Email Marketing Metrics Report

Email Marketing Metrics Report AUSTRALIA July - December 2006 www.vision6.com.au

Overview Why This Report This report is the first in a series for the Australian market. Our main focus was to create a report that: 1. Provides the Australian email marketing industry with general benchmark data 2. Helps marketers gauge and improve upon their own email marketing results, and 3. Uncovers general trends, provides interpretations and presents factors that have the biggest impact on the success of email campaigns To make sense of this data we have focussed on the following key metrics: Open Rates Click Through Rates (CTR) Industry Domains By day By Hour - Bounces & Deliverability General; Industry; Send Volume Categories General; Industry; Send Volume Categories Open; CTRs; Send Volume Categories Open; CTRs; Industry Open; CTRs Open General; Industry Information We re Using This report includes data from over 60 million messages from 27,000 campaigns sent by over 4,500 business users during the last 6 months of 2006. We have excluded campaigns with less than 5 emails to minimise data distortion that may be associated with reports on small send categories. We also excluded all messages sent from our stand alone resellers and corporate networks. 1 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Key Open Rates Open Rates have remained relatively constant over the last 6 months of 2006. However, when send lists were segmented, or sent to smaller list sizes, there was a substantial increase in Open Rates. Bounces & Deliverability Bounces increased in the last quarter of 2006 due to the holiday season and a 67% growth in Spam worldwide. ISPs and web based email accounts are continuously evolving their Spam filtering measures that can block up to 20% of legitimate email. Click Through Rates (CTR) There was a small increase in CTRs over the last 6 months of 2006. We attributed this increase to similar reasons as to why Open Rates are better when sent to segmented lists. Most Responsive Industries Specialised industries can generally expect strong open/click activity to email lists for opt in subscribers, while broad industries, such as Retail & Consumer Products, need to carefully consider any specific targeting options that can make their campaign activity more efficient. Days with Greatest Responses Saturday and Sunday were the days generating the greatest responses or CTRs. Thursday was the day with the least responses which also happened to be the same day with the greatest send volumes. Number of Emails Opened by Hour Over 70% of all recipients who actually open emails have done so within 24 hours after delivery. Another 6% will take longer than a week to open your message. Summary of Key This report highlights 3 factors have the most impact on the success of your campaigns: 1. List Management: Clean, segment, and continually profile your lists to ensure maximum delivery, opens and CTRs; 2. Relevancy and Sender Recognition: Ensure your emails, subject lines, content and call to action links are relevant to the recipient; and 3. Targeting & Segmenting Lists: Use tools that will help you easily target, profile, measure and modify your email campaigns for better results. 2 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Contents Unique Open Rates 04 Unique Open Rates by Send Volumes 05 Unique Open Rates by Industry 06 Unique Click Through Rates 07 Unique Click Through Rates by Send Volumes 08 Unique Click Through Rates by Industry 09 Bounces (Deliverability) 10 Bounces by Send Volumes 11 Bounces by Industry 12 Send Volumes, Open & CTRs for the Top 15 Domains 13 Open, Click & Emails Sent by Day 14 Time Taken to Open Emails 15 Glossary & Acronyms 16 3 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Unique Open Rates This chart displays the total number of emails opened for the first time (as opposed to being opened multiple times by the same recipient) as a percentage of the total number of emails sent. Unique Open Rates across all industries and domains were slightly lower for the last quarter in 2006. The change however was only.09% Quarter 3 of 2006: 22.49% Quarter 4 of 2006: 22.40% Average Open Rates across all industries, domains and send volumes have remained steady for both quarters. These results can be skewed by large sends to unsegmented and/or dirty consumer lists. See page 5 for categorised sends by volume. 4 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Unique Open Rates by Send Volumes To remove any bias associated with large sends we have broken the send volumes into 3 categories: 5 499; 500-999; 1,000+ Why Categorise Send Volumes Send volume becomes relevant when a list segment is based on an individual s profile - leading to a more personalised message. When compared to the average Open Rate of 22.45%, segmentation of lists, or sending to smaller list sizes, has a positive and substantial effect on Open Rates. We attribute this result to 2 main factors: 1. Marketers having access to more detailed information and the tools that allow them to profile, target and measure specific consumer groups. 