Thought e-mail was a dying channel well data relased by Epsilon in January 2009 study stated that delivery rates are the same Q3 2008 as they were in Q3 2006. However, open rates and click-thru rates have decreased slightly. In Q3 2008 open rates averaged 19.8% down about 4.1% when compared to Q3 2006 open rates of 23.9% . Click-thru rates in Q3 2008 averaged 7.3% down about 1.4% when compared to Q3 2006 click-thru rates of 5.9%.
In the past year I have implemented numerous preview pane friendly emails designs for customers in a few different industries. One of the objectives for creating a preview friendly email design was to increase the open-rate of their email programs. Some of the programs were new ones and some have been established for many years. Here is what was found:
At first the results were disappointing since the main objective was to increase the open rate, but after analyzing the email metrics and comparing it to the baseline establish before the email redesign took place this was an exciting insight. Creating the preview friendly design further engaged our readers by giving them a birds-eye view of the email, which in turn made them click on more links within the email.
The preview pane is the window in an email client that allows users to scan message content within an email without clicking on the message. In fact 69% of business email recipients view their emails within a preview pane first before taking any action with an email message. In addition to b-t-b email users, the consumer side of the equation is no better. When it comes to the consumers most web-based email clients now behave like a desktop client and offer the option to view an email through a preview pane. Besides getting a first an impression of an email through a small preview pane window, almost all email clients set images to be disabled. So in many cases when an email is received by a customer the first impression has a good chance not to be a good one. Below are some resources I have found regarding this issue. As I find more information I will update the below list:
Many individuals seem too looked at either the numbers of emails that have been opened or the number of clicks an email has generated. Both metrics are extremely important, however I always suggest adding another metric called the click-to-open metric. This metric was introduced to me a while back by EmailLabs. Since then I have seen little chatter online about this metric. The click-to-open email metric is a ratio that divides unique clicks by unique opens. The sole purpose of the ratio is to measure the click-ability of an email once it is opened by a customer. For example, if I created an email program and the first email blast of the program had a total of 400 unique opens and 128 unique clicks I would have a click-to-open rate of 32%. This means that each time a customer opens an email there is a 32% percent chance that a link will be clicked. I find this information extremely valuable especially for forecasting any commerce or lead driven email campaigns.
