IPT Email Marketing Studies 2004-06

RESULTS

Tom Fuller

Managing Director

IMRS

What’s the Story?

The environment for marketers continues to be a challenging one

But from the Consumers’ point of view it’s a problem solved

This gives us room to experiment—and operate

Of course, more changes are coming—Goodmail, etc.

What’s the Story?

Questionnaire hosted on IMRS website

Email invitations to IMRS research panel

1,231 respondents from throughout UK

47% male, 53% female, 52% married

51% in full time work

57% own home or are buying through mortgage

56% have one or more children

Some questions in this survey were duplicated in a 2004 survey—where applicable, results reported for both years.

Consumer research study

Q: Does your email account have a special folder where most of the direct emails or span is directed to?

R=1,192

No22%

Don't know/ Not

sure6%

Yes72%

Consumer research study

Most have them…

Q: How well does the special folder for direct emails and spam work?R=857

35%

50%

12%

2% 1% 1%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Very well Pretty well Not very well Mistakenlydirected

Not well at all Don'tknow?Not

sure

Consumer research study

…and they seem to do what consumers want them to do

Q: Do you ever look at the emails in this special folder for direct mail or spam?

R=861

Don't know/ Not

sure

1%No

20%

Yes79%

Feeling in control of direct mail increases readership?

Q: The companies sponsoring this survey make a distinction beween direct marketing emails and spam. When you think

of emails, do you also make that distinction?

46%

21% 21%

8%

4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

Yes Maybe, but No Never thought … Don/ t know/ Notsure

Consumer research

Public perceptions and attitudes towards email marketing

•Key finding: Although DM is often criticized by interest groups and the press, the public is far more tolerant

•80% open their bulk mail folders to look at DM

Consumer research

How many email accounts

do you have?

Why is this important? Well, how many of your emails will your target actually see?

Number of Email AccountsN= 1,188

1%

12%

9%

20%

32%

26%

1%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

None

One

Two

Three

Four

More than four

Don't know/ not sure

20042006

73% have more than one account

Consumer research

How many of these email accounts

do you check every day?

Frequency of checking Email AccountsN=1,187

How many of these accounts do you check every day?

1%

6%

6%

13%

32%

41%

2%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

None

One

Two

Three

Four

More than four

Don't know?Not sure

73% check 1 or 2 every day

Consumer research

What type of email accounts do you have?

Types of Email AccountsN=2,110

1%

3%

3%

19%

45%

29%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Web-based (Yahoo, Hotmail,etc.)

From a local/ regional ISP

Work-based

Academic-based

Other

Don't know/ Not sure

74% use private, web-based email

Consumer research

Primary email account

Q: Do you consider one of these accounts to be your ‘primary’ or most important account for personal email messages sent

and received?

Primary Email AccountN=1,185

51%

35%

5%

0%

3%

3%

2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Web-based

From local/ regionalISP

Work-based

Academic-based

Other

None of myaccounts

Don't know/ Notsure

51% say web-based mail is their most important account

Consumer research

Frequency of opening DM

Q: How frequently do you open a direct marketing email?

Frequency of Opening DMN = 1,186

8%

19%

30%

19% 19%

3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Never Rarely Occasionally Frequently Daily Don'tknow/ Not

sure

38% say daily or 2 – 3 times a week—and another 30% say more than monthly

Consumer research

Frequency of click-through

Q: Have you ever clicked on a link in a direct marketing email that took you to another website?

Frequency of Click-ThroughN = 1,187

10%

31%

33%

15%

4%6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Never Rarely Occasionally Frequently Daily Don't know/ Notsure

19% click through 1 – 3 times a week

Consumer research

Frequency of purchase from DM

Q: Have you ever made a purchase (either online or in a store)

based on what you saw in a direct marketing email or a web page you visited after clicking a link in a direct marketing

email?

