The Informz 2012 Association Email Marketing Benchmark … · 2012 Association Email Marketing...

The Informz 2012Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report

2012 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report Informz, Inc.

Table of Contents

Introduction Email Marketing Metrics

Key Findings

ResultsOverall Association Metrics

Results by Email Type

Results by Country of Sender

Results by Association Type

Results by Email Client Usage

Results by Length of Subject Line

Results by Number of Links

Results by Number of Recipients

Results by Time of Day Sent

Results by Day of Week Sent

Average Number of Emails Sent by List Size

Effects of Personalizing the Subject Line

Open Duration Results

Conclusion

About Informz

11

2

33

4

6

7

11

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

1 © Informz, Inc., 2012


Introduction

Email marketing has become one of the primary ways associations communicatewith members, and has proven to be both cost-efficient and highly effective.However, with the struggling economy and increasing demands on members’ time,optimizing email marketing campaigns has become more important than ever.

Informz, the leading provider of email marketing solutions for the association industry, has performed a study on our association client base to provide emailmarketers from member-based organizations benchmarking information for theiremail programs. This study will help you to understand what metrics you should be analyzing when reviewing your email marketing program, what goals you can set based on similar organizations, and how your email marketing program is performing.

This report includes a summary of email marketing metrics collected from over 700large and mid-sized associations that used the Informz email marketing platform in 2011. These associations, located in the United States, Australia, New Zealand,Canada and the United Kingdom, sent over 600 million emails in 2011, consisting of newsletters, appeals, surveys, and event-related emails.

Email Marketing Metrics

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 Informzas bounced or blocked.

Open Rate is the percentage of delivered emails that were reported back to Informzas 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 iscounted as being opened. Open rate only includes unique subscribers. Multipleopens by one subscriber only count once.

Click Rate is the percentage of opened emails that were clicked by the recipient.Clicking on a link in a text email is not counted as a click. Click Rate only includesunique subscribers. Multiple clicks by one subscriber only count once.

Unsubscribe Rate is the percentage of recipients who unsubscribed from a particular mailing.



Key Findings

The Informz Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report analyzed the resultsfrom 600 million emails sent by over 700 large and mid-sized associations. The key findings from this study are as follows:

• The average email metrics for associations include a 98.28% delivery rate,34.33% open rate, 19.49% click rate and a 0.052% unsubscribe rate.

• As with the 2011 results, this year’s study found that the day of the week sent had little effect on the open and click results.

• Emails sent in the morning resulted in the highest open rates at 39.2% while mid-afternoon reported the highest click rates at 21.0%.

• For the third year, desktop email software usage continued to decline, while mobile email usage increased to 17%.

• In this study, iPhone was the leader in the mobile device category at 12% while iPad reported at 4% and Android at 3%.

• Shorter subject lines continued to outperform their longer counterparts. Fewer than 10 characters achieved the best open rate at 58%.

• 49% of emails sent were read by recipients (opened for longer than 10 seconds)while 35% of emails were opened for less than 3 seconds.

• Survey-related emails had the highest combined open and click rates with36.60% average opens and 33.39% clicks. Appeal-related emails had the lowest click rate of the emails studied at 14.63%



Results

Overall Association Metrics

The following chart displays the average delivery, open, click, and unsubscriberate from 600 million emails sent by over 700 associations in the United States,Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom.

0

20

40

60

80

100

98.28%Delivery

34.33%Open

19.49%Click

0.052%Unsubscribe

Overall Association Metrics



Results by Email Type

For the purpose of this study, the subject line of emails were analyzed to determine the email purpose and then segmented by category. The categories of emails are Newsletter, Event, Appeal, and Survey. It was found that the delivery rate did not vary with the purpose of the email, so only open and click rate results are displayed.

Notes:Event-related emails received the highest open rate but resulted in the second lowest click-thru rates. This disparity between opens and clicks signifies the importance of sending multiple emails during a campaign to promote an event. One possibility is that people receive event notifications but do not immediatelytake action to register for the event. Therefore, it is recommended to send several follow-up emails to remind people of registration deadlines and eventupdates to encourage them to take action. Appeal emails received similar resultsand should allow for multiple touch points to achieve conversion. Newsletters and surveys both had more even open and click results that can be attributed tothe relevancy of the content to the recipients of these types of mailings.

