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September 2012 Q2 2012 Email Trends and Benchmarks
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Page 1: Q2 2012 Email Trends and Benchmarks€¦ · The Q2 2012 Email Trends and Benchmarks analyze performance trends by both industry and message type to provide an understanding of how

September 2012

Q2 2012 Email Trends and Benchmarks

Page 2: Q2 2012 Email Trends and Benchmarks€¦ · The Q2 2012 Email Trends and Benchmarks analyze performance trends by both industry and message type to provide an understanding of how

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary............................................................................................ 3

Business As Usual Email Trends..................................................................... 3

Triggered Email Trends...................................................................................... 7

Email Activity Segment Evaluation................................................................ 8

Conclusion............................................................................................................ 11

Page 3: Q2 2012 Email Trends and Benchmarks€¦ · The Q2 2012 Email Trends and Benchmarks analyze performance trends by both industry and message type to provide an understanding of how

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Executive Summary

Since 2002 Epsilon has analyzed and compiled aggregated data from billions of emails to produce quarterly benchmark reports. These reports aim to establish guidelines and actionable insights for marketers. Earlier this year, Epsilon introduced new metrics for triggered email messages, which continue to increase in adoption. In this analysis, we compare the performance of triggered emails to that of business as usual (BAU) messages.

In an effort to stay abreast of industry trends and to address the needs of the marketplace, this quarter we introduce another metric: Email Activity Segmentation Evaluation. Epsilon’s Email Activity Segmentation Evaluation, or EASE, examines the overall performance of email files to uncover file-level trends that campaign response reporting may fail to uncover.

From these various benchmarks, marketers can gather insights to help improve their email campaigns and develop more intelligent strategies to engage consumers via email. Please note, this benchmark data should be used only as a guideline. Specifics for each company will ultimately drive results.

Business As Usual Email Trends

The Q2 2012 Email Trends and Benchmarks analyze performance trends by both industry and message type to provide an understanding of how the average company in each category performs. The study is compiled from 7.3 billion emails sent in Q2 (April, May and June) 2012, across multiple industries and approximately 170 participating clients.

Q2 2012 Overall Performance

• Non-Bounce rate remained strong at 95.9%.

• Open rates decreased slightly quarter over quarter (-2.5%), but increased over Q2 2011 (15.2%), resulting in an overall open rate for Q2 2012 of 25.6%.

• Click rates decreased 0.3 percentage points (6.9% overall) from last quarter to 4.4%. They are also lower than Q211 (5.2%), but continue to remain stable over the last two years.

• Removing triggered and real-time mes-sages, average volume per client decreased by 6.3% over last quarter (Q112) and 29.7% over last year (Q211), suggesting that marketers are sending more triggered and real-time messages as opposed to BAU.

10%

0%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

80%

70%

90%

100%

Epsilon’s open rates remain strong

l n pNon-Bounce Open rate Click-through

Q410 Q111 Q212Q210 Q310p

26.2%n

4.7%

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

5.2%5.2% 5.4%pp p

24.8%22.1% 22.0% nn n

96.3%94.8% 96.1%ll l

96.5%

23.8%

5.5%

l

n

pp

n

l95.9%

25.6%

4.4%

Q211 Q311 Q411

96.5%l

Q112

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Industry Performance

Seven of the 13 industries analyzed had an open rate increase of 5% or higher compared to Q2 2011: Business Products and Services General, Business Published/Media General, Consumer Products Pharma- ceutical, Consumer Services General, Retail Apparel, Retail General and Travel/Hospitality Travel Services.

Business Products and Services General and Retail General experienced a click rate increase of 5% or higher compared to the previous year’s metrics.

The highest open rates were in the Financial Services Credit Cards/Banks and Retail General (both 35.3%), Travel/Hospitality Travel Services (34.9%) and Consumer Products Pharmaceutical (32.4%).

The highest click to open rates were in Consumer Products CPG (39.4%), Consumer Publishing/Media General (30.0%) and Retail Apparel (19.8%).

