Email Marketing Survey Portugal 2010

A brief insight into the state of permission based email marketing in Portugal

This survey was conducted by Markedu Iberia in association with ACEPI and e-Goi in May 2010.

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Written by Michael Leander | 01-06-2010

PERMISSION EMAIL MARKETINGSURVEY PORTUGAL

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A brief insight into the state of permission based email marketing in Portugal

Thank You

Email marketing is said to give a marketing ROI of 43 to every 1 dollar, but are you ready to cash in?

Interestingly email marketing has been around for a long time and the marketing efficiency of the media is indeed well documented. Yet most marketers are not quite getting the results they want or expect. In most cases there is a logical reason for that.

Experience proves that part of the reason is that marketers do not invest the necessary time and resources in “getting email marketing right”. Those who fully understand how to tackle this media are reporting remarkable results. Not only monetary, tangible results resulting in a decrease in customer acquisition cost, but also reaching Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) in the area of customer retention and purchasing frequency benefit from marketers who

But many email marketers also notice the positive impact that a properly executed email marketing program can have on the customer experience – something which is becoming increasingly important to brands across all vertical markets. Not to mention the referrals deriving from successful email marketing activities.

Many still in doubt – who is to blame?As this survey will reveal, one fifth of Portuguese marketers are not sure about the legislation relating to email marketing. A high number if we compare to EU averages.

On the offset it would seem that the government - along with trade and industry associations - are faced with quite a task to generate awareness about the local legislation. We know that it is a long process, however nevertheless an important one.

My experience from many other countries is that many marketers assume that promotional email can be sent to existing customers without prior consent. That is not true. Moreover, many think that if you have been given a business card at a tradeshow, in a meeting or similar, that these details can automatically be included in the email marketing list. Equally not true.

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For email marketing to stand a chance in the longer term, it is awfully important that marketers fully understand the rules of the game. It is important for several reasons. Firstly - to be in compliance with legislation. But secondly it is an important component in positioning your company to maximize results with the email marketing media.

At the Email Marketing Masterclass in Lisbon, we will introduce a speaker who will provide more insights to the current legislation in Portugal. And as part of the follow-up webinar, we will have an expert brief delegates on the permission marketing legislation in the EU member states.

On that note, I am pleased to see that ACEPI (Associação do Comércio Electrónico e da Publicidade Interactiva), for one, have supported this survey and once again will support the Email Marketing Masterclass in Lisbon.

Also kudos to e-Goi – the leading Portuguese multichannel marketing software vendors – who also understands the importance of increasing awareness about permission based email marketing in Portugal.

Finally, I would like to thank Kodak Graphics Communication who are supporting the Email Marketing Masterclass 2010 to help us bring the event to more than 20 cities in Europe, the Gulf and the Middle East.

Best regards

Michael LeanderInternational permission marketing expert,speaker and Chairman of FIMAC

PS: You are welcome to circulate this report

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The European average experience is indicated to 4,5 years according to FEDMA’s Email Marketing Benchmark study 2010.

The majority of Portuguese marketers indicate an experience level of less than 3 years. Nearly one third of our respondents indicate they have 2-3 years of experience while 26% have less than one years of experience with email marketing.

I believe that these numbers are similar to other countries that we consider late adapters in this space. It would seem that within the EU, countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Scandinavia are amongst the most mature while Italy, Spain, France and the Eastern European countries are somewhat trailing these countries by 2-4 years.

Obviously the internet penetration plays a huge part in the actual penetration rate.

Experience counts in email marketingExperience is a hugely important part of email marketing. Although specialists, agencies and guru’s can provide direction to organizations, email marketing is very much a hands-on media. Marketers need to get their hands dirty, focus on the numbers and gradually learn to get insights that in turn will improve their activities.

There has been a trend to outsource all or most of the email marketing activities to marketing service providers; however currently more and more organizations are shifting from predominantly outsourcing to predominantly handling most of the tasks involved internally. I believe that is a step in the right direction, which will help marketers get the much wanted experience required to become successful.

2. How many years has your organization been using email newsletters,promotional emails or transactional emails?

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Compared to the rest of the EU – where 53,80% said they do not inform about frequency on their registration form (opt-in form) - 50% of the marketers in Portugal said they do not. In my opinion it is a major mistake not to inform about the frequency of the communication.

Sending newsletters or other types of email communication on a quarterly basis is rather useless, in my opinion. Email communication is first and foremost a relation builder. It is rather difficult to build a meaningful relationship if you only “talk” to your target audience four times each year.

