Email software company Litmus have just released their 2016 State of Email report. It is comprehensive – based on 13 billion emails sent over the course of last year.

With a return on investment (ROI) of 38-to-1 on every dollar invested, email marketing has the highest ROI among digital marketing channels. And yes, people actually want to receive email. 72% say they prefer companies to communicate with them via email over any other channel. Gone are the days of picking up the landline; nowadays it’s all about the power of the keyboard.

Not only does email have the highest ROI, but it’s people’s preferred method of communication, too. Are you maximising your investment in this highly valuable channel? To succeed in email, you must send relevant messages and provide your subscribers with a functional email experience. This means eliminating friction that can degrade the effectiveness of your messaging, erode the subscriber experience, and ultimately damage your brand image.

Achieving this goal is complicated by the fact that email is constantly evolving. In 2015 alone, the email industry saw:

  • The addition of numerous new email apps, including the Outlook app for iOS and Android, Apple Watch, and Outlook 2016
  • Several email client updates, such as Gmail’s new “block” option and Yahoo! Mail adding support for media queries
  • Deliverability news, like Google launching Gmail Postmaster Tools

Email marketing is a powerful tool. Use it wisely.

For more on this, make sure you read the 2016 State of Email Report from Litmus. Download the full report here.