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

Survey

Appeal

Event

Newsletter

Metrics Based on Email Type

36.60%

33.39%

39.37%

17.25%

31.44%

14.63%

27.64%

22.11%

Click

Open



Notes:It is of no surprise that appeal emails resulted in the highest unsubscribe rate. As noted in the previous study, appeals also resulted in the lowest click rate. This proves the increased need to focus on segmenting and targeting requestsbased on what will resonate best with an audience. Utilize the data collected on past donation history, events attended, and interest areas to segment thegroup based on what they are most likely to donate.

0.000%

0.010%

0.020%

0.030%

0.040%

0.050%

0.060%

0.025%Survey

0.032%Event

0.042%Newsletter

0.054%Appeal

Unsubscribe Rate Based on Email Type



Results by Country of Sender

Based on the physical location of the association, email marketing results weresplit into USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom for analysis. Other countries were omitted because there were less than 30 clientslocated in those countries. Delivery rate did not vary between countries, so it has been omitted from the chart.

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

New Zealand

United Kingdom

USA

24.72%

25.37%

37.08%

24.18%

Metrics by CountryClick

Open

Australia

Canada

30.97%

19.35%

32.85%

23.93%

35.24%

18.22%



Notes:Memberships stretch throughout the world, making it difficult to deliver a message at the right time for everyone. Utilize demographic data to split groupsby location and assign specific send times to each one to ensure it is deliveredduring the recipient’s workday. For Informz clients, try using the Informz Send Time Optimization tool, a feature that automatically sends an email to a recipientwhen they are most likely to open based on their past behavior. This removes the guesswork from determining the best time to send your email!

Results by Association Type

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Del

iver

y

Business and Industry Associations

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

BankingFarming

ManufacturingTourism

RetailPublishing

MedicalEducation

Other

BankingFarming


RetailPublishing

MedicalEducation

Other

Ope

nCl

ick

BankingFarming


RetailPublishing

MedicalEducation

Other

29.18%35.32%23.58%23.18%22.38%33.14%32.86%32.23%31.38%

98.90%98.12%97.34%96.70%97.74%98.86%97.97%97.88%97.91%

21.41%27.06%17.32%16.19%10.88%19.74%15.70%26.69%21.05%



0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Del

iver

y

Professional & Trade Associations ~ Group 1

Ope

nCl

ick

LegalMedical

AccountingArchitectureEngineering

Human ResourcesInsurance

LegalMedical



LegalMedical



98.24%99.07%98.43%98.39%98.22%98.51%98.83%

36.65%57.60%29.07%31.48%21.83%30.77%31.08%

23.61%11.88%19.78%18.97%20.65%23.86%17.67%



0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Del

iver

y

Professional & Trade Associations ~ Group 2

Ope

nCl

ick

ManagementReal EstateMarketing

MediaGovernment

EducationOther


MediaGovernment

EducationOther


MediaGovernment

EducationOther

98.09%98.28%98.58%97.92%98.16%97.86%98.48%

49.36%38.67%28.47%28.88%35.80%32.22%36.80%

14.66%23.29%20.47%13.51%29.89%26.76%16.65%



Notes:To improve your own results, consider the profession your members are in. Are they away from a computer from 8am–3pm like education professionals; or are they constantly on the go like professionals in the medical industry? Tailor your emails so they are delivered at a time, or in a way, that works best for your members.

The results of the study show that medical industry associations had the highest open rate but the lowest click-thru rate. This speaks to a need to make the content be brief, to the point, and relevant.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Del

iver

y

Other Organization Types

Ope

nCl

ick

Labor UnionsFraternity/Sorority

Public Health &Wellness Education

Convention &Visitor’s Bureau

College~AdmissionCollege~

Alumni/Development





Alumni/Development





Alumni/Development

96.76%97.17%

96.28%

94.98%

97.00%

96.02%

41.48%41.53%

25.59%

33.69%

29.82%

27.05%

30.47%14.77%

17.56%

17.02%

16.65%

14.93%



Government associations had a consistent open and click rate, the highest among the industries studied. Timing is key with this group: many professionalshave “busy times” based on local elections, congressional schedules, etc.Understanding your membership and maintaining good data can help you to customize the email experience for your members and in turn, deliver better results.

