Email is still one of the best tools for brands to interact with their customers, according to IBM's 2015 Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study released recently. Researchers combined data from feedback sent by nearly 750 companies representing 3,000 brands in 40 countries working in various industries. The survey found that top performing brands in the travel industry had email open rates of 50 percent, 10 times more than their lower performing peers. Travel brands, which often use strong visuals and attractive offers, had high click-through rates of over 15 percent. Meanwhile, retail and e-commerce agencies were the lowest in customer engagement rates. These low rates resulted from retailers that continued to rely on traditional email methods that lacked the personalisation that today's consumer demands. Nearly 50 percent of companies increased their digital marketing budgets in 2015. Marketing officers and teams are looking to meet customer's demands by bringing experiences across multiple channels including social, mobile, web and in-store. The US Direct Marketing Association reported that for every 1 USD spent on email marketing, there was an average return of 44.25 USD. The study found that brands that used email campaigns triggered by a person's previous actions, such as a recent purchases or the resetting of their passwords, drove higher customer engagement due to the timeliness and relevancy of these messages. These campaigns, known as transactional emails, produced an open rate of 72 percent and an average click through rate of 30 percent.-VNA