Statistically, email just had its best year on record. How much of it was real?

The DMA’s Email Benchmarking Report 2026, sponsored by Validity and forward by our own Guy Hanson, brings together data from six email service providers across the UK market. Ian Gibbs, the DMA’s Insight and Planning Director—and the person behind the numbers—joins Danielle and Guy to work through how to get the most out of the report and email performance analytics as a whole. 

They get into the nitty gritty of which metrics are worth tracking, how factors like AI and mailbox provider changes can impact your performance, and how to translate hard data into a leadership-worthy conversation. 

What you’ll learn:

• Why a 99.2% delivery rate and an 87% inbox placement rate can describe the same email program, and which one your team should be reporting.
• How to read a benchmark as a hygiene check instead of a scorecard, and why rising open rates make year-over-year comparisons tricky.
• Three questions that separate real improvement from market drift, and what belongs on the leadership’s dashboard instead of opens.

Read the DMA Email Benchmarking Report 2026: https://www.dma.org.uk/resources/report/email-benchmarking-report-2026

For advice and resources to help you become a stronger sender, visit validity.com.

Take your email knowledge to the next level.