I recently attended a BMA breakfast meeting hosted by Laurie Beasley of Beasley Direct Marketing. Laurie shared key trends in email marketing and current response rates from sources such as MarketingSherpa, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and Caslon & Co. which I’ll recap for you.
According to MarketingSherpa’s “2009 Email Marketing Benchmark Guide“, which reported the results of a survey to over 1,700 marketers, marketing budgets are expected to be reduced by 20-25% this year. Keep in mind that the study was conducted in August 2008 before the economic crisis really kicked in. Therefore, these numbers are likely very conservative. Here are some key findings:
- Email reigns as the number 1 marketing tactic – due to its low cost and ability to be targeted to both prospects and customers. Email receives on average 16% of the online marketing budget in medium-sized companies and 27% in small companies.
- The top techniques for gaining B2B opt-ins are eNewsletter subscriptions, sales alerts and opt-ins at trade shows. With trade show attendance down (for vendors and prospects), 29% of B2B marketers plan on increasing spend on rented (3rd-party) email lists for lead generation. In exchange for opting-in, subscribers want marketers to not share their email address and to receive special offers/pricing.
- Challenges to successful B2B email programs include deliverability issues, competition at the inbox, and the ability of marketers to consistently provide relevant content. Email needs to be designed with the anticipation that many readers will view it with images off and only through their email client preview pane or PDA.
- The two primary reasons why people unsubscribe are a lack of relevant content and receiving emails too often.
- Opportunities exist for international email programs (on the radar for 33% of large companies) and for optimization of emails for mobile rendering (73% of marketers are not currently doing this).
Average Response Rates
- Click-through rates (CTRs) for eNewsletters are staying high, with 26% of survey respondents reporting CTRs between 5.1%-10%; another 24% report CTRs between 2.1%-5%.
- CTRs for sales-related email blasts are similar, with 26% of survey respondents reporting CTRs between 5.1%-10%; and 26% reporting CTRs between 2.1%-5%.
- According to Caslon & Co., personalizing email and direct mail can improve response rates by 50-100%. The average response rate for lead generation campaigns is 3.2% according to the DMA. With personalization, Caslon reports a jump to 5%.
- Caslon also reports that personalizing registration landing pages can improve response rates by 100% to 130%.
For best success with your email marketing programs, focus on providing relevant, personalized content to your prospects and customers at a reasonable frequency. Be sure to design the email for maximum deliverability so that content and offers are easily viewable in preview panes and on mobile devices. And as always, integrate your email programs with other marketing mix elements (web, videos, social media, blogs, sales development calls) to increase the chance that your message will be heard. Visit the marketing campaign development blog for tips on optimizing your marcom mix.