Epsilon Q1 12 North American Industry Non-Bounce

Open Rate Click Rate Click to Open Rate

Business Products and Services General 94.5% 29.0% 4.9% 16.9%

Business Publishing/Media General 96.1% 20.6% 3.7% 17.8%

Consumer Products CPG 96.8% 17.5% 6.9% 39.4%

Consumer Products Pharmaceutical 90.4% 32.4% 5.1% 15.7%

Consumer Publishing/Media General 98.3% 15.4% 4.6% 30.0%

Consumer Services General 97.5% 23.5% 4.0% 16.9%

Consumer Services Telecom 96.9% 16.8% 2.6% 15.4%

Financial Services CC/Banks 94.5% 35.3% 4.0% 11.3%

Financial Services General 95.8% 29.0% 5.2% 18.1%

Retail Apparel 98.4% 16.3% 3.2% 19.8%

Retail General 96.9% 35.3% 5.2% 14.7%

Retail Specialty 96.0% 21.6% 3.1% 14.1%

Travel/Hospitality Travel Services 98.0% 34.9% 4.6% 13.1%

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

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Campaign Performance

The Q1 2012 Email Trends and Benchmarks also analyzed the types of messages sent and their performance metrics. 63.4% of emails deployed through Epsilon’s proprietary email platform were characterized as marketing messages, up from 61.4% the previous quarter.

Key metrics varied by message type across the industries analyzed.

Industry Industry Category Message Type

Open Rate

Click Rate

Click to Open Rate

% of Total Delivered in Industry

Business Products and Services

General Acquisition 13.6% 1.9% 14.3% 1.7%

Editorial 45.1% 5.5% 12.3% 0.1%

Marketing 21.9% 2.3% 10.7% 49.0%

Other 9.8% 1.3% 13.7% 48.9%

Research 2.8% 0.6% 22.3% 0.3%

Business Publishing/Media

General Editorial 29.1% 11.6% 39.9% 13.4%

Marketing 22.4% 1.2% 5.5% 79.8%

Other 19.8% 9.6% 48.4% 6.8%

Research 22.2% 3.2% 14.3% 0.1%

Service 36.3% 6.4% 17.7% 0.0%

Consumer Products CPG Marketing 16.2% 2.6% 16.0% 100.0%

Other 38.3% 7.4% 19.3% 0.0%

Service 58.5% 2.7% 4.5% 0.0%

Pharmaceutical Marketing 23.7% 4.0% 17.1% 91.7%

Other 10.2% 1.7% 17.0% 8.3%

Consumer Publishing/Media

General Editorial 37.3% 7.6% 20.3% 2.7%

Marketing 28.9% 3.4% 11.9% 56.3%

Other 27.3% 3.8% 13.7% 41.0%

Research0.0%

Service5.4%

Editorial0.4%

Acquisition0.1%

% Delivered in Q1 2012

Marketing63.4%

Other30.7%

Message Type Open Rate Click Rate CTORAcquistion 18.3% 1.7% 9.6%

Editorial 31.7% 9.0% 28.5%

Marketing 20.2% 2.6% 12.7%

Other 20.0% 2.7% 13.6%

Research 29.0% 4.8% 16.5%

Service 49.1% 7.8% 15.8%

*Message types are based on emails deployed out of one of two of Epsilon’s proprietary email platforms and are defined by the person(s) creating the campaigns, which may not reflect the same definitions as your company.

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Industry Industry Category Message Type

Open Rate

Click Rate

Click to Open Rate

% of Total Delivered in Industry

Consumer Services General Marketing 34.9% 4.6% 13.3% 99.2%

Other 84.0% 17.0% 20.1% .7%

Service 73.4% 29.0% 39.5% 0.0%

Telecom Marketing 27.7% 2.9% 10.5% 100.0%

Financial Services CC/Banks Acquisition 20.4% 1.7% 8.2% 0.6%

Marketing 30.4% 2.0% 6.7% 37.8%

Other 43.5% 5.2% 11.9% 29.3%

Research 59.3% 9.3% 15.7% 0.0%

Service 48.8% 7.7% 15.9% 32.3%

General Marketing 30.6% 1.6% 5.4% 86.5%

Other 45.9% 6.8% 14.9% 8.7%

Service 62.3% 9.0% 14.5% 4.8%

Retail Apparel Marketing 13.4% 1.6% 12.3% 99.8%

Other 11.2% 1.8% 16.3% 0.2%

General Editorial 29.7% 7.2% 24.3% 0.0%

Marketing 19.5% 3.8% 19.4% 34.3%

Other 15.0% 2.2% 14.5% 65.6%

Research 25.7% 2.2% 8.5% 0.0%

Service 59.5% 9.8% 16.5% 0.0%

Legal 87.6% 30.8% 35.2% 0.0%

Specialty Editorial 32.4% 5.4% 16.7% 1.9%

Marketing 20.6% 2.0% 9.8% 83.7%

Other 19.8% 2.8% 14.1% 14.2%

Research 46.9% 10.9% 23.2% 0.2%

Travel/Hospitality Travel Services Marketing 24.7% 3.2% 13.1% 99.6%

Other 68.1% 4.0% 5.9% 0.3%

Service 81.6% 7.4% 9.0% 0.1%

*Message types are pulled from Epsilon’s proprietary email platform only and defined by the person(s) creating the campaigns and may not reflect the same definitions as your company.

