23
2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report
02 Introduction 1 3 Results by Number of Recipients
03 Email Marketing Metrics, Defined 1 4 Results by Time of Day
05 Trending Now 1 6 Results by Subject Line Length
04 Executive Summary 1 5 Results by Day of Week
07 Benchmark Data and Key Findings 1 7 Open Duration Results
10 Results by Country of Sender 20 Email Client Preference
and Open Rate
1 1 Results by Email Client Type 2 1 Open Results by
Email Client (Detailed)
09 Results by Frequency 1 9 Mobile and Desktop Open Duration Comparison
1 2 Results by Number of Links 22 About Informz
Table of Contents
Overall Email Metrics08 Mobile Opens vs. Desktop Opens for Weekdays18
1 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Introduction
We’ve performed a study on our association client base to provide email marketers from associations benchmarking information for their email marketing programs. This report includes a summary of email marketing metrics from over 1 billion emails sent in 2014 by associations located in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom.
This report is designed for email marketers from associations. The data shared will help you understand what metrics to analyze, what goals to set, and how your email marketing program is performing in comparison to your peers. Always keep in mind that these are averages from your peers. New this year, trending topics that impact email marketing data have been included on pages 5-7.
This is the fifth consecutive year we’ve reported on association email marketing benchmark data and the sixth association email marketing benchmark report we’ve produced.
2 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Email Marketing Metrics, Defined
Four key metrics are used in this report: delivery, open, click and unsubscribe rates.
Delivery rate is the percentage of emails that were not reported back to Informz as bounced or blocked.
Open rate is the percentage of delivered emails that were reported back to Informz as having been opened. If the text version of an email is read, it is not counted. Likewise, if an HTML email is read with the images turned off, it is not counted. However, if an email is opened with images off, but a link is clicked, the email is counted as being opened. Open rate only includes unique subscribers. Multiple opens by one subscriber only count once.
Click rate is the percentage of opened emails clicked by the recipient. Clicking a link in a text email is not counted as a click. Click rate only includes unique subscribers. Multiple clicks by one subscriber only count once.
Unsubscribe rate is the percentage of recipients who unsubscribed from a particular mailing.
3 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Executive Summary
The key performance indicators that defined the success of Informz client email programs over the past year.
• Email volume rose by 12.14% compared to the volume of email sent in 2013.
• Delivery rate remained consistent at 98% year over year.
• Open rates increased by 4.25%, from 34.04% to 35.49%.
• Click rates were overall lower in 2014 compared to 2013. Click Rates are influenced by the relevancy of the message, the creative layout, and the placement and size of call-to-action links.
• Unsubscribe rates remained favorable at .05% for 2014.
4 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
To begin to answer these questions, the answer is simple: test. Testing is no longer an option; it is a must.
Forward-thinking marketers know that testing is a key component to successful email marketing programs. In 2014 we have seen subject line testing among clients increase by 26.3% and send time optimization usage increase by 24.5%. Open rates have increased as clients gain insight
into what types of messages resonate with their audience and deliver those messages at the most optimal time.
While subject line testing is most common, testing is also being performed on the friendly from, preheader text, call-to-action, creative layout, and time and day of send. Every test is an opportunity to gain insight and increase engagement metrics.
Trending Now:Testing on the Rise
Simply having your message reach a subscriber’s inbox is not the whole story. Everyone has asked themselves questions like “why did this email perform so much lower than others?” or “are our messages standing out in the inbox?” and “what can I do to increase our reach and get our content seen?”
5 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Trending Now: Email Cadence and Frequency
Email frequency is a popular topic for many organizations that wonder whether they are sending too many emails. The 2014 email marketing benchmark data shows that 72% of email subscribers were sent five or less emails each month. Subscribers that were sent 6-10 emails a month had slightly higher open and click rates than those receiving five emails or less. We have also seen strong engagement metrics from subscribers that receive 20+ emails a month.
While email volume is a component in subscriber engagement metrics, the single most important engagement factor is still relevancy. That being said, it is important to have an accurate assessment of email volume, frequency and engagement rates for your audience. The first step to answer the email frequency question is to perform a data analysis. The objective of the analysis is to know:
• The number of emails subscribers receive in a month (broken down by volume thresholds such as 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc.)
