Here is some helpful info on email marketing statistics. (see more at Email Labs)
Send, Open and Click-Throughs
Email Creative and Personalization
Email Delivery and ISPs
Consumer Habits and Email Penetration
Email Marketing Industry Growth and Trends
Most Popular Days to Send
For the second consecutive quarter, Tuesday (25.4%) is the most popular day of the week to send email messages, followed by Wednesday at 23.3% and Thursday at 18.3%. Bringing up the rear is Saturday at 0.9% and Sunday at 1.4%.
|
Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
| Q3 2003 |
1.4% |
15.1% |
25.4% |
23.3% |
18.3% |
15.6% |
0.9% |
| Q2 2003 |
1.5% |
14.1% |
26.7% |
23.7% |
22.4% |
10.6% |
1.0% |
| Q1 2003 |
1.8% |
14.1% |
22.4% |
23.2% |
22.8% |
15.2% |
0.5% |
|
Email Send Times
| Time Sent |
9 a.m. |
10 a.m. |
8 a.m. – Noon |
7 a.m. – 4 p.m. |
| Q3 2003 |
17.8% |
12.6% |
51.0% |
76.4% |
| Q2 2003 |
14.2% |
11.1% |
47.1% |
76.9% |
| Q1 2003 |
19.1% |
11.3% |
55.2% |
81.7% |
|
Open Times
| Time Sent |
11 a.m. |
8 a.m – 4 p.m. |
6 a.m – 6 p.m |
| Q3 2003 |
6.8% |
53.7% |
74.5% |
| Q2 2003 |
6.6% |
52.5% |
73.4% |
| Q1 2003 |
7.3% |
58.8% |
77.7% |
|
Sample Click-To-Open Rates
| Email Sample |
B2B Newsletter |
Ecommerce Email |
| ISP/Domain |
Open |
CTR |
CTOR |
Open |
CTR |
CTOR |
| AOL |
12.0% |
3.2% |
26.7% |
14.4% |
8.2% |
56.9% |
| Earthlink |
42.1% |
2.6% |
6.2% |
47.4% |
14.6% |
30.8% |
| Hotmail |
30.0% |
7.5% |
25.0% |
24.8% |
8.9% |
35.9% |
| Yahoo! |
21.2% |
5.8% |
27.4% |
23.5% |
9.2% |
39.1% |
| All Other Domains |
42.5% |
10.6% |
24.9% |
40.9% |
11.2% |
27.4% |
| Total |
39.6% |
9.9% |
25.0% |
33.6% |
10.9% |
32.4% |
| Variance: Low-High |
30.5% |
8.0% |
21.2% |
33.0% |
6.4% |
29.5% |
| Source: EmailLabs |
|
Poor Rendering Creates ‘Disappointing Dialogue’
A sizable percentage of business and consumer email marketers fail to connect with their readers because they still send out email messages that do not render correctly, either because of blocked images or nonfunctioning links, according to an Email Experience Council study of 1,000 business and consumer mailings sent in the fourth quarter of 2006. Poor rendering hurts relevance and brand identity and creates a “dialogue that disappoints,” according to Andy Goldman, OgilvyOne.
21%: Percentage of business and consumer email messages that showed up completely blank when images were turned off in email clients; most of these emails were promotional in nature and sent to drive sales
28%: Percentage of email messages sent with nonfunctioning links; spread equally over business and consumer mailings and prevalent within product-related, event and acquisition-based emails
Source: “The 2007 Rendering Report,” published January 2007, the Email Experience Council
How Relevance Boosts Campaign Performance
Campaigns that target based on Web-site user clickstream data generate conversion rates that outperform untargeted broadcast campaigns by nearly 4 to 1, according to a recent Jupiter Research report promoting use of targeting devices beyond basic personalization and segmentation.
How targeting affects campaign performance:
Untargeted broadcast emails
Open rate: 20%
Avg. CTR: 9.5%
Avg. conversion rate: 1.1%
User-triggered campaigns
Open rate: 27%
Avg. CTR: 9.3%
Avg. conversion rate: 2.3%
Lifecycle messaging campaigns
Open rate: 26%
Avg. CTR: 9.3%
Avg. conversion rate: 2.3%
Clickstream-based campaigns
Open rate: 33%
Avg. CTR: 14%
Avg. conversion rate: 3.9%
Source: David Daniels, Jupiter Research.
