Earlier this year the DMA released their newest report on Email Marketing in the UK. Their Marketer Email Tracker report is their first since 2021 and looks at how things have changed since then.
Email remains a high-value, central channel, but marketers need to close the gap between capability and disciplined, outcome-led execution.
Key findings
- Email spans the full customer journey. Between 74% and 83% of marketers use it across pre-purchase, post-purchase, service, and benefits communications. Post-purchase use has risen 24 percentage points since 2021 and customer-service use 22 points.
- Investment remains strong. Email represents about one-fifth of marketing budgets, and 66% of marketers expect their email budget to increase. Its reported return is £40.96 per £1 spent, although this is effectively flat or lower once inflation is considered.
- Measurement has improved, but impact is still unclear. 91% say email objectives are linked to business goals, and more teams can calculate ROI. Yet marketers are often replacing unreliable open rates with broad engagement metrics rather than measuring revenue, conversion value, repeat purchase, or customer lifetime value.
- AI readiness is overstated. While 62% report good or advanced agentive-AI capability, only 34%–50% use AI for key email tasks; just 30%–44% report improvements. AI is also changing the inbox itself, with providers increasingly filtering and summarising messages before people read them.
- Automation is rising while precision slips. Automated messages rose to 34% of sends and AI-driven emails account for 19%, but bulk sends remain 33%. Segmented email fell from 28% to 26%, dynamic content fell slightly, and frequency rules declined from 75% to 73%.
- Discounts drive growth but may weaken list quality. Discounts are the leading acquisition driver for 54% of marketers, up 18 points since 2021. Brand trust is nearly unchanged, while regular customers as a sign-up driver fell to 31%, indicating more subscribers may be motivated by offers rather than lasting affinity.
- Deliverability and accessibility are material gaps. Technical inbox placement is increasingly governed by algorithms, yet deliverability expertise is not widely embedded. Accessibility practices are inconsistent: 39% use image alt text, 30% optimise for dark mode, and many emails remain difficult for screen readers to interpret.
- Constraints persist despite optimism. Limited budget is the top barrier (32%), followed by internal resources (22%), data (21%), and content (20%). Larger firms are better able to use their email technology fully than SMBs, at 41% versus 22%.
Email marketing deserves a place in every business’s marketing plans. Used well, it can help you turn interest into enquiries, keep customers informed and give people a reason to buy from you again. The opportunity lies in understanding your audience and sending useful, relevant messages at the right time, with a clear purpose behind each one. If your business is barely using email, or your newsletters aren’t earning their keep, get in touch with Chic Marketing. We can help you find new customers and make more money from existing ones.
You can find the full Marketer Email Tracker 2026 report on the DMA’s website
