider of enterprise email marketing solutions, and its parent company Selligent, a leading provider of omnichannel marketing solutions, today announced the results of its annual marketing survey. The "Selligent & StrongView 2016 Marketing Tends Survey" polled 295 marketers and found that email will be the top target for increased investment across all digital channels, beating social media and display, which took the second and third spots. More than half (56%) of survey respondents plan to increase marketing budgets this year, about the same as last year.

Connecting effectively with consumers is top of mind for many survey respondents. "Increasing subscriber engagement" was by far the most important marketing initiative for 2016 at 34% -- more than double the next response of "improving segmentation and targeting." In their quest to master consumer engagement, marketers have to contend with several challenges. Most notably, survey respondents cited "leveraging customer data from multiple channels and data sources" as their top challenge in the coming year.

Marketers are also focused on many aspects of integrating social media with email in order to create more opportunities for engagement. The focus on social media engagement and interaction marks a sharp increase from 2015. Nearly half of marketers (45%) cited "social media channel growth" as their top email marketing initiative for investment in 2016 compared with only 34% in 2015, edging out more traditional promotional programs and triggered email programs. Integration with social media is by far the most popular channel integration initiative at 61% this year compared to 47% last year. Social media was chosen above web site integration (58%) and mobile integration (42%).

"Email marketing is an established and profitable channel that will be seeing increased investment in 2016 as marketers continue to rely on it as a vital part of their omnichannel strategies," said Andre Lejeune, CEO of Selligent. "It's encouraging to see marketers break down siloes to use channels like email, social media, and web together to create a better and more unified experience for consumers." 

KEY 2016 SURVEY FINDINGS

Marketing Budgets

• Increase 56%
• Decrease 9%

Marketing Programs to Be Increased (Top 3)

• Email 60%
• Social Media 56%
• Display 56%
• Mobile 52%

Top 3 Email Marketing Initiatives for 2016

• Increasing Subscriber Engagement 34%
• Improving Segmentation and Targeting 14%
• Improving Data Analysis to Better Understand Customer Context 12%

Top 3 Email Marketing Challenges for 2016

• Leveraging Customer Data from Multiple Channels and Data Sources 27%
• Improving Segmentation and Targeting 18%
• Inadequate Data and Analytics Capabilities to Engage in Contextual Marketing 12%

Survey Infographic:
Dive into the 2016 Marketing Trends Survey with an infographic highlighting key results.
www.strongview.com/2016SurveyInfographic

Survey Data
View the full results of Selligent & StrongView's 2016 Marketing Trends Survey.
www.strongview.com/2016MarketSurvey

About StrongView, A Selligent Company
StrongView helps brands understand, engage, and deliver value to consumers. Recognized as a leading provider of email and cross-channel marketing solutions, StrongView enables brands to recognize and act on consumers' fast-changing circumstances before, during, and after each moment of engagement.

In October 2015, Silicon Valley-based StrongView merged with Selligent, Europe's rapidly growing marketing automation and data management solutions provider. Together, StrongView and Selligent enable enterprise marketers to leverage a broad and robust suite of digital marketing solutions from a single global provider. Learn more at www.strongview.com and www.selligent.com.

About Selligent
Selligent is a global omnichannel marketing platform that powers customer relationships for Samsung, Walmart, ING, and more than 700 other major brands in retail, travel, automotive, publishing, and financial services. Featuring enterprise-strength performance, Selligent's technology leads the industry in data management, campaign orchestration, and audience analytics. Selligent increases conversions and enhances engagement for mid-market to enterprise B2C marketers with its ability to deliver integrated, customer-centric experiences across email, display, mobile, and social.

Selligent serves more than 30 countries around the world, including more than 75 agencies and MSPs. Selligent has offices in Silicon Valley, New York, London, Belgium, Paris, Munich, Barcelona, and Australia. Learn more at www.selligent.com and connect with the team at Twitter, LinkedIn, and our blog.