2. As a result of (1) marketers have become savvier in their approach to marketing and no longer use a one size fits all approach. The consumer is then more willing to respond to messages that appeal to his/her own interests. We found significant variations in Open Rates across the different send categories: Quarter 3 5-499: 34.2% 500-999: 29.6% 1,000+: 21.7% Quarter 4 5-499: 36.4% 500-999: 32.2% 1,000+: 21.5% 5 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Unique Open Rates by Industry This chart displays unique Open Rates for messages sent by each industry sector. Specialist industries appear to have the greatest Open Rates. This pattern is also true when compared with CTRs. However, when compared to total send volumes, these industries also have some of the smallest send sizes. While typically representing smaller campaigns, specialist industry mailing lists are naturally made from more pre-qualified recipients, with campaigns for these sectors showing a greater commitment in terms of open and click through rates. Broad categories such as Retail & Consumer Products benefit from being more specific. For example, drilling down from just retail shoppers to those only interested in toiletries, or more specifically, cosmetics or male fragrance. Where it is possible to focus on this depth, more efficient, smaller campaigns can be run without the wastage encountered on general untargeted recipient lists. Key Message Specialised industries can generally expect strong open/click activity to email lists for opt in subscribers, while broad industries need to carefully consider any specific targeting options that can make their campaign activity more efficient. 6 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Unique Click Through Rates This chart displays the total number of unique links clicked as a percentage of total emails sent. Unique CTRs across all industries, domains and send volumes were slightly higher for the last quarter of 2006. Quarter 3 of 2006: 4.11% Quarter 4 of 2006: 4.40% Average CTR across all industries, domains and send volumes have increased by.29%. We suggest the reasons for this increase are the same for Open Rates (page 4). 7 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Unique Click Through Rates by Send Volumes As for Open Rates we have broken the send volumes into 3 categories: 5 499; 500-999; 1,000+ We found notable variations across different send categories: Quarter 3 5-499: 6.6% 500-999: 5.1% 1,000+: 3.9% Quarter 4 5-499: 7.1% 500-999: 5.7% 1,000+: 4.2% When compared to the average unique CTR of 4.25%, segmentation of lists, or sending to smaller list sizes, has a positive and substantial effect on CTRs. We suggest the reasons for this increase are the same for Open Rates (page 4). 8 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Unique Click Through Rates by Industry This chart displays unique click rates experienced by each industry over the 6 months to December 2006. Construction and Science & Technology experienced the highest CTRs of 15.7% and 14.4% respectively. The next highest industry for CTRs was Manufacturing & Operations at 8.2%. Generally, the more links in a message the greater the opportunity to increase click throughs. However, this is only true if the recipient has an interest in your content which is typically a result of how well you segment your send lists and tailor your messages. Key Message Keep your subject lines, content and call to action links relevant to the recipient. If you re sending to business recipients, try to place your main message and call to action links at the top of the email. 9 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Bounces (Deliverability) This chart displays the total number of bounced messages as a percentage of the total number of emails sent. Bounce rates include permanent and temporary bounces. IT Week* reported a 67% increase in overall Spam and a 500% increase in image-only Spam since August 2006. This increase in Spam can cause many free and low-end ISP accounts to reach inbox limits. As the vast majority of all emails sent through our networks are delivered to web mail and ISP-based accounts (see page 13), the increase in bounce rates is attributed to temporary bounces, specifically (Receiving) Server Time Expired and Mailbox Full responses. Furthermore, these email accounts are protected by an ever-increasing array of filters and blocking mechanisms. Key Message Keep a clean list. Update or cull any permanent bounce addresses. Ensure your list is opt-in; use a known From address and keep the message content and subject line relevant to your subscribers. If your vendor provides one, use a content analysis tool to test your messages against Spam blockers. Bounce rates across all domains, industries and send categories were higher during the last quarter of 2006. *IT Week Ref: http://www.itweek.co.uk/computing/news/2168938/spike-spam Quarter 3 of 2006: 11.37% Quarter 4 of 2006: 13.21% 10 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Bounces by Send Volumes We have broken the bounces into 3 categories: 5 499; 500-999; 1,000+ We found the following variations across different send categories: Quarter 3 5-499: 9.2% 500-999: 10.3% 1,000+: 11.4% Quarter 4 5-499: 9.3% 500-999: 10.5% 1,000+: 13.4% When segmenting lists, or sending to smaller list sizes, the occurrence of bounces is reduced. We suggest this reduction is a result of the same interpretations drawn for Open Rates on page 4. List cleanliness also plays an important role in allowing the sender to minimise bounce rates. For permanent bounces we would suggest removing them from your list or contacting the address owner and updating their contact details. 11 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Bounces by Industry This chart displays bounce rates by industry. Administration had the highest bounce rate at 23.95% and Retail and Consumer Products the lowest at 6.76%. Retail & Consumer Products sent the highest volumes of emails more regularly and to lists primarily made up of B2C recipients with web-based email accounts, e.g. Hotmail, Yahoo and GMail. It has been shown that owners of web based email accounts rarely change their email compared to business emails changing as their owners change jobs. Therefore web based email addresses tend to have the lowest bounce rates. 