Email delivery rates fall

Marketers should shift their focus to direct mail to counter the decline in success rates for email marketing campaigns during 2007.

According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), delivery rates for emails focusing on acquisition fell to 68 per cent during the second quarter of this year, while retention emails fell to 80 per cent.

This is compared to 92 per cent for acquisition mails and 94 per cent for retention emails in the last three months of 2006, according to Brand Republic.

"The first step in any marketing campaign is getting the message to the consumer," said Skip Fidura from the DMA´s Email Marketing Council.

"Regardless of how good the copy and creative are and how compelling the offer is, a campaign will fail if your target audience never sees the message. It´s therefore vital that email marketers place more importance on ensuring that a message reaches the inbox."

A recent study from International Communications Research found that 73 per cent of consumers don´t mind receiving unsolicited marketing by post but just 18 per cent are happy receiving such messages by email.
© Adfero Ltd