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Triggered Email Trends

Epsilon’s triggered email metrics are compiled from over 193 million triggered emails sent from April 2012 to June 2012, across multiple industries. The research reflects campaigns that were deployed as a result of an action, such as Welcome, Abandoned Shopping Cart, Thank You and Anniversary.

Overall Performance

• In Q2 2012, triggered messages accounted for 2.6% of total volume, 22.0% higher than Q211 (2.1%) and 14% higher than Q112 (2.3%).

• Non-Bounce rate continued to drive strong results, only 1% lower than BAU industry metrics.

• Triggered open rates were 94.8% higher than BAU. This is an increase over the previous quarter (75%) and the previous year (82.1%).

• Triggered click rates continued to perform well, reporting 122.1% higher than BAU. Q211 triggered click rates showed an 88.6% lift over BAU, which suggest triggered messaging is performing increasingly better than BAU.

Triggered Email by Industry

The highest open rates for triggered messages were in the Retail General (69.9%), Consumer Products Pharmaceutical (69.0%) and Travel/Hospitality and Travel Services (67.2%) categories.

The highest click rates for triggered messages were in the Consumer Products CPG (18.1%), Consumer Publishing/Media General (16.1%) and Consumer Products Pharmaceutical (15.8%) categories.

We expect triggered email to have higher open and click rates as they are deployed based on an action and often at a time when a consumer is most engaged with a brand. The categories with the most notable difference in triggered open rates versus business as usual messages were Consumer Products CPG (+230.6%), Retail Apparel (+154.1%) and Consumer Publishing/Media General (+122.5%).

The most significant click rate differences between triggered and BAU messages were reported in Retail Apparel (+291.9%), Consumer Services Telecom (+258.6%) and Consumer Publishing/Media General (+250.0%).

100%90%80% 70%60%50%40%30%20%10%0%

Q210 Q310 Q410 Q111 Q211 Q311 Q411 Q112 Q212

Epsilon sees a 31% year over year growth in total triggered messages delivered

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49.8%41.1%

46.6%42.2%

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94.1% 94.7% 94.7%94.7%94.8% 94.8%94.6% 4%

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Overall Triggered Message Performance

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Q1 12 North American Industry

Non-Bounce BAU Non-Bounce Difference

Open Rate

BAU Open Rate Difference

Click Rate

BAU Click RateDifference

Business Products and Ser-vices General

96.5% -0.8% 42.1% +45.1% 6.2% +25.8%

Business Publishing/Media General

97.0% +0.9% 33.6% +62.7% 6.4% +73.3%

Consumer Products CPG 96.1% -0.7% 57.9% +230.6% 18.1% +162.9%

Consumer Products Pharmaceutical

93.4% +3.3% 69.0% +112.9% 15.8% +210.5%

Consumer Publishing/ Media General

97.3% -1.0% 34.2% +122.5% 16.1% +250.0%

Consumer Services General 95.2% -2.4% 37.8% +60.9% 6.4% +62.9%

Consumer Services Telecom 91.7% -5.4% 27.2% +62.4% 9.3% +258.6%

Financial Services CC/Banks 93.6% -1.0% 65.8% +86.6% 6.9% +74.0%

Financial Services General 96.1% +0.3% 58.7% +102.5% 5.7% +9.5%

Retail Apparel 94.8% -3.6% 41.4% +154.1% 12.6% +291.9%

Retail General 93.0% -4.0% 69.9% +97.9% 13.8% +165.5%

Retail Specialty 96.4% +0.4% 38.4% +77.9% 6.0% +97.3%

Travel/Hospitality Travel Services

94.1% -4.0% 67.2% +92.3% 8.0% +76.1%

Blue text indicates a 50% lift over BAU.

Email Activity Segment Evaluation Trends

This quarter Epsilon introduced a new set of email benchmarks, Email Activity Segment Evaluation, or EASE. The EASE analysis, which includes behavioral segments, examined the overall performance of an average email file.

These metrics are compiled from over 660 million non-bounced and opted-in email addresses that were contracted from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012, across multiple industries and approximately 150 clients.

The analysis takes a two-tiered approach to segmentation. The file is first broken down into two categories: New, representing addresses that have been on a marketer’s file for less than three months, and Mature, addresses that have been on a marketer’s file for over three months.

