Email Marketing Trends Upward

Epsilon Q3 2009 North America Email Trend Results: Open and Click Rates Increase from Previous Year

DALLAS, TX -- December 10, 2009 -- Epsilon today released its Q3 2009 North America Email Trends and Benchmarks Results which show an increase from Q3 2008 in both open and click rates.

The quarterly analysis is compiled from over 6 billion emails sent by Epsilon in July, August and September 2009, across multiple industries and approximately 200 clients. The analysis combines data from both of Epsilon’s proprietary platforms, DREAM and DREAMmail.

Report Highlights:

* Open rates increased from 19.8% in Q3 2008 to 22.0% in Q3 2009. Twelve of the sixteen industries had an increase in open rates over Q3 2008.
* Click rates were 6.2%, an increase of 5.1% from the same time last year (5.9%).
* Average volume per client increased 7.5% from Q3 2008.
* Six of the sixteen industries measured saw an increase in all three metrics – opens, clicks and non-bounce rate – compared to last year.
* The Retail landscape improved greatly compared to Q3 2008. Of the four Retail subcategories, eleven of the twelve metrics increased compared to the third quarter of last year.

According to Kevin Mabley, Senior Vice President of Strategic & Analytic Consulting at Epsilon, "As we enter the holiday season, a time when email volumes increase substantially, it is extremely important that email marketers incorporate best practices to break through the clutter. Timely, relevant offers that reflect customer preferences and behavior will drive the most opens, clicks and conversions. In addition, marketers should consider strategies that incorporate triggers and transactional messaging as part of the purchase cycle. Our clients who are focused on a data-driven email marketing strategy continue to outperform the rest of the pack.”

In addition, a study from Return Path, a leader in email reputation services, showed that 84% of permission-based emails sent in the US and Canada during the first half of 2009 reached inboxes. Epsilon’s client base had significantly higher deliverability than the industry benchmark with 91% in Q3 2009.

Epsilon’s Q3 2009 Email Trends and Benchmark report is available at www.epsilon.com/pr/Q309emailbenchmarks.

Source: Epsilon