Email Marketing

Email Marketing Trends That Will
Make You Money, Or Take It Away

Want to know the most important factor people consider to determine
whether or not to open your all important email?

Chances are it's not what you think. At least I was a bit surprised.

In past articles, I've written of the vitally important role your newsletter
plays in your ultimate online success. I've also pointed out the NEW
and GROWING challenges faced by virtually everyone trying to get
their issues read.

Bouncing addresses, spam filters, and inbox competition have raised the
bar for all of us. While permission-based email marketing is still the
web's #1 sales tool, and will remain so for the foreseeable future, we all
need to pay careful attention to the rapid developments in this dynamic
area, or risk being left far behind, or even left out.

AN IMPORTANT STUDY FOR YOUR BOTTOM LINE

DoubleClick's 2002 Consumer Email Study, just conducted in
September, 2002 has now been released. While they also put out

a "quarterly" report that I referred you to several issues ago, this is their

"annual" report which is more broadbased and addresses some of email

marketing's more important elements.

What then IS the most important factor consumers look at in
determining whether to even open your email?

Surprise, although I've seen alot written about it being the "subject line",
it's NOT. It's the "from line"! 60% said that's what they look at when
making the "open" decision, while only 35% cited the subject line.

So, if your from address is a mess (bptx89653@saleslist.com, for
example), your subject line is going to have a hard time saving the day.
Your open rate is likely to be very poor.

A much better idea? "yourname@yourdomainname.com" This wasn't
suggested in the report (that's not the point of the report), but it's pure,
simple and ties in with the importance of "name recognition" and
branding" that the report DOES address (more on this in a moment).

SOME INTERESTING FACTS YOU CAN TAKE TO THE BANK

* 69% of men say they'll open an email if the subject line contains
"news" (while 46% of the women will).

* 64% of women will open it if the subject line includes a "discount
offer" (50% of the men will).

* Got a new product to announce? Well, only 39% of women and

37% of men will open email with a subject line about a "new product

announcement".

* 90% cite unsolicited promotional emails as the number one consumer
concern. 60% delete it without opening, up from 45% last year. Bad
news for spammers, good news for us.

CONQUER THESE CHALLENGES AND REAP BIG REWARDS

* The volume of email has risen 60% over last year with the average
person getting 254 emails a week versus 159. That's alot of
competition!

* To deal with this onslaught of email, the average person has 2.63
email addresses. 50% also use an email feature to sort their messages
into a bulk folder. And 76% "never or rarely" read the emails in their
bulk folders.

* Of those who made an immediate purchase after reading an email,
60% cited "merchant recognition" (branding) as the reason for their
quick decision. Even more, 70%, cited a "discount" as their motivating
factor.

Wow, if people know and trust you, and you offer a discount, your
newsletter is going to pull some sales!

WHY EMAIL IS STILL #1

* 25% of consumers with an email account made an online purchase in
the last year versus 19% a year ago.

* Of shoppers who have purchased online, 78% did so as a result of
receiving an email.

* 66% plan to use email to make a purchase during the upcoming
holiday season.

CONCLUSIONS

When used effectively, email remains an incredibly powerful sales tool.

The keys to success are being known and trusted, as well as carefully
utilizing your "from" and "subject" lines.

But because consumers are countering their enormous volumes of email
by using multiple addresses, bulk folders and spam filters, newsletter
publishers will need to stay informed as well as creative to maintain and
grow their actual readership, as opposed to their simple subscriber
counts.

Whatever you do, clearly differentiate your mailings so it is not mistaken
for spam.

For those of you who would like to read the whole report, it is available
at:

http://www.doubleclick.com/us/knowledge/documents/research/dc_con
sumer_email_0210.pdf