Results by Email Client Usage

Informz is able to determine the email client or program used to view any email that is recorded as being opened by Informz. The first chart shows the relationship between desktop software (Outlook, Lotus Notes), web-based (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail) and mobile email clients (iPhone, iPad, Android). It should be noted that emails opened in a web browser on a mobile device are considered mobile and not web-based. In addition, mobile devices that do not display HTML are not reported here.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

December 2009 December 2011

Opens by Type of Email Client

Web Based Email

Desktop Software

Uncertain

Mobile Device

67% 21% 6% 6% 57% 19% 17% 7%

December 2010

61% 20% 13% 6%



Once again, mobile readership increased as web-based email and desktop software continued to decrease. Understanding what technology your members areusing to read your emails on is essential to ensure it renders correctly. It is alsoimportant to consider the ever-growing tablet market, as tablet sales are expectedto increase 62 percent in 2012. To optimize for mobile, look at the length of thesubject line, width of the email, number of images, and the location of links. Allof these small details go a long way in communicating a message to subscribers.

Notes:This study examines the average open and click rate based on the email clienttype that the subscriber uses. The results show that each desktop subscriberopens 51% of the emails sent to them and clicks on 15%. The results show thatsubscribers that only use mobile devices open an average of 46% of the emailsthat they receive but only click on 5%. Those that use both email client types,have a higher open rate (58%), but a lower click through rate than desktop only.Understanding that your audience may be using multiple technologies for thesame email is crucial in the design and layout of the email.

Mobile-only users resulted in a low click rate. This could be because many designsare not conducive to mobile readers, making it harder for them to read withoutzooming in or click on the correct link. The first step to help this is to include alink to the web version of the email and let the mobile readers know it is forthem. Also, try spacing out the links so that it makes it easier to click on thesmall screens of mobile phones. Make changes to your email design and layout tocreate a combination design that will work best on either mobile devices or PCs.

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

Mobile Only

Desktop Only

Both

Open and Click ComparisonBased on Email Client Type

51%

15%

46%

5%

58%

13%

Click

Open



Outlook remains the email client leader in this study. However, similar to themobile devices results of 2010, the usage of the iPhone and iPad has more thandoubled since 2009. It is important to learn what your members are using andthen design for those email clients. Each client renders differently, and this canaffect how your message appears and could affect your email engagement.

Note: The percentages are based on total opens across all types of email clients. The results show that all desktop clients, with the exception of Outlook 2010,experienced a declined from 2010 to 2011.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

December 2009 December 2011

Outlook and iPhone/iPad Usage

iPhone/iPad

Outlook

57% 6% 47% 16%

December 2010

51% 9%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

December 2010

Desktop Email Client UsageOutlook 2007

Outlook 2000/2003

Outlook 2010

Apple Mail

Thunderbird

Lotus Notes

31% 17% 8% 2%

December 2011

24% 15% 7% 7%2% 1% 1% 0%



0%1%2%3%4%5%6%7%8%

December 2010

Mobile Email Client UsageiPad

iPhone

Android

10% 2% 1%

December 2011

12% 4% 3%

9%10%11%12%

0%1%2%3%4%5%6%7%8%

December 2010

Web-Based Email Client UsageHotmail

Yahoo

AOL

GMail

5% 4% 4% 3%

December 2011

7% 4% 3% 3%

9%10%



0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Email Client Usage by Country of the Recipient

7%11%11%5%5%4%18%5%17% W

ebBas

edEm

ailAustralia

CanadaChina

FranceGermany

JapanMexico

New ZealandUnited States

Unce

rtai

n

AustraliaCanada

ChinaFrance

GermanyJapan

MexicoNew ZealandUnited States

3%6%6%7%8%6%6%3%7%

Mob

ileDev

ice

AustraliaCanada

ChinaFrance

GermanyJapan

MexicoNew ZealandUnited States

14%14%11%11%11%9%16%8%20%

Des

ktop

Softw

areAustralia

CanadaChina

FranceGermany

JapanMexico

New ZealandUnited States

75%70%73%77%76%81%60%84%56%



Results by Length of Subject Line

Notes:There is never a second chance to make a first impression. An email’s subject line is one of the first things subscribers see to determine if the email is worth opening and they usually make that decision in less than three seconds. If your subject line is too long (more than 50 characters on a PC or more than 30 characters on mobile) it will be truncated and could deliver a different meaningthan you intended. In most emails, shorter subject lines resulted in higher open rates. In the end, take time to consider your subject line and be mindful of the length. The subject line is also great for ongoing A/B testing to determinewhat works best for your audience.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

