Marketing Benchmark Report

Transcription

1 2014 Destination Marketing Organization Marketing Benchmark Report

2 Table of Contents 03 Data s Role in Results-Driven Marketing 04 The Details about the Data 05 Key Marketing Metrics 06 Key Themes 07 The Data 08 Overall DMO Metrics 09 Results by Client Type 10 Results by Number of Links 11 Results by Number of Recipients 12 Results by Time of Day 13 Results by Day of Week 14 Results by Subject Line Length 15 Open Duration Results 16 Results by Hour 17 Marketing Strategy Forecast 18 About Informz 2

3 Data s Role in Results-Driven Marketing From one data guru to another WELCOME! You re in the right place. At Informz, we are numbers people. We eat, breathe, and sleep all things marketing, and reporting is a huge, huge part of that. Open rates, click rates, conversion rates, open duration and client reports the list of reports available goes on and on. How many other communications methods allow you to track and analyze results as in-depth as marketing does? Very few. Data analysis helps you to accurately evaluate performance and plan for the future. It is the basis for strategic marketing something we re pretty serious about. Results-driven marketing provides you with the best possible ROI, and data analysis will get you there. Our annual Association Marketing Benchmark Reports have become a hit with our association friends, and we wanted to share the love with our Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) clients. This is the inaugural Destination Marketing Organization Marketing Benchmark Report. 3

4 The Details about the Data The Data We ve performed a study on our DMO client base to provide marketers from DMOs benchmarking information for their marketing programs. This report includes a summary of marketing metrics from over 8 million s sent in 2013 by DMOs located in the United States and Canada. marketing is one of the primary ways for DMOs to communicate with visitors and partners for their cities. Whether promoting an event or creating awareness for their city, DMOs have found value in the effectiveness of marketing and the ability to report on its performance. How to Use This Report This report is designed for marketers from DMOs. The data shared will help you understand what metrics to analyze, what goals to set, and how your marketing program is performing in comparison to your peers. Keep in mind these are averages from your peers. If your metrics are on the low end, read on for tips to improve metrics. 4

5 Key Marketing Metrics Key Marketing Metrics Four key metrics are used in this report: delivery, open, click and unsubscribe rates. Delivery Rate is the percentage of s that were not reported back to Informz as bounced or blocked. Open Rate is the percentage of delivered s that were reported back to Informz as having been opened. If the text version of an is read, it is not counted. Likewise, if an HTML is read with the images turned off, it is not counted. However, if an is opened with images off, but a link is clicked, the 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 s that were clicked by the recipient. Clicking on a link in a text 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. 5

6 Key Themes In a sea of data, there were three key themes that were jumping off the pages at us. You want their attention? You have a few seconds. Literally. Recipients are not spending a lot of time reading s. More than 30% of s opened were opened for less than three seconds. Three seconds! If an isn t rendering properly, if there s too much text, or if headlines aren t attention grabbing, the chances of your getting read are pretty slim. Shorter s have a better chance, so keep them concise. Speaking of short things shorter subject lines outperform lengthier subject lines. We suspect it s due to mobile device usage and subject line truncation on clients. Subject lines with fewer than 10 characters had 66.20% open rates. Mobile readers behave differently than desktop readers. Mobile readership has been on the rise over the past few years, but surprising to us, mobile readership has not surpassed desktop readership for DMOs. Nearly half of all opens (49.16%) were desktop opens. With 33.49% of opens being mobile, mobile optimization is no longer just an idealistic goal it needs to be a priority. Larger font size and links, one column layouts, and even responsive design are creating better experiences for mobile readers. Off hours, or hours at the beginning and end of the day, tend to be prime mobile hours, so if your DMO typically sends during this time, mobile optimization is critical. Timing really is everything. While open rates didn t vary much based on the time of the day an is sent, click rates did. During evening hours, when people are winding down (and most likely on a mobile device, based on our Results by Hour report) click rates dipped. Results by day of the week were most noteworthy. Throughout the traditional work week, Monday through Friday, open and click rates didn t fluctuate a great deal, but they dropped by over 10% on weekends. Based on results, we recommend sending during the week, specifically on Mondays during the late afternoon. 6

7 2014 Destination Marketing Organization The Data 7

8 Overall Metrics Key Findings >> The average metrics for DMOs include a 95.20% delivery rate, 32.69% open rate, 17.38% click rate, and.25% unsubscribe rate. 100% Overall Metrics 95.20% % % 0 Delivery Rate Open Rate Click Rate 8

