q2 2011 email_trends_and_benchmarks_final_08_30_11

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Research: August 2011

STRATEGY AND ANALYTICS / TARGETING / CREATIVE / TECHNOLOGY / DIGITAL

Q2 2011 EmAIL TRENDS AND BENCHmARkS – PRESENTED BY EPSILON AND THE EmAIL ExPERIENCE COuNCIL

ExECuTIVE SummARYThe Q2 2011 Email Trends and Benchmarks study shows a significant increase in the average volume per client over the previous quarter. The study also shows that while non-bounce rates remained stable, there was a slight decrease in open and click rates when compared to last quarter.

This report analyzes performance trends by industry and message type to provide an understanding of how the average company in each category performs. From these benchmarks marketers can glean insights and develop email strategies that take into account the challenges and opportunities facing each industry in order to break through the inbox clutter and reach consumers.

This study is compiled from 7.7 billion emails sent by Epsilon in Q2 (April-June) 2011, across multiple industries and approximately 130 participating clients. This benchmark report should be used only as a guideline, since specifics for each company will drive results.

Q2 2011 OVERALL PERfORmANCE

• Open rates (22.2%) saw a slight decrease quarter over quarter (4.8%), however increased over the same quarter last year (by 0.4%). Four of the 13 reported industries saw at least a 5% increase in open rates over Q2 2010.

• Click rates (5.2%) decreased slightly (by 11.1%) from last quarter. Click rates are directly in line with this same time last year and remain established over the last two years.

• Average volume per client increased 16.2% from Q1 2011 but shows a decrease over last year of 14.3% (Q2 2010).

• The non-bounce rate remained fairly stable, decreasing only 0.3%.

• Average order size saw a slight improvement of 0.9% over last year.

• Unique click to conversion rates increased 14.6% over Q1 2011 and 6.2% over Q2 2010.

• Revenue per email decreased less than one percent over Q2 2010 but improved 17.3% over Q1 2011.


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Epsilon’s non-bounce, open and click rates continue to drive strong results

l n pNon-Bounce Open rate Click-through

Q410 Q111Q309 Q409Q209 Q110 Q210 Q310

95.7%l

5.2%p

22.2%n

5.9%p

23.3%n

96.0%l

5.1%p

22.1%n

95.0%l

6.2% 5.3% 5.4%pp pp

21.9% 22.0% 22.1% 22.0%n n n n

93.5% 94.8% 96.1%

l ll l94.1%

22.2%

5.9%

l

n

p5.9%

93.9%

p

n

l94.7%

22.4%

6.0%

Q211

INDuSTRY PERfORmANCE

Business Publishing/Media General, Consumer Services General, Retail General and Retail Specialty experienced at least a 5% increase in open rates compared to the previous year’s metrics.

Consumer Service Telecom, Financial Services CC/Banks and Retail Specialty had an increase of at least 5% in click rate compared to the same quarter in 2010.

The highest open rates were in Financial Services CC/Banks (33.7%), Financial Services General (29.7%) and Retail General (25.2%). The highest click rates were in Consumer Services Telecom (9.0%), Consumer Products CPG (8.0%) and Financial Services CC/Banks (6.5%). Consumer Products CPG (46.9%) and Consumer Services Telecom (40.7%) had the highest click to open rates.


Epsilon Q2 11 North American Industry Non-Bounce

Open Rate Click Rate Click to Open Rate

Business Products and Services General 91.7% 23.0% 4.6% 19.9%

Business Publishing/Media General 97.1% 18.4% 4.4% 23.7%

Consumer Products CPG 97.2% 17.0% 8.0% 46.9%

Consumer Products Pharmaceutical 84.3% 18.2% 4.9% 26.7%

Consumer Publishing/Media General 98.3% 15.1% 5.3% 35.4%

Consumer Services General 98.2% 19.1% 4.1% 21.5%

Consumer Services Telecom 94.5% 22.2% 9.0% 40.7%

Financial Serviced CC/Banks 95.8% 33.7% 6.5% 19.2%

Financial Services General 95.6% 29.7% 5.6% 18.9%

Retail Apparel 99.0% 14.6% 3.5% 23.7%

Retail General 97.9% 25.2% 4.8% 19.2%

Retail Specialty 96.6% 21.6% 4.2% 19.2%

Travel/Hospitality Travel Services 98.1% 24.4% 4.6% 18.7%

Red or green text indicates an increase (green) or decrease (red) over last year’s metrics that was over 5 %

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CAmPAIGN PERfORmANCE

The Q2 2011 Email Trends and Benchmarks also analyzed the types of messages sent and their performance metrics. 69.8% of emails deployed through Epsilon’s DREAM platform were categorized as marketing mes-sages, up from 66.7% the previous quarter.

