US Email Ad Revenue To Reach $1.5bn By 2005, Finds GartnerG2
Email marketing has now become ‘a more cost-effective way to acquire and retain customers than direct mail’, says a report from GartnerG2 released this week.
Email to eclipse direct mail? “Direct mail has reached its peak and will account for less than 50% of mail received by US households by 2005, down from 65% in 2001,” said Denise Garcia, research director for GartnerG2 covering the media industry. “As email use, familiarity and trust increases, consumers will become more comfortable with accepting advertisements through their computer.”
The report says that email marketing campaigns have proven to be more efficient and their success can be measured more easily. On average, it takes four to six weeks to complete a direct mail campaign, as against just seven to ten business days for an email campaign, claims Gartner. Responses to direct mail take an average of three to six weeks, while responses to email take an average of three days.
Response rates measured by action taken from direct mail were found to be the same as email, at around 1%. On permission-based emails, the average click-through rate is between 6% and 8%, says the report.