<10 10–19 20–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 >69

Open Rate Based on Subject Line LengthOpe

nPer

cent

age

60% 58%

36%

42%

35%35%34%

31%

28%

Subject Line Length



Results by Number of Links

Notes:As found in the 2011 Benchmark Report, the more links in an email, the higher the click-thru rate. Providing readers with multiple opportunities to click to reachthe same location is good. However, providing readers with too many differentlinks (such as a join now, register now, download program, etc.) will distract themfrom the main call to action. Keep the message simple and straightforward, whileoffering a way readers can click-thru in multiple areas. Testing the placement oflinks is a great way to gain insight into how your readers read your email.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

1 2 3–4 5–7 8–15 16–30 31–50 51–70 >70

Click Rate Based on Number of Links

Ope

nPer

cent

age

14%

11%

19%21% 20% 19%

26%

29%31%

Number of Links



Results by Number of Recipients

Notes:Deliverability was omitted from the results, as there was no change among thecategories. However, the results show that email engagement decreases as the list size increases. For lists that were under 500 recipients, open and clickrates were the highest because the targeting and relevancy are also at their highest. Relevant content is key to improving conversions and keeping subscribershappy. The number one reason members unsubscribe is that they receive toomany emails that are not valuable. Segment your list based on data you know, demographics, transactional or behavioral data, and then target your message accordingly.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

<50 50–100 100–250 250–500 500–1k 1k–5k 5k–50k 50k-100k 100k–250k >250k

Metrics Based on Number of Recipients

Ope

nPer

cent

age

60%

Click

Open

57.55%

35.73%

31.25%

27.51%

24.00%

20.64%

22.64%

24.50%

29.20%

19.38%18.11%

15.70%17.21%

13.84%14.80%14.46%

15.56%

12.97%12.10%13.62%

Number of Recipients



Results by Time of Day Sent

Notes:Emails sent in the morning hours resulted in a slightly higher average open rate.This is a great time to send newsletters and other quick reads as individuals prepare for their day. The late afternoon, once again this year, saw higher clickrates. Relevancy is a combination of creating the right content reaching the right person at the right time. Analyze when your subscribers are most active and then customize the send time to achieve optimal results.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Late Afternoon

Mid-Day

Night

Metrics Based on Time of Day Sent

33.9%

19.7%

Morning39.2%

16.5%

32.1%

21.0%

32.0%

18.6%

Click

Open

Open and Click Rate



Results by Day of Week Sent

One of the most common questions asked by email marketers is, “when is thebest day to send my email?” This study analyzes the mailing results by day of theweek, Monday–Friday.

Notes:As with last year, email delivery rates did not change based on the day of theweek sent. The results also show that there is very little change in open or click rate based on the day of the week. Based on the results of this study andothers in this report, it can be concluded that factors such as the relevancy of the content and the targeting of the email have a greater impact on resultsthan the day of the week.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Thursday

Wednesday

Friday

Metrics Based on Day of the Week

33.97%

19.85%

Tuesday32.77%

18.96%

Monday33.85%

18.52%

32.96%

19.72%

35.19%

19.24%

Click

Open

Open and Click Rate



Average Number of Emails Sent by List Size

This study analyzes the average number of emails sent per month by the totalnumber of subscribers. This can be a good tool to compare the number of emailsyour association sends to those with a similar number of email subscribers.

