Commentary

Email Tech Stacks Up: Brands Evaluate Tools Prior To Holiday Shopping Peak

Email marketing tools are among the top solutions that firms are evaluating for inclusion in their tech stacks, according to a study by ClickZ. 

But it’s no sure thing that they will make them work. Of the marketers polled for ClickZ for its Pulse survey in September, 25% rate their tech stack as average, and 34% rate it as below average, the study reports.

Content and experience shot up as a leading topic piquing marketers’ interest in September, possibly topped only by advertising and promotion. Content and experience had fallen earlier in the month only to recover toward the end. 

The subject of general management, already on the bottom, seemed to sink later in the month after a brief surge.

These findings seem to point to a general trend of gearing up for online holiday shopping.  

As part of the content and experience imperative, 13% say they are interested in email solutions. That may not sound like much, but email is tied for second place with content marketing. SEO is first, with 14%.  

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These capabilities were also the leaders in August.  

The study doesn’t elaborate, but we would guess that triggered email tools are among the solutions most needed as firms prepare for an online shopping surge during Amazon Prime days in October and an early holiday shopping spike. 

It’s all part of a general online shopping spike caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Digital marketers have been seeing holiday level traffic almost every day,” says Adam Blitzer, EVP and GM, digital at Salesforce.  

In addition, RetailMeNot recently found in a survey that 75% of U.S. consumers aim to finish their holiday shopping early, and 39% plan to do so because they want to avoid shipping delays and items being out of stock. For 41%, that meant starting in October or even earlier.

What’s more, 28% of consumers plan to do all their shopping online, according to Emarsys.

After SEO and email, marketers are most interested in evaluating these tools, according to the ClickZ study:  

  • Web experience building & management — 10 
  • Video marketing — 10%
  • Optimization, Personalization & testing — 10% 
  • Marketing automation & campaign/lead management — 10% 
  • Interactive content — 9%
  • Mobile apps — 7%
  • DAM/PIM/MRM — 3% 

Now you know what to buy your marketing team for a holiday present. 

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