Text Drives More Email Click-Throughs Than Images
A new report, “Email Marketing Content Best Practices: Identifying the Impact of Content on Response Behavior,” based on a Jupiter Research/IPSOS survey of 1,166 consumer recipients on what prompted them to open and respond to email marketing messages revealed the following:
- 54%: Products or services featured
- 40%: Written copy
- 35%: Subject line
- 33%: Compelling offers (e.g. discounts, free shipping)
- 12%: A single large image
- 9%: Multiple smaller images
- 6%: Search box within the email
- 3%: Recipients get text-only email
Personalization
In a recent Jupiter Research Webinar, analyst David Daniels presented statistics that show personalization is in its infancy:
- Only 4 percent of marketers personalized messages.
- Of marketers who do personalize, 76 percent use five data points or less in the personalization process.
Delivery Rates Still Vex Marketers
| % Marketers |
% Email Delivered |
| 40.2% |
90.1% to 100% |
| 19.1% |
80.1% to 90% |
| 14.8% |
70.1% to 80% |
| 9.6% |
55.1% to 70% |
| 16.3% |
55% and below |
Source: Internet Retailer Survey Report on Email Marketing, 2007 |
Email Deliverability Inches Up in 2006
1. Overall block rates:
| January-June |
July-December |
January-June |
| 2005 |
2006 |
2005 |
| 19.2% |
20.5% |
21% |
|
2. Which ISP blocks the most email?
| ISP |
Block Rate |
| Excite |
50.7% |
| Adelphia |
35.5% |
| Gmail |
34.3% |
| Road Runner |
30.6% |
| Hotmail |
22.7% |
| MSN |
22.4% |
| Verizon |
18.0% |
| Yahoo |
15.2% |
| AOL |
14.1% |
| Compuserve |
11.8% |
|
Source: Return Path Email Blocking and Filtering Report
Time of Day Online Users Check Personal Emails at Work
| Time of Day |
% of Users |
| Sporadically Throughout The Day |
47% |
| First Thing When They Arrive |
25% |
| At Lunchtime |
18% |
| During Afternoon Break |
8% |
| Right Before They Head Home |
2% |
| Source: eMarketer |
|
When and Where Online Users Check Their Email
| Time of Day |
% of Users |
| First thing in the morning |
41% |
| Right after dinner |
18% |
| Right when they get home from work |
14% |
| Right before they go to bed |
14% |
| In the middle of the night |
40% |
| Source: eMarketer |
|
| Location |
% of Users |
| In Bed |
23% |
| In Class |
12% |
| In a Business Meeting |
8% |
| At a Wi-Fi Hotspot |
6% |
| At the Beach or Pool |
6% |
| In the Bathroom |
4% |
| While Driving |
4% |
| In Church |
1% |
| Source: eMarketer |
|
Online Users Who Check Email While On Vacation
The number of online users who check email while on vacation, as reported by eMarketer:
| Age |
Check Personal Email |
Check Work Email |
| 22-34 |
77% |
39% |
| 35-45 |
64% |
50% |
| 46-59 |
58% |
40% |
| 60-70 |
60% |
29% |
|
Why Email Is Still No. 1 with Marketers
1. Most Important Advertising Tactics for 2007
| Advertising Tactic |
Percentage |
| Email Marketing |
83.2% |
| Search Marketing |
61.7% |
| Display Ads |
36.2% |
| Ad Networks |
31.9% |
| Contextual Targeting |
27.7% |
| Traditional Direct Marketing |
27.7% |
|
2. Most Important Reasons Why Marketers Will Use Email in 2007
| Reason |
Percentage |
| Drive incremental revenue |
55.3% |
| Reinforce brand position |
19.1% |
| Improve customer loyalty |
10.6% |
| Reactivate customers |
8.5% |
| Drive more frequent purchases |
6.4% |
|
Source: Datran Media, February 2007
Email is Alive, Well and Improving
|
Increasing Significantly |
Increasing Slowly |
Not Changing Noticeably |
Slowly Declining |
Declining Significantly |
| B-to-B Marketers |
35.6% |
42.4% |
6.8% |
13.6% |
1.7% |
| B-to-C Marketers |
40.0% |
29.1% |
18.2% |
10.9% |
1.9% |
| Source: MarketingSherpa Email Benchmark Survey, November 2006. |
|
Email Still Rules ROI
- Email ROI per $1US spent: $51.45
- Print catalogs: $7.20
- Non-email Internet marketing: $21.08
Total industry spending projected 2006:
- Email: $400 million
- Print catalogs: $20 billion
- Non-email Internet marketing: NSA
Projected sales generation, 2006:
- Email: $18.5 million (+14.9%)
- All direct marketing: $1.939 trillion
- Non-email Internet marketing: $338.9 billion
Source: Direct Marketing Association Power of Direct report October 2006.