Okay, so this is not about email marketing, but I think it's very relevant for email marketers nonetheless.

The five key ingredients for successful conversion rate optimization are
identified in a new report published by Econsultancy and RedEye this week. The research is based on a
survey of almost 900 digital marketers carried out in July and August 2012.

Key Findings:

A structured approach and clear responsibility improve website conversion and
sales. The other factors most closely correlated with success are usability testing, segmentation and
multivariate or A/B (split) testing.

Looking specifically at optimization for mobile visitors, the proportion of organisations designing
their websites specifically for mobile phones has increased from 25% to 35% since 2011. The
proportion of companies designing their websites specifically for tablets has almost doubled,
increasing from 13% in 2011 to 23% this year.

Other key survey findings:

• Companies with improved conversion in the last 12 months are performing on average 24%
  more tests and using 26% more methods to improve conversion than companies whose
  conversion had not improved. 
• Companies with improved conversion are also using 90% more ways to segment their visitors
  and customers than companies whose conversion had not improved. 
• 70% of companies who said they had a structured approach to conversion had improved sales. 
• Companies that adopt a structured approach are nearly twice as likely to have seen a large
  increase in sales. 
• 70% of companies enjoying a large increase in sales said they have a great deal or quite a lot
  of control over conversion, compared to only 38% of companies which have seen a decrease in
  sales. 
• Companies who incentivise staff based on improving conversion rates are nearly twice as
  likely to have seen a large increase in sales compared to those that didn’t. 

Here are (some of) the results in the form of an infograph:

Get your copy of the Conversion Rate Optimization Report 2012 (Price: 250 euro)