12 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Send Volumes, Open & CTRs for the Top 15 Domains This chart displays the top 15 domains by send volume and their associated Open Rates and CTRs. Hotmail.com received 20.75% of all emails sent - 4 times as many emails as any other domain. The next most sent to domain was yahoo.com at 4.09%. The 15 domains listed here received 46% of all emails sent through our network during the last half of 2006. The top 15 domains are all web and ISP based accounts. No business or government domain was listed in the top 15. Although we did not list the top 100 domains by send volume, government, education and banks were the only non web or ISP based accounts to make the list. Top 15 Domains by send volume Bigpond.net.au had the highest average Open Rate at 34.95% with hotmail.com at 19.23% and aol.com with the lowest at 12.65%. Gmail.com had the highest average CTR at 6.95% with yahoo.com the lowest at 3.33%. Consumers (as opposed to business) were the primary target of email marketers. Open and CTRs varied widely across domains. The main factors affecting Open Rates and CTRs are the proliferation of differing spam and filtering mechanisms used by each domain, list cleanliness and the relevancy of the subject line/message to the recipient. Legend % Volume % Opened % Clicked 13 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Open, Click & Emails Sent by Day This chart displays the average Open Rates and CTRs by day, and the total amount of messages sent on each day for the last 6 months of 2006. The largest numbers of emails were sent on Thursdays with the least amounts on Saturdays and Sundays respectively. Both Open Rates and CTRs were inversely related to send volumes. The highest average Open Rates were recorded on a Saturday at 43.6% and the lowest on Thursday at 17.4%. The highest average CTRs were recorded on a Saturday at 8.7% with the lowest of 3% occurring on a Thursday. Emails Sent - Millions Large volume senders preferred to send on Thursdays. Most large volume senders are from non-specific industry sectors such as Retail & Consumer Products. These industries would typically attempt to drive consumer behaviour to purchase products over the weekend or late night shopping which is common on both Thursday and Friday nights. However, the lowest rates of opens and click throughs were also recorded on Thursdays. This is attributed to large sends across non-specific industries to relatively unsegmented lists. this means is that the day of send has little impact for nontime-specific events. does matter is how well you segment and target your recipients with relevant information. Legend Volume % Opened % Clicked 14 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

Time Taken to Open Emails This chart displays how soon after delivery the percentage of recipients who would eventually open a message have actually done so. Over 50% of all recipients who have actually opened an email have opened it within 8 hours after delivery. Within 24 hours over 73% are opened. A remaining 6% of recipients will have opened your message after 144 hours (7 days). Primary factors that affect the latency time of an email include the day and time of sending and the type of recipient you re sending to, e.g. B2B or B2C. Key Message Generally, most of your recipients will open your message within the first 24 hours. Therefore be prepared to receive the majority of responses to your email campaign within the first few days after delivery. However, some recipients may not open your message for several weeks. Therefore, it is important to keep landing pages and associated campaign media active during this period. 15 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006

About Vision 6 Glossary & Acronyms Vision 6 Pty Ltd is Australia s leading email marketing software and services company. Vision 6 specialises in helping organisations understand how to create the most value from their EDM strategies and how this fits into their current marketing mix. For more information and a free trial of our software visit www.vision6.com.au or phone +61 7 3257 3906. For more information about this report please contact Mathew Myers at mathew@vision6.com.au CTRs Click Through Rates EDM Electronic Direct Marketing ISP Internet Service Provider, e.g. BigPond Open Rate Measures the number of times an email is opened by a recipient as a percentage of the total number of emails sent Permanent Bounce usually means the email address is incorrect or is no longer in operation sometimes referred to as a Hard Bounce Temporary Bounce usually means the email address is temporarily unavailable. The most common Temporary Bounce reasons are Server Time Expired (for receiving ISP), Delivery Time Expired (for sending ISP) and Mailbox Full sometimes referred to as a Soft Bounce Unique CTR measures the first time a link is clicked by a recipient as a percentage of the total number of emails sent. Unique Open Rate measures the first time an email is opened by a recipient as a percentage of the total number of emails sent. ground floor 47 warner street fortitude valley qld 4006 australia www.vision6.com.au contact_us@vision6.com.au +61 7 3257 3906 +61 7 3257 3907 16 Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia Jul - Dec 2006