• The correlation between open rates and email volume.
• The correlation between email volume and unsubscribes.
The results of the data analysis will determine what the appropriate next steps should be.
As a best practice, preference forms are an effective way to manage email cadence and relevancy. Preference forms are a good alternative option for subscribers that might otherwise choose to click the unsubscribe link.
6 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Benchmark Data and Key Findings
Overall Email Metrics
The average email metrics for associations include a 98.34% delivery rate, 35.49% open rate, and 15.87% click rate.
KEY FINDINGS1. Overall Email Metrics
0
20
40
60
80
100%
Click RateOpen RateDelivery Rate
15.87%
35.49%
98.34%
8 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Results by Frequency
72% of email subscribers were sent 1-5 emails per month. However, subscribers that were sent 6-10 emails had slightly higher open and click rates.
KEY FINDINGS
2a. Results by Frequency
1–5 Emails Sent 71.63%
21–25 Emails Sent 2.00%
26–50 Emails Sent 2.68%
6–10 Emails Sent 15.17%
11–15 Emails Sent 6.15%
16–20 Emails Sent 2.37%
0
5
10
15
20
25 Click Rate
Open Rate
26–5021–2516–2011–156–101–5
11.06%
22.63%23.34%
11.22%
21.68%
10.59% 10.55%
17.04%
11.87%
15.88%
12.69%
20.20%
Number of Emails
2b. Results by Frequency
9 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Results by Country of Sender
Average open rates ranged from 42.55% in the United Kingdom to 29.12% in New Zealand. Click rates were lower in the US and Australia and highest in the United Kingdom. Delivery rates did not fluctuate between countries, but the unsubscribe rate in Australia was double the unsubscribe rate of the US and New Zealand.
KEY FINDINGS
3. Results by Country of Sender
0
10
20
30
40
50%Click Rate
Open Rate
New ZealandUKAustraliaCanadaUS
Country
34.25%
14.70%
40.87%
24.21%
39.01%
15.79%
42.55%
25.13%
29.12%
18.00%
10 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Results by Email Client Type
Mobile usage has dropped slightly and desktop usage has returned to the most frequently used email client type.
KEY FINDINGS
4. Results by Email Client Type
Unknown 6.19%
Web 16.02%
Desktop 39.72%
Mobile 38.07%
11 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Results by Number of Links
Emails containing 1-15 links had click rates lower than the click rate benchmark of 15.87%. Messages with 51-70 links had the highest average click rates at 21.17%.
KEY FINDINGS
Number of Links
15.12%
13.55%
15.70% 15.85% 15.64%16.43%
19.06%
21.17%
19.56%
Clic
k Ra
te
5. Results by Number of Links
0
5
10
15
20
25%
Over 7051–7031–5016–30 8–15 5–7 3–421
12 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Results by Number of Recipients
Engagement rates decrease as mailing size increases. Mailings sent to less than 50 people had open rates 34% higher than the industry benchmark.
KEY FINDINGS
Number of Recipients
47.68%
44.14%
39.80%
36.03%
31.22%
27.28%
22.59%
20.04%
17.89%
9.76%11.70%
10.30%9.98%
12.18%
14.39%
18.05%
20.26%
23.09%
19.07%
3.85%
6. Results by Number of Recipients
0
10
20
30
40
50%Click Rate
Open Rate
>250K100K–250K50K–100K5K–50K1K–5K500–1K250–500100–25050–100<50
13 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Results by Time of Day
Messages sent at night had the highest open rates and messages sent midday had the highest click rates.
KEY FINDINGS
Time of Day
32.74%35.21%
36.69%38.06%
15.09%16.25%16.44%
15.37%
7. Results by Time of Day
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40%
Click Rate
Open Rate
NightLate AfternoonMiddayMorning
14 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Results by Day of Week
The day of week had very little influence on open and click rates. Email volume was significantly smaller on weekends, but open rates rose slightly while click rates remained consistent.