47%

37%

7%

1% 0%

8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Never Rarely Occasionally Frequently Daily Don't know/ Notsure

Frequency of Purchase from DMN = 1,187

8% purchase at least once a week

37% say monthly—or less

Consumer research

Motivators

Q: Have you ever entered a competition or prize draw or sweepstakes after viewing a direct email marketing message?

MotivatorsN = 1,179

Yes72%

No21%

DK/NS7%

Sweepstakes or prize draws do work

Consumer research

Is this invitation to participate in market research considered Direct

Mail?

Q: You were asked to participate in this market research study by an email invitation. Do you consider this emailed invitation to be:

Is an invitation to Participate in Market Research Considered Direct Marketing?

N = 1,185

2%

14%

80%

2% 3%

-10%

10%

30%

50%

70%

90%

Spam DM Email Neither None of theabove

Don'tknow/ Not sure

Consumers classify direct mail on their own—it’s not just research. Newsletters, refunds, etc.

Consumer research

Incentive to Open (1)

Q: When you are trying to decide whether or not to open a direct marketing email message, which of the following might persuade you to open it? Please tick all that apply.

Incentive to OpenN=1,188

16%

19%

24%

27%

4%

6%

4%

27%

24%

20%

20%

9%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Discount or an offermoney/ purchase

Description of an interestingproduct or service

Prize draw / incentives

Name of a company

Humorous/ quirky subjectline

None of the above

Don't know/ Not sure

20042006

Trusted brands more important, money off less so than 2 years ago

Consumer research

Incentive to Open (2)

Q: And which of these features would be most likely to make you open a direct marketing email?

Primary Incentive for Opening DM EmailN = 1,188

14%

16%

25%

31%

3%

11%

27%

24%

20%

20%

9%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Discount or an offermoney/ purchase

Description of an interestingproduct or service

Prize draw / incentives

Name of a company

Humorous/ quirky subjectline

None of the above

2004

2006

…but money still works.

Consumer research

Time Emails Are Opened (1)

Q: At what time of day are you most likely to open a direct marketing email, assuming it interests you enough to open it at all?

Time Emails Are OpenedN = 1,181

21%

27%

6%8%

6%8%

7%

11%

39%

45%

22%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Morning Mid-day Earlyafternoon

Lateafternoon

Evening Don'tknow/ Not

sure

2006

2004

Before work or school or after dinner

Consumer research

Time Emails Are Opened (2)

Q: Generally speaking, how quickly do you open those direct marketing emails that you do open?

Time Before Opening DMN = 1,185

29%

16%

34%

4%

22%21%

11%

32%

7% 6%

11%

6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

As soon as Isee them

Within 60min

1-2hrs afterseeing them

Same day Isee them

1-2 days 2-7 days Don/ tknow/ Not

sure

20062004

Both windows are getting shorter—two hours becomes one, two days becomes one—driven by volume?

Who are we?

• A division of Interactive Prospect Targeting, the UK’s largest online data collector

• IMRS has the UK’s largest online Market Research Panel—313,000 registered respondents at present

• We host surveys and provide sample for ad hoc projects, as well as panellists for third parties

• We charge per completed survey. Our costs are low and our turnaround time is fast

• We adhere to the Market Research Society’s Code of Conduct in all of our research

What do we do?

• IMRS is a full service market research agency

• Obviously, we do conduct a large number of Internet surveys– We also conduct online focus groups

– We recruit for CATI surveys online

– We can act as full charge supplier for complex or multi-modal projects

• IMRS conducts qualitative research, both online and off

• We consult with companies regarding the effective use of and response to weblogs

IMRS Panel Profile 313,000 respondents as of 1/3/2006

45.3%

54.7%MaleFemale

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

% Split

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75+

None48%

1 Child15%

2 Children21%

3 Children10%

4 Children5%

5 Children1%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

% Split

NA

3%0%

7%11%

5%5%

8%31%

8%12%

5%9%

Not applicable

Channel Islands

Eastern Counties

North West

Northern England

Northern Ireland

Scotland

South East England

South West England

Midlands

Wales

Yorkshire & Lincolnshire

61%13%

10%

13%3%

Full Time (30+ hours a week)

