Email Open Rates

What should your's be?

According to a recent article, DoubleClick, one of the nations largest email marketing companies, published a report that provides an excellent baseline for any company engaged in email marketing. The report that found that email open rates fell for the fifth consecutive
quarter, but the medium's click-to-conversion rate and order rate rose. This is a positive trend for those seeking higher conversion rates. The full report offered by DoubleClick was titled the "DoubleClick Email Solutions Study"

Open rates dropped from 36 percent in the second quarter of 2004 to 27.5 percent in the second quarter of this year. Click through rates also declined slightly from 7.7% last year to 7.2 percent for the second quarter of 2005. However conversion remained strong for the retail and catalog marketers that track purchase activity through DoubleClick's DART mail. The click to purchase conversion rate rose 27.8 percent to 4.6 percent in the second quarter while order per email delivered rose 18 percent to 0.26%.

For anyone trying to model the cost-benefit ration of email marketing, using an open rate of 275. percent and click-through rate of 7.2% should provide guidance. To determine your ROI, assume that of 7.2% of individuals clicking through to your offer, 4.6% will purchase. Experiment with multiple offers and subject lines to increase opens and conversion rates for your market.