By Melissa Campanelli
May 01, 2008
According to enterprise marketing platform provider
Alterian, only 5 percent of 700 respondents to a survey qualified as an "expert user" -- a marketer most likely to be generating e-mail marketing results that are significant and easily quantifiable.
The survey -- based on a free online interactive quiz from Alterian that measured the level of sophistication of the e-mail strategies and activities of more than 700 marketers, agencies and marketing services providers -- looked at how marketers personalize, automate, segment, track and report on e-mail campaigns.
Based on responses to 10 multiple-choice questions, Alterian scored participants and ranked them in one of the five following categories: basic e-mail marketer, intermediate e-mail marketer, advanced user, expert user and pacesetter.
Besides only 5 percent qualifying as an expert user, none achieved the level of pacesetter -- a marketer pushing e-mail marketing to new levels of effectiveness and relevance, according to Alterian.
Thirty-two percent were found to be operating at an advanced user level, meaning they could expand e-mail beyond traditional marketing use and fully leverage the channel as a strategic business application.
Most participants -- 59 percent -- fell into the intermediate user category, which means that although their e-mail marketing programs are more advanced than most, they can make many improvements to increase ROI.
Four percent of respondents have not surpassed the basic user level, where they have just begun experiencing the power of e-mail marketing, Alterian said.
To take the quiz, visit www.alterian.com/quiz
