The census looks at the amount and type of email marketing carried out by organisations, the way that email marketing is conducted and issues affecting the industry such as deliverability.
The report findings are divided into the following sections:
-) Approach to Email Marketing
-) Extent of Email Marketing Activity, Budget and Return on Investment.
-) Email Practices
-) Issues and Barriers to Effective Email Marketing.
The 52-page 2008 census report contains three pages of new recommendations to help organisations make the best use of email.
Highlights from the findings include:
-) Email's share of the digital marketing budget has gone up from an average of 19% in 2007 to 23% in 2008.
-) Almost two thirds of company respondents (63%) rate email as either "excellent" or "good" for return on investment.
-) 57% of email marketers say their organisations undertake regular list cleansing.
-) The majority of organisations are not systematically sending out email based on triggers such as abandoned shopping carts and date notifications.
Email Marketing Census 2008 (.pdf)