9 Results by Client Type Key Findings >> Mobile readership has not surpassed desktop readership for DMOs. Nearly half of all opens (49.16%) were desktop opens. Results by Client Type 9.34% Unknown 8.01% Web Client 33.49% Mobile 49.16% Desktop 9

10 Results by Number of Links Key Findings >> s containing more links boasted higher click-thru rates, especially s containing links. Results by Number of Links % % Number of Links % % % % % % > % % Click Rate (%) 10

11 Results by Number of Recipients Key Findings >> Open and click rates were highest on s sent to the smallest number of recipients, which tend to be more targeted and relevant to recipients. Results by Number of Recipients < % 58.89% % 40.00% % 35.44% % 28.43% Mailing Size 500 1K 1K 5K 5K 50K 50K 100K 13.49% 11.77% 13.11% 15.05% 14.49% 21.89% 19.34% 26.35% Open Rate Click Rate 100K 250K 13.91% 13.40% >250K 8.44% 7.90% % 11

12 Results by Time of Day Key Findings >> Messages sent in the late afternoon had the highest open and click rates. Results by Time of Day 35% % 33.22% 34.29% 31.80% % 17.08% 18.23% % Morning Mid-Day Late Afternoon Night Open Rate Click Rate 12

13 Results by Day of Week Key Findings >> While there was a slight spike in open and click rates on Monday, there was little variation between open and click rates overall during the traditional work week. Saturday and Sunday had lower open and click rates.* Results by Day of Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 18.02% 17.66% 17.13% 17.73% 16.73% 34.37% 32.25% 32.63% 32.89% 32.11% Saturday* 13.53% 22.61% Sunday* 10.23% 22.72% Open Rate Click Rate *Volume was much lower on weekends, but was included for informational purposes. 13

14 Results by Subject Line Length Key Findings >> Shorter subject lines outperform lengthier subject lines. Subject lines with fewer than 10 characters had 66.20% open rates. Results by Subject Line Length 9 and less 66.20% % Number of Characters % 33.47% 32.68% 35.12% % 70 and up 27.07% Open Rate 14

15 Open Duration Results Key Findings >> 80% Recipients are not spending a lot of time reading s. Over 30% of s opened were opened for less than three seconds, so focusing on engagement is key. Open Duration Results % % % 10 0 Read Open Rate (Greater than 10 seconds) Skim Open Rate (3 10 seconds) Open Open Rate (Less than 3 seconds) 15

16 Results by Hour 20% Desktop opens are higher during regular business hours. Mobile opens tend to be higher early in the morning and late in the evening. Results by Hour Key Findings >> Desktop Mobile AM 2 AM 4 AM 6 AM 8 AM 10 AM 12 PM 2 PM 4 PM PM 8 PM 10 PM 16

17 Marketing Strategy Forecast Always keep in mind that the results from this study should only provide a general baseline to compare your current marketing metrics. Use this data in combination with your DMO s marketing campaign results for the most comprehensive analysis. If you re looking to improve results, here are our recommendations for where to start. Engage readers from the get-go You re not just competing with other DMOs for attention in the inbox you are also competing with your recipient s favorite clothing store, personal s from family and friends, and discounts from their preferred online retailer. You need to stand out! Write short, descriptive subject lines and try using a preheader to further entice them to open. Shorten articles and create landing pages for full stories, so they have enough time to scroll through your and see all of your great content. One of our DMO clients did this and saw click rates rise by 514%. Make mobile a priority Responsive design is no longer the future of design it s the present. s designed with responsive design will instantly shrink, expand, or reformat to fit the device it s being viewed on, creating a seamless experience for the reader. If responsive design isn t for you (yet), making minor tweaks to s like adding more white space, using larger links and font sizes, and changing your layout to one column will set you up for mobile success. Be smart about your send time You know when most audiences are likely to open and engage with s, but what about your specific readers? Check your reports to see when recipients are most likely to open your s. If your reports don t display one conclusive time, utilize send time optimization, a feature that predicts when a recipient is most likely to open based on past behavior. Whatever you do don t just hit send and hope it works out. Be smart about it. 17

18 Marketing Our easy-to-use, web-based platform will help you create highly targeted, high-performing s. Professional Services Whether it s outsourced marketing services or new marketing templates you need, we can help. Mobile Event App Engage attendees before, during, and after an event with a premium mobile event app experience. Informz is a leading provider of digital marketing solutions that helps destination marketing organizations to easily and efficiently engage their audience. Over 1,100 organizations worldwide have chosen Informz and consistently rank us #1 in client satisfaction. Request a demo today to discover the power of Informz. Stay Connected! x5 [email protected] REQUEST A DEMO 18