Key metrics varied by message type across the industries analyzed. Marketing message performed well in categories such as Business Publishing/Media, Consumer Services General and Financial


message Types by Industry

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message Type Open Rate Click Rate CTORAcquistion 22.4% 2.4% 10.7%

Editorial 27.4% 8.3% 30.4%

Marketing 15.3% 2.8% 18.4%

Other 22.4% 3.5% 15.6%

Research 6.8% 1.8% 25.9%

Service 42.8% 8.9% 20.9%

* Message types are based on emails deployed out of the DREAM platform and defined by the person(s) creating the campaigns which may not reflect the same definitions as your company

69.8% of emails delivered by Epsilon were categorized as marketing messages, down from 74.4% the previous quarter

Industry Industry Category message Type

Open Rate

Click Rate

Click to Open Rate

% of Total Delivered in Industry

Business Products and Services

Business Products and Services General

Acquisition 16.5% 2.4% 14.7% 0.6%

Marketing 9.8% 1.1% 10.8% 81.4%

Other 15.3% 2.7% 17.5% 17.0%

Research 3.0% 0.5% 16.1% 0.9%

Service 33.5% 3.0% 9.0% 0.0%

Business Publishing/Media

Business Publishing/Media General

Editorial 25.3% 10.5% 41.5% 36.7%

Marketing 28.0% 3.0% 10.9% 52.0%

Other 18.8% 8.6% 45.6% 11.2%

Research 17.7% 4.4% 24.7% 0.1%

Service 39.0% 6.3% 16.0% 0.0%

Consumer Products Consumer Products CPG Marketing 11.5% 2.6% 23.0% 100.0%

Other 23.2% 6.1% 26.1% 0.0%

Consumer Products Pharmaceutical

Marketing 14.7% 4.1% 27.9% 92.3%

Other 11.9% 1.7% 14.4% 7.5%

Service 43.6% 8.6% 19.6% 0.2%

Research0.0%

Service4.3%

Editorial0.6%

Acquisition0.1%

% Delivered in Q2 2011

Marketing69.8%

Other25.1%

Industry Industry Category message Type

Open Rate

Click Rate

Click to Open Rate

% of Total Delivered in Industry

ConsumerPublishing/Media

Consumer Publishing/Media General

Editorial 29.5% 6.1% 20.6% 10.5%

Other 20.0% 2.8% 14.0% 89.5%

Consumer Services Consumer Services General Marketing 27.7% 5.4% 19.7% 98.9%

Other 58.0% 14.6% 25.1% 1.1%

Consumer Services Telecom Marketing 23.0% 1.9% 8.1% 100.0%

Financial Services Financial Services CC/Banks Acquisition 22.9% 1.9% 8.3% 0.7%

Marketing 29.6% 3.6% 12.2% 16.8%

Other 40.3% 5.3% 13.0% 48.3%

Research 53.6% 20.7% 38.5% 0.0%

Service 42.8% 8.6% 20.0% 34.1%

Financial Services General Marketing 19.5% 1.5% 7.6% 87.6%

Other 48.5% 10.1% 20.9% 8.1%

Service 56.7% 16.7% 29.5% 4.4%

Retail Retail Apparel Marketing 11.0% 1.9% 16.7% 94.4%

Other 12.2% 2.5% 20.5% 5.5%

Service 24.1% 0.5% 2.2% 0.1%

Retail General Acquisition 71.4% 60.7% 85.0% 0.0%

Marketing 17.2% 3.3% 19.2% 54.8%

Other 16.4% 2.9% 17.8% 45.0%

Research 22.5% 7.2% 31.8% 0.0%

Service 43.5% 9.9% 22.8% 0.1%

Legal 26.1% 1.0% 3.7% 0.1%

Retail Specialty Editorial 30.7% 10.0% 32.5% 0.0%

Marketing 8.6% 0.9% 10.1% 91.0%

Other 22.0% 3.4% 15.6% 6.8%

Service 40.2% 17.1% 42.4% 2.2%

Travel/Hospitality Travel/Hospitality Travel Services Acquisition 43.0% 10.6% 24.6% 0.0%

Marketing 16.5% 2.5% 15.3% 99.3%

Other 26.7% 3.2% 12.1% 0.6%

Research 8.2% 0.1% 1.7% 0.0%

Service 33.6% 2.0% 5.9% 0.0%


message Types by Industry (cont.)

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CONCLuSIONS

Marketers continue to fight for visibility within consumer inboxes throughout the year especially during critical marketing windows such as the holiday season. As the average volume of emails being sent per client continues to increase, so does the necessity to ensure email messages stand out and drive desired consumer behaviors. With Epsilon’s benchmark data as a gauge of industry performance, we know that marketing messages don’t always get the same response rates as service or editorial content. Therefore, marketers need to leverage data, both behavioral and stated preferences, to create more targeted campaigns. With this information in hand, marketers can personalize emails and increase relevance for better customer experiences. By testing and analyzing creative, cadence, frequency, from and subject lines and other key components, marketers can also build more successful email marketing campaigns


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Epsilon Corporate Headquarters4401 Regent Boulevard Irving, TX 750631-800-309-0505

[email protected]

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Email Experience CouncilDirect marketing Association1120 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10036

Ali [email protected]

emailexperience.org