Part Time (8-29 hours a week)

Retired

Not Working

Unemployed

IMRS panel profile

Industry Stats 2005

Nielsen//NetRatings UK NetSpeed home data, including Internet applications, Aug 04 & Aug 05, October 2005

•Broadband usage exploded in the UK over the past 12 months. (Understatement of the year…)

•Almost three-quarters of home Internet users in the UK have a broadband connection (In 2003 it was 11%)

•Top 10 Brands experiencing greatest growth in Broadband audience (Aug 04-Aug 05):

Industry research

Trends in Email Marketing

First, hot off the presses…

Industry Stats 2005

What’s the story?

•You are learning•You have more options•You are outsourcing more

•You are more interested in customer acquisition•…and in accountability—Vive le ROI!

•But where is the integration? Is Direct Mail a tactical one-off with handy metrics? Can it be integrated with other elements of a marketing strategy?

Industry Stats 2005Nielsen/NetRatings UK NetSpeed home data, October 2005

 

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

BB audienceAug 04 '000

BB audienceAug 05 '000

Disney online

Blogger

MyOffers

Yeah, MyOffers is

ours.

Industry Stats 2005

• B2C email marketing will double from 2005-2010: the UK & Germany lead the way.The UK had the largest percentage of online shoppers, at 71% of its online population

Forrester, Oct 2005

• Digital agencies report massive growth as online advertising marches on

Brand Republic 26 Oct 2005 • The exponential growth of online sales was revealed

yesterday when the Office for National Statistics said that their value rose by 81 per cent last year.

Times Nov 05

Industry Stats 2005

• Internet use outstrips TV viewing for the first time

Brand Republic 8 Mar 2006

• Gates says future of advertising lies on the internet

Brand Republic 27 Oct 2005

IPT Industry research study

February 2006

IPT questionnaire microsite

Email invitation to to 9,000 direct marketing professionals

Broad selection of industry sectors for balanced sample

Industry research study

Are you planning to increase your spend on email marketing?

Increase in email marketing spend over the next year

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Don't know can't say Stay the same Increase in the next year

2004

2005

51% say their budgets will grow this year

Industry research study

How do you use email marketing?

Uses of email marketing

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Customer Acquisition Customer Retention Cross selling Branding

2004

2006

Acquisition replaces retention

Industry research study

How do you send your campaigns?

Email delivery

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

In-House ASP Solution In-House Outsourced

2004

2006

Into the hands of professionals

Industry research study

Do you check your emails for

junk mail triggers?

(Words or phrases that ISPs use to decide if your message should be blocked)

Use of spam filter checks

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Yes No

2004

2006

More, but not enough

Industry research study

How clean are your email lists?

Level of data hygiene

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

8 to 10 4 to 5 1 to 3

2004

2006

We are getting better (but could do more)

Industry research study

Do you use open &

click-through tracking?

Use of open & click through tracking

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Yes No Don't Know

2004

2006

The tools to check this are getting easier to use

Industry research study

Do you track actual sales?

R.O.I. tracking

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Track to purchase Track to enquiry Track to clickthrough Do not measure ROI

2004

2006

As more DM gets outsourced, we leave the tracking to the pros?

Industry research study

How well do you understand the latest email legislation?

Understanding of the Privacy & Electronic Communication Legislation

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Very well Somewhat Not aware of it

2004

2006

Yesterday’s news? Or too many new faces in the marketing dept?

Snapshot

Typical online consumer

multiple email addresses

most marketing emails read at home same day as received

42% have purchased as a result of an email communication

Typical email marketer

planning to increase use of email

comfortably using email for customer acquisition

greater reliance on proven technology

greater use of campaign tracking

Stories from 2 Worlds

Typical online consumer

Email is a problem solved

Control is the key

How would he or she react if we bypass the bulk mail folders?

Typical email marketer

If winning the bulk mail folder is the new game, do you email more frequently? Deliver on ‘click to see bulk folder?’

Does anyone leverage email with other media?