A report from Elite Email found that 63 percent of businesses plan to increase their focus on email marketing in 2012.

As email has grown to become a primary form of communication for consumers and enterprise workers, businesses of all sizes have successfully leveraged the medium to reach new prospects and nurture relationships with existing clients and customers. According to a report from Elite Email, 63 percent of businesses will boost their investments – both financial and time – in email marketing this year.

Eighty-one percent of businesses planning to boost their use of email marketing said they will do so because the channel is increasingly cost effective. This is especially true for businesses shifting investment away from traditional direct marketing methods, such as direct mail and other forms of printed collateral. There also seems to be a focus on environmental responsibility, with 29 percent saying limiting wasted paper is an attractive element of email marketing.

As more businesses launch web content marketing campaigns, email offers an ideal platform for distributing these articles, blog posts and other types.

Businesses fine-tuning their email marketing campaigns should be sure to focus on user engagement to ensure success. Brafton recently reported that the timing of email marketing campaigns is critical. Recipients in both the B2B and B2C sectors engage with email most frequently in the latter portion of the week.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.