The New segment is then broken down into two categories: • Rising Stars: Subscribers who have both opened and/or clicked on an email• Question Marks: Subscribers who have been inactive for the previous three months

The Mature segment is broken into three categories: • Super Stars: Subscribers who have opened and/or clicked within the most recent three months• Nappers: Subscribers who have opened or clicked emails more than three months ago• Dormants: Subscribers who have been inactive for the past 12 months

Rising Stars, Super Stars and Nappers are considered active segments. Question Marks and Dormants are identified as inactive segments.

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Overall Performance

• Approximately 27% of subscribers on an average list have opened or clicked in the most recent three months.

• Nearly two-thirds (59%) of new subscribers on an average list, have no opens or clicks.

• On average, 89% of an email list has been on file for over three months.

• There has been a strong improvement since 2009 with 23% of the Mature population of an average email list considered a Super Star vs. 16% in 2009.

Email continues to be an effective channel to reach consumers. Today, the average email list has a higher percentage of active customers compared to three years ago, when only 42% of an average list was active.

Approximately 50% of an email list will be active and have open and/or click activity. In the chart above, the active segments are represented by the Super Stars (23%), Nappers (23%) and Rising Stars (4%).

Additionally, new to file subscribers show a slight increase of 9% over 2009. The EASE analysis suggests roughly 11% of an email list will be comprised of new subscribers (Rising Stars and Question Marks).

Overall, 41% of new subscribers—16% of subscribers who have opened and clicked and 25% of new openers—are active once they opt-in to an email program. However, 59% of new subscribers are unengaged with marketers’ email programs. These findings suggest that engaging new subscribers from an early stage is critical to program success.

Percentage of Segments in the Average Email File50% of an average file is active

Super Star23%

Dormant43%

Question Mark7%

Rising Star4%

Napper23%

New Subscriber Behavior

New Opener23%New Clicker

16%

New Inactive59%

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51% of Mature subscribers have had activity in the past 12 months, with 26% of Mature subscribers recently engaging with an email program.

On the other hand, 49% or Mature subscribers were inactive. In addition to engaging subscribers early in the customer lifecycle, email marketers should focus on building and maintaining loyalty among their mature subscribers.

Industry Performance

Retailers have the highest amount of engaged subscribers, with 39% of their file categorized as Super Stars. Travel and Hospitality does well onboarding their new customers as shown in the percentage of Rising Stars and Question Marks in their file.

Percentage of Customer Segments by Industry

Industry Super Star Napper Dormant Rising Star Question MarkRetail Apparel 39% 26% 29% 3% 3%

Business Publishing/Media General

34% 24% 38% 2% 4%

Travel/Hospitality Travel Services

31% 27% 30% 5% 6%

Retail General 30% 30% 31% 4% 5%

Consumer Products CPG 28% 21% 43% 3% 5%

Retail Specialty 27% 31% 38% 2% 2%

Financial Services CC/Banks 25% 29% 38% 4% 4%

Consumer Publishing/Media General

23% 25% 47% 2% 3%

Financial Services General 21% 22% 44% 3% 9%

Consumer Services Telecom 20% 20% 51% 3% 6%

Business Products and Services General

19% 20% 49% 4% 8%

Consumer Services General 15% 22% 49% 3% 11%

Consumer Services Pharmaceutical

10% 18% 52% 5% 14%

Overall 23% 23% 43% 3% 7%

Table sorted by Super Star descending.

Mature Subscriber Behavior

Mature Inactive49%

Mature Lapsed Opener

13%Mature

Lapsed Clicker12%

Mature Recent Opener

13%

Mature Recent Clicker

13%

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CONCLUSION

Email marketing continues to demonstrate value as a communications vehicle and driver of consumer activity. The proliferation of mobile and online channels is not diminishing email’s effectiveness; rather, it bolsters the importance of email as a means to integrate and create an omnichannel customer experience.

To ensure your email program’s success, make the most of your email lists. Optimize your opt-in subscriber lists by employing segmentation analysis that allows you to identify each individual’s state of activity and establish strategies to communicate with them accordingly.

Research has shown that maintaining current customers is more cost effective than acquiring new customers. Therefore, marketers should ensure that every marketing email sent serves a purpose and is designed to drive specific, desired behavior, whether it’s a Welcome message, a sale alert or a win-back message. Moreover, every email must leverage customer insights and addresses individual needs.

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800.309.0505 | epsilon.com | [email protected]


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