Just recently, Epsilon presented its North American Email Trends and Benchmarks report for the fourth quarter of 2013. The company saw a remarkable increase in email open rates compared to the same period in 2012.
The analysis also found that a significant amount (62%) of new subscribers were unengaged with marketers’ email programs in Q4 2013, highlighting the continual need to build and maintain subscriber engagement by keeping in frequent and constant contact with your subscriber database.
“Subscriber engagement isn’t a one-time effort. It’s a continual process that requires a long term strategy. How, when and where a customer interacts with your brand could prove to be the most useful information in your email marketing efforts — today email marketers need to build connections between brands and customers that are based on engagement and differentiated experiences. The best way to achieve this is by leveraging data to provide meaningful experiences.”
Judy Loschen, Vice President of Digital Analytics at Epsilon
Here are some highlights from Epislon’s Study:
Business As Usual (BAU) Email Trends
This quarterly analysis is compiled from 7.0 billion emails sent by Epsilon in October, November and December 2013 across multiple industries that they serve covering approximately 140 participating clients. The analysis combines data from Epsilon’s proprietary platforms.
- Non-Bounce rate (email addresses that are still active/unchanged) remained strong at 96.1%
- Open rates (recipients that opened the email) were consistent quarter over quarter at 30.9%
- Click-through rates (engaging with your offer) were 4.4%, increasing quarter over quarter and in-line with last year
Triggered Message Email Trends
Triggered message benchmarks are compiled from more than 297 million triggered emails sent by Epsilon in Q4 2013 across multiple industries. Results track campaigns deployed as a result of an action or trigger such as Welcome, Abandon Shopping Cart, Thank You and Anniversary.
Triggered Highlights:
- Triggered messages accounted for 4.1% of total volume, slightly lower than Q4 2012
- Triggered open rates were 58.5% higher than BAU messages in Q4 2013
- Triggered messages continued to perform well, reporting 127.7% higher click rates than BAU messages
Based on this Epsilon report, we can see how email marketing played an important role for a large number of corporations when it came to target existing and potential customers with targeted promotions. Most businesses nowadays are already on their way to maximize their email marketing campaigns. From all the marketing channels at your disposal, email marketing has over the years, proven to be the most cost effective one while also providing the highest ROI. The main reason can be summarized in one word: CONTROL. But there are other important reasons to consider.
- Control. As opposed to other marketing channels (social media, PPC, Organic SEO), email marketing provides you with full control over your message, your delivery schedule and your audience.
- Tracking Results. Email marketing campaign results are easier to track than any other marketing channels, thus, you can estimate your ROI for each particular campaign right away. One of the fascinating aspects of email marketing is that with just a click of the mouse, you get to track a variety of metrics. This includes who opened your email, which of the links were clicked, whether such links were forwarded to a friend, and which addresses are no longer valid among others.
- Personalized emails. The fact that email marketing creates a direct interaction between you and your customers makes it the preferred marketing tool for most of today’s major corporations and small business alike.
- Customer Loyalty. In comparison with other marketing channels, email marketing generates the highest customer loyalty with your subscribers becoming emotionally attached to your brand.
- Lower Cost. The average cost of email marketing is much lower than the cost of setting up and maintaining other types of marketing campaigns, such as SEO, PPC or Social Media. Also, unlike direct mail, you’ll be able to save on printing and postage costs with email marketing so you’ll enjoy a quick ROI.
- Shift to Mobile. The widespread use of smartphones and mobile devices has effectively increased email marketing penetration and open rates since your customers are now even more likely to check their email when it first arrives on their mobile device.
As long as you create good quality (and responsive design) emails that properly match your customer database with products in which they’re interested, you’ll be amazed at how your email marketing campaigns will respond generate positive results.
If you want to fast-track your marketing campaign, then email marketing is the most practical way to do so. In just a few hours, you can design, program, and send your message directly to your customers. Want to know more about how email marketing works? Contact MGR today and we’ll be glad to discuss further with you our flexible packages.
Until next time, this is Manuel Gil del Real (MGR)
