Research shows strategic shifts as marketers tackle top challenges: ROI, engagement, personalization and AI 

Recently acquired by Validity, Litmus from Validity released its 2025 State of Email report, revealing how marketers are adapting to complex marketing landscape based on responses from hundreds of global email marketers. As email marketers navigate frequent mailbox provider updates, advancements in technology, complex privacy regulations and shifting consumer behaviors, the State of Email 2025 report highlights what works in email marketing, what doesn’t and what’s top of mind for email professionals.

The research reveals opportunities for measurement and personalization practices. While most marketers could identify ROI from their email program, one in five respondents (22%) report struggling with measuring or proving ROI. When it comes to personalization, the top challenges are developing personalized content efficiently (17%), collecting and analyzing the data needed for personalization (16%), and measuring the impact of personalization on email performance (15%).

Companies achieving higher ROI from email (36:1 to 50:1) dedicate 25-50% of their marketing team to email operations, signaling that investment in email marketing brings strong results. There is a correlation between investment and performance: companies that dedicate over 15% of their marketing budget to email marketing are 2X more likely to have open rates of 40% or more than the average company.

Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview with Jeremy Woodlee, General Manager @ Infillion

“The brands seeing the strongest email marketing results moved beyond traditional tactics to create sophisticated, data-driven programs that respond to individual customer needs,” said Cynthia Price, SVP of Marketing at Validity. “Successful marketing teams invest strategically in both technology and talent, recognizing email isn’t just a cost-effective channel—when executed thoughtfully, it’s a high-performing business driver.”

Looking ahead, 29% of marketers believe advanced AI-driven content generation and analytics will drive the most significant changes in email marketing in 2025. The majority (70%) predict that up to half of their email operations will be AI-driven by 2026, while another 18% expect AI to handle 50-75% of their email marketing tasks.

Marketing Technology News: Why a Martech-First Mindset Matters to Excel in the World of Marketing?

Other key findings from the State of Email report include:

• Only 6% of teams require more than two weeks to produce an email, compared to 62% in 2024.
• 30% of marketers identify content creation as the most important skill they’re hiring for in email marketing.
• In 2025, 49% of marketers will use generative AI for static copy creation, and the number of marketers using AI-powered image generation has increased by 340% in the last year.
• Nearly all marketers (97%) incorporate at least one interactive element in their marketing emails, with buttons or CTAs (35%) ranking as the most effective.
• 14% of marketers cite data privacy compliance as a major operational challenge, increasing to 23% among companies with larger email budgets (15%+).

The research also shows notable differences across industries. Retail and professional services companies primarily leverage email as a brand awareness channel, focusing on engagement metrics. In contrast, tech companies prioritize purchase and transaction history data, using email campaigns as lead drivers.