E-Mail: Let’s Do the Numbers
Benchmark data: where to get it and how to use it.
Benchmark data: where to get it and how to use it.
Happy New Year!
Whenever I get together with email marketing colleagues, the discussion inevitably turns to metrics. There’s an “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” dimension to these conversations. Everyone wants to know how her results stack up against the rest of the email marketing world’s.
In the spirit of the New Year, here are the latest metrics for opens and click-throughs, along with some thoughts on improving your own figures and creating performance benchmarks.
First, let’s do the numbers.
Average open rates for house lists are running in the mid-30s (34.3 percent, according to DoubleClick). The range I’m seeing, based on public sources and my clients’ performances, is the mid-20s to just over 50 percent.
Average click-throughs for house lists (calculated as a percentage of messages delivered, not the percentage opened) are running in the high single digits (DoubleClick reports 8.2 percent); the range I’m seeing is just over 1 percent to just under 20 percent.
The latest metrics confirm something I’ve seen throughout my career: Third-party lists don’t perform nearly as well as house lists. The gap in email lists is very pronounced, with third-party lists seeing open rates of one-half to one-third less than house lists (less than 20 percent on average, often less than 10 percent). Click-throughs on these rented lists are also lower, with a range of zero to just over 2 percent.
Opens and clicks aren’t the be all, end all to measure email performance. In fact, metrics mean little if the primary business goal (be it direct sales, lead generation, brand awareness, or something else) isn’t met. That said, these metrics help troubleshoot when performance isn’t what you’d like it to be.
Don’t assume efforts are a failure if they don’t meet these benchmarks. Use these averages as a guideline for setting realistic expectations and focusing efforts on areas where improvement is most likely.
My colleague Paul Soltoff wrote a great column on testing last week. I agree wholeheartedly with his approach and recommendations. That said, I find in email, as with direct mail, your list is the biggest factor in determining performance. So if you’re looking for a big lift in opens or click-throughs, start with your list.
A few thoughts on lists:
There are great benchmark sources out there. You just need to do a little legwork. A few I like:
I approach benchmarks by gathering data from many different sources and seeing where the numbers fall. Usually, when you bring in enough data, you’ll start to see some consensus. That forms the basis of your benchmark.
Until next time,
Jeanne
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