Report: 2018 State of Email Service Providers

A marketer’s email service provider is the cornerstone of their email program. It’s their most critical tool and a major budget item.

But frustrations run high. Marketers told Litmus that limitations with their ESP was third on their list of biggest challenges for 2018. And 16% of brands said that changing ESPs was on their list of email marketing priorities for 2018.

Based on our State of Email Survey of 3,000 marketers, our first-ever State of Email Service Providers report takes a detailed look at the ESP marketplace to better understand the pace of consolidation in the industry and its causes; the most popular ESPs across various sectors; and the functionality provided by ESPs.

Some of the key findings from the State of Email Service Providers include:

• At the current rate of consolidation, the top 10 email service providers will control more than two-thirds of the overall market by the end of 2019.
• The percentage of brands using a homegrown email platform has fallen 44% over the past two years to just 6%.
• The most popular ESPs can vary considerably when looking across geography, company size, industry vertical, and more.
• Third-party tools that supplement ESP functionality have a huge impact on ESP satisfaction.

This 26-page report analyzes and explores each of these findings and much more, with over 20 charts providing data-based evidence of current ESP trends. Use the results to better understand the marketplace and your options, as well as the ways that you can boost the functionality of your current ESP.

>>Download the free report