DMA - LATEST RESEARCH

Check out the DMA’s latest report on email marketing and its potential.

Results of the DMA’s latest national email benchmarking have confirmed the continuing strong growth and success of email. This is the sixth national benchmarking report the DMA’s Email Council has issued, with this one containing data collected earlier in the year.

We all have good intentions when wanting to craft a good personalised message. As was the case with previous surveys, the latest was completed by leading UK Email Service Providers (ESPs) who deliver the majority of outsourced email messages to both business and consumer accounts in the UK. Companies that took part in the latest report represent an estimated 75% of all UK emails delivered via ESPs.

The survey also reinforced forecasts that email is set to surpass direct mail in terms of volume. Overall, the first quarter of 2006 showed a 30% year on year increase in average mailing volumes, and volumes in the first quarter of 2006 rose by 13% on the last quarter of 2005. Despite the increased mailing volumes, response rates, including click though rates, have remained static whilst retention figures are still hovering at the 10% mark.

However, of significant note, was the increase of email acquisition click through rates from 6% to 8%. According to Richard Gibson, Chair of the Email Council Benchmarking Hub, “The considerable rise in acquisition response rates demonstrates increasing sophistication among clients in terms of their targeting and messaging. The report shows that marketers are continuing to invest in email as a channel and are also taking steps to improve via their provider list hygiene. This demonstrates the growing understanding of the impact that this can have on deliverability and on their brand.”

The survey also offered some insight into the make-up of the ESP marketplace. In the main, most suppliers (53%) are used simply as a third party dispatch partner. However, the report also pointed out that an increasing number of ESPs are operating as list owners/providers. For the first time, the survey also gathered feedback on guaranteed delivery from ESPs. Accordingly, over 65% of ESPs believe that clients would consider some form of payment to guarantee delivery. Actual payments per 1000 email addresses vary from ‘up to £1’ to ‘over £5’ with 18% of respondents saying that they would pay over £5 per 1000 emails.

The full report can be downloaded from the DMA website. If you would like to learn more, contact editor@open-ezine.com