In Portugal it would seem that most marketers takes preference for the monthly frequency, whereas only very few marketers send newsletters or other type of email communication daily. My generic advice is to work with a frequency of no less than twice each month – the reasoning behind that is something I explain at the Email Marketing Masterclass.

Frequency a matter of relevanceBased on my experience from working with many different organizations across the world, I think it is fair to say that your frequency can be much higher than you think – as long as what you are communicating has relevance to the recipient. But organizations seem to think that the media operates on the same terms as a printed newsletter or magazine. It doesn’t !

Asking recipients about their preferred frequency can often be a good strategy. And offering more channels with a frequency differentiation may also be a good strategy for most marketers.

3. Does your newsletter registration form say how often email newsletters will be sent to subscribers and if so, what frequency do you say?

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Unlike FEDMA’s European Email Marketing Benchmark Report, we provided two “cheeky” answer options – namely “this applies only to B2C marketers” and “There is no permission legislation in place in Portugal”.

A stunning combined 5,47% of respondents chose one of those two answers. We gave those two choices because we know the common misconceptions. And a surprisingly large number of B2B marketers really believe that the rules and legislations of email marketing does not apply to them.

One out of four Portuguese marketers are unsure about legislationAs you can see from the graph above, 57% of Portuguese marketers feel very confident about being in compliance compared to 41,80% in the rest of the EU. However more than one out of four Portuguese marketers are not confident at all, compared to 6,90% in the EU.

This represents a real challenge as mentioned earlier. It is important that information is made readily available to marketers so that they fully understand what needs to be done in order to be in compliance.

Not complying with the permission marketing legislation have in some countries incurred fines of more than US$ 800.000. Consumer protection agencies are likely to take this issue very seriously at some point in Portugal too.

4. How confident are you that all of your email marketing activities are in compliance with legislation in Portugal and in any other country you are marketing to?

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Nearly 54% of Portuguese marketers consider email marketing to be very strategically important to meet their marketing objectives compared to 46,70% in the rest of the EU. But more than 20% of Portuguese marketers says that email marketing is very unimportant to meet their marketing objectives, compared to only 1,10% in the EU.

I think that email marketing can play an important role as part of the direct and interactive marketing mix with most organizations, however it is important not to view email marketing as a stand-alone media.

Consumers and business buyers have different preferences at different times. Multi-channel marketing is indeed the name of the game, and email marketing is but one instrument, which should be fitted into the equation on the recipients’ terms.

Many companies still think that this is a sender control game. It is not. Successful marketers know how to look inside out and do their best to accommodate recipient preferences. And that applies to the media channels as well.

What the future brings for email marketingBut email marketing will become an increasingly important part of the marketing mix, as we know that consumers and business buyers are fond of the media. I think that the email marketing game will change over the next five years as the media itself will change. Google Wave is one example of what we can expect in the future. We might see movements where mobile, chat and email will somehow merge into one media.

No matter what the future brings, marketers do well by paying attention to the email marketing media as it is more than likely that it is here to stay – in whatever shape or form.

5. How strategically important do you consider your email marketing to be to meet your marketing objectives?

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The survey had more than 300 respondents from Portugal. It was conducted over a period of 10 working days in May 2010 through an online survey.

Background information

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6. Which of the following groups are you primarily marketing to?

7. How many people does your company employ?

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8. Which of the following best describers your job function?

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Saiba mais sobre a Masterclass em: www.markedu.com/lisbon

Markedu - Innovative Marketing Education

Markedu.com é a sua "one-stop-shop" onde pode encontrar informação e inspiração sobre os mais diversos temas de marketing. Escolha entre vários tipos de programas educativos sobre marketing, desde seminários online a eventos exclusivos.

A Markedu – Innovative Marketing Education oferece eventos de qualidade excepcional, a decorrer em todo o mundo com especialistas de renome internacional tal como Michael Leander.

E-Goi | Plataforma de Marketing Multicanal

O E-goi é a plataforma de marketing multicanal desenvolvida para a gestão da comunicação digital por e-mail, SMS, fax, voz e MMS. O projecto encontra-se em desenvolvimentos constante para dar resposta às solicitações dos seus parceiros e clientes.

A ferramenta é a única a conjugar todos estes canais, o que permite a sua integração de forma simples e original para comunicar e fortalecer a relação do cliente com a sua marca.