0

1

2

3

4

5

<2.5k 2.5k–5k 5k–25k 25k–50k 50k–100k 100k–250k 250k–500k 500k–1000k >1000k

Average Number of Emails Sentper Subscriber per Month

Num

berof

Emai

lsSe

nt

6

7

8

9

7.3706

8.5951

6.8841

5.9184

5.4167

4.9976

5.4722

5.634

6.2764

List Size



Notes:In addition to what day or time is better, we are often asked how many emails is too many. This is a tough question to answer due to the variables that comeinto play (type and relevancy of content, layout, purpose.) The smaller the listsize, the more emails are being sent per month per subscriber. Associations with medium-sized lists send less per subscriber than the small or larger groups.Taking the time to segment your audience to deliver highly relevant content will help decrease the number of emails that are sent over the month to eachsubscriber. If you deliver a weekly newsletter, consider targeting stories within the newsletter for each audience. This will not cut back on the number of emailsyou send to the subscriber, but will make sure the ones you do send are morerelevant, leading to higher engagement.

Effects of Personalizing the Subject Line

Notes:Personalizing the subject line resulted in lower open and delivery rates. This could be attributed to reasons such as being considered a non-trustworthy tacticor incorrect profile data being maintained. Instead of utilizing personalization inthe subject line, try including it in the body of the email. Use A/B split testing onthe subject line to determine the types of subject lines that are most effectivewith your audience.

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Delivery Rate

Open Rate

Open Rates Based onSubject Line Personalization

96%

98%

31%

36%

Not Personalized

Personalized



Open Duration Results

Notes:Open duration is measured to determine if the recipient really read the email or if they opened and quickly closed it. At Informz, we separate the open durationinto three levels:

Open – the recipient looked at the email for less than 3 secondsSkim – 3–10 secondsRead – greater than 10 seconds.

This report shows that of the emails studied 49% of email opens were reads, 35% skims and 16% opens.

Understanding if a subscriber opened and clicked an email provides us with basic engagement results. Digging a little deeper to see if the subscriber spenttime reading the message is key to understanding how relevant your content was. Relevancy is the most important factor in deciding if a reader is going tokeep or delete the email. Relevancy applies to more than just text: utilize tacticssuch as video to entice readers to open, read, and click to view the video. Using new and innovative messaging techniques will help you see more readersin the “read” group than in the “open” group.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Read(Greater than10 seconds)

Skim(3–10

seconds)

Open(Less than3 seconds)

16%

35%

49%

Average Open Duration



Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to provide industry-specific metrics to associationemail marketers, enabling them to have a better understanding as to:

• what metrics to analyze when reviewing email marketing programs• what goals to set based on similar organizations• how their email marketing program is performing

It is important to remember that the results from this study should only provide a general baseline to compare your current statistics. When consideringanalysis of your own email marketing program it is best to use these results in combination with your organization’s past email marketing campaign results,taking into consideration your specific audience and their needs.



About Informz

Since 1997, Informz has been dedicated to serving the association and nonprofitindustries by offering powerful online marketing tools built to meet the uniquechallenges faced by these organizations.

Email is a ScienceWeb-based technologies from Informz enable personalized, highly targeted communications coupled with real-time reporting features designed to reach theinbox and drive results. Sending the right message to the right people at the right time is achieved through email relevancy and your organization’s ability toleverage its database. Your successful marketing and communications depends on reaching the inbox and engaging subscribers. Simply stated, targeted emailcommunications improve your response rates, and better response rates increaseyour message’s impact.

The Informz DifferenceIn addition to on-demand product support, you deserve one-on-one, up-to-dateemail marketing guidance relevant to your unique needs, built upon strong relationships and reliable collaboration. In order to maximize your success, your exclusive eMarketing Advisor is always ready to assist throughout the development, publishing, and measurement of your email campaigns. Devoted to your professional success, Informz combines state-of-the-art technology withour trusted eMarketing Advisors to bring you products and services that align with your marketing goals.

Through dynamic targeting, intelligent deliverability, precision reporting, seamless integration, and expert Advisors, Informz truly is “the way to know email marketing.”

“Informz has been a great email marketing tool; providinggreat analytics, great customer service and an easy to use product. Informz is now our core email marketing solution — from emails and newsletter to surveys and alerts; it has become essential in our business.”

~Chris Ma, Australian Veterinary Association

Date post:	04-May-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	dinhnhi
View:	218 times
Download:	5 times

The Informz 2012 Association Email Marketing Benchmark … · 2012 Association Email Marketing...

Documents