KEY FINDINGS
Day of Week
38.47%
35.17% 35.10% 35.12% 34.50%36.63%
40.42%
13.07%
16.18%16.06%16.17%16.12%15.78%
12.58%
8. Results by Day of Week
0
10
20
30
40
50%
Click Rate
Open Rate
SaturdayFridayThursdayWednesdayTuesdayMondaySunday
15 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Results by Subject Line Length
Subject lines with fewer than 40 characters have open rates above the 35.49% open rate benchmark.
KEY FINDINGS
Ope
n Ra
te
Number of Characters
53.95%
40.33%
36.09% 36.21% 35.32% 34.57% 33.46%31.56%
9. Results by Subject Line Length
0
10
20
30
40
50
60%
0 and up60–6950–5940–4930–3920–2910–199 and less 70 and up
16 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Open Duration Results
Over 60% of emails that are opened are engaged with for more than 10 seconds.
KEY FINDINGS
Open 25.89%(<3 seconds)
Skim 12.13%(3–10 seconds)
Read 61.98%(>10 seconds)
10. Open Duration Results
17 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Mobile Opens vs. Desktop Opens for Weekdays
Mobile opens exceed desktop opens during late afternoon and evening hours.
KEY FINDINGS
11. Mobile Opens vs. Desktop Opens for Weekdays
0
2
4
6
8
10% Percent Opens Desktop
Percent Opens Mobile
11pm10pm9pm8pm7pm6pm5pm4pm3pm2pm1pm12pm11am10am9am8am7am6am5am4am3am2am1am12am
Time of Day
2.072.09
1.31 1.33 1.391.18
0.880.73
0.510.59
1.181.32
1.96
2.762.53
3.43.66
4.16
7.06
7.71
8.39
9.57
8.68
9.05
7.57
8.53
7.08
7.99
7.587.64
9.34
9.7
8.71
7.66
6.62
4.43 4.51
3.07
2.73
2.21
1.881.95
1.221.46
1.09
1.38
1.06 1.28
18 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Mobile and Desktop Open Duration Comparison
Mobile and desktop readers had very similar open duration results, with mobile skims slightly higher than desktop skims.
KEY FINDINGS
12. Mobile and Desktop Open Duration Comparison
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80%
Mobile SkimMobile ReadMobile OpenDesktop SkimDesktop ReadDesktop Open
23.6%
60.87%
15.53%
23.79%
17.05%
59.16%
Skim (3–10 seconds)
Open (<3 seconds)
Read (>10 seconds)
19 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Email Client Preference and Open Rate
Over 78% of all opens were viewed just once on a mobile device, desktop or other client, while 22% of all opens were combinations of the three. More readers prefer to view on desktop only than any other email client.
KEY FINDINGS
13. Results by Email Client Preference
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40%
All 3Desktop and Other
Mobile and Other
Desktop and Mobile
Just OtherJust MobileJust Desktop
Email Client Preference
16.85%
36.17%
24.80%
8.85%9.71%
1.95% 1.66%
Ope
n Ra
te
14. Open Rate by Email Client Preference
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80%
CombinationOther OnlyDesktop OnlyMobile Only
52.52%
62.80%57.09%
48.62%
Ope
n Ra
te
Open Rate by Preference
Email Client Preference
20 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
Open Results by Email Client (Detailed)
Over 40% of emails are read on iPhones or in Outlook 2010. The most-used email clients are iPhones (mobile), Outlook 2010 (desktop), and Gmail (web).
KEY FINDINGS15. Open Results by Email Client, Detailed
0
5
10
15
20
25%
Outlook 2010iPhone
Highest Usage
21.65%
18.56%
16. Open Results by Email Client, Detailed
0
5
10
15
20%
Outlook 2013Outlook 2007Outlook 2000/2003/Express
Outlook 2010
18.56%
9.77%
6.92%
2.58%
Highest Usage: Desktop
17. Open Results by Email Client, Detailed
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8%
AOLHotmail Yahoo Gmail
7.39%
2.40%
1.67%1.07%
Highest Usage: Web
18. Open Results by Email Client, Detailed
0
5
10
15
20
25%
Android TabletAndroid PhoneiPadiPhone
21.65%
6.08%
1.42% 1.10%
Highest Usage: Mobile
21 |2015 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report | © Informz, Inc. 2015
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