AC ACEPI Associação de Comércio Electrónico e Publicidade Interactiva

A Associação de Comércio Electrónico e Publicidade Interactiva (ACEPI) é uma organização independente sem fins lucrativos, de pessoas individuais e colectivas, visando estudo e a implementação em Portugal das diversas formas de Negócio Electrónico, nomeadamente, o eAdvertising, eCommerce, eBusiness, eProcesses, eFinance e o eMobile, constituindo um fórum independente e aberto para o debate, potenciação, promoção, generalização e dignificação dessas matérias em Portugal.

Supporters of this survey

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Michael Leander irá realizar a Email Marketing Masterclass em Lisboa pela segunda vez. Não perca a oportunidade de aprender a utilizar o email marketing da forma mais eficaz com um dos melhores especialistas da Europa.

O email marketing é hoje considerado a arma mais poderosa do marketing directo. Michael Leander, por muitos aclamado como um dos maiores especialistas europeus em email marketing, regressa a Lisboa para ministrar mais uma Masterclass de Email Marketing.

Michael Leander : Top Speaker & International Email Marketing Expert pela 2ª vez em PortugalComo especialista em email marketing Michael Leander realizou palestras em mais de 25 países, e prestou consultoria a inúmeras empresas internacionais tais como L'Oreal, Philips, IKEA, Maersk, Bang & Olufsen.

Michael Leander irá transmitir-lhe os conhecimentos e a inspiração necessária para conduzir o seu e-mail marketing para o próximo nível.

Saiba mais sobre Michael Leander aqui: http://www.markedu.com/email-masterclass/lisbon/pt/oradores.html

Aprenda num dia o que a maioria das pessoas leva uma vida para descobrir.Na Email Marketing Masterclass em Lisboa aprenda a utilizar a metodologia que tem permitido atingir resultados de excelência em organizações de diversas áreas em vários países.

Não perca a oportunidade de assistir a um dos melhores eventos de email marketing da actualidade com um orador de referência a nível internacional.

Veja a mensagem do Michael Leander para si: http://www.markedu.com/email-masterclass/lisbon/pt/porque_participar.html

Assista à Email Marketing Masterclass e fique a par das melhores práticas da actualidade5 razões para estar presente na Email Marketing Masterclass em Lisboa:

1. Melhore os resultados globais do seu email marketing 2. Aprenda uma metodologia comprovada 3. Orador de referência a nível internacional 4. Saiba como adquirir mais subscritores 5. Inspire-se com um dos melhores oradores da actualidade

Registe-se hoje na Email Marketing Masterclass, poupe dinheiro e garanta já o seu lugar!http://www.markedu.com/email-masterclass/lisbon/pt/registe-se_ja.html

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FEDMA, the Federation of European Directand Interactive Marketing, represents the sector in all its forms at European level. FEDMA's objectives are to protect and promote the direct and interactive marketing sector by creating, through representation, self-regulation and information, acceptance of, and confidence in, direct and interactive marketing within a healthy commercial and legislative environment in which the sector can profitably operate and develop. Representing the interests of over 18,000 companies, FEDMA is the single voice dedicated to building the business of cross-border direct and interactive marketing, through its vast network of businesses within and beyond Europe. All our members enjoy a wide range of services.

FEDMA's Mission Statement

Today, direct marketing strategies (via mail, email, telephone, mobile, Internet and direct response) are an essential tool for companies to approach, inform and retain customers, as well as providing customer relationship services.

The development of sophisticated databases, telemarketing and e-marketing has made direct marketing increasingly popular as a marketing strategy and has encouraged strong investment.

FEDMA’s task is dedicated to building the business of cross-border direct marketing, by promotion, protection, information and best practices.

FEDMA's mission is to:

Protect the European direct and interactive marketing industry and the interests of our members. FEDMA aims to encourage the European institutions to ensure a healthy commercial and legislative environment within which the industry may prosper.

Promote the European direct and interactive marketing industry towards governments, media, businesses, consumers; to encourage the growth and profitability of our members and support the further development of direct marketing as a marketing strategy .

Inform members, governments, media, businesses, and consumers about the European direct

About FEDMA - Federation of European Directand Interactive Marketing

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Contact DetailsFederation of European Direct Marketing439, Avenue de Tervuren, B-1150Brussels

Tel: +32 2 779 42 68 | Fax: +32 2 779 42 69 | E-mail: [email protected] | Web: www.fedma.org