Survey Shows Stability Of Email Marketing
Click-through and open rates for email marketing campaigns have remained consistent, despite continued concerns over high levels of spam jeopardising the validity of the medium, according to the latest ad serving trend report from digital solutions company, DoubleClick.
According to the Q1 2003 survey, average click-through rates for email marketing campaigns increased to 11.3% in the first three months of this year, up from 8.9% in the fourth quarter of 2002. Open rates also increased, up to 39.2%, from 36.4% in the previous quarter.
The report also revealed that concerns over spam filtering systems blocking legitimate marketing were unfounded, as bounce back rates fell to 12.5%, from 13.5% in the fourth quarter of 2002.
However, over half (57%) of all companies decreased the volume of email marketing they sent out, which may reflect concerns over the growing consumer backlash against rising levels of spam. DoubleClick has attributed the decline to seasonality and the increasing sophistication of marketers with respect to segmentation and frequency.
Eric Kirby, vice president of strategic services at DoubleClick, commented: “The most encouraging news in the Q1 Email Trend Report is that the spam crisis is having less impact on the performance of legitimate marketers than many of us had feared.”
He continued: “However, the data also underscores the importance of the relationship that legitimate marketers have with their customers. Marketers can build upon these relationships by asking their customers about the type of content they would like to receive as well as how often they want to be contacted.”
Other recent research from DoubleClick revealed that email marketing is becoming more dynamic, using more rich-media formats to tackle declining click-through rates (see DoubleClick Report Reflects Strength Of Rich Media).
Doubleclick: 020 7399 4400 www.doubleclick.com
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