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Ottawa based Card Communications release its Email Trends Report Q3 2006 with results that show non-profit organizations and associations have the highest results in deliverabilty, open rates, click-through rates and opt-outs.

Some of their key findings include:

• The smaller the list, the higher the deliverabilty, open and click-through rates. We’ve seen this in past reports, put deeper segmentation into action and the results are obvious! Segmentation is crucial to compete in today’s crowded inboxes.

• Non-profit organizations and associations are a natural fit for email marketing ­ Speaking from our clients’ experiences, non-profits and associations have the best relationship with their databases, and they are rewarded with great results from email!

• Event Planners have a lower-than-average deliverability rate this quarter - This may be due to dormant periods between events or a less active time of year for events, in general. It makes sense that this quarter, including the summer months, may be a trickier time of year to maximize

I had a quick chat with Kelly Rusk, Communications Manager with Card Communications to dig a little deeper on the survey results. [photopress:kelly_rusk.gif,thumb,pp_image]
“The smaller the list, the higher the deliverability” - does this mean that email marketing is not for major retailers?

Kelly - No not at all! The point we are getting at is that segmentation is key for optimal results, and especially for major retailers. They are most likely to have great data on their customers/subscribers in terms of buying patterns, demographics, interests etc. Also by segmenting different targets and breaking down large lists into smaller more manageable chunks, it’s easier to keep your lists clean and up-to-date (hence the higher deliverabilty).

Also I’d mention - and we say this to all of our clients - that industry reports/metrics should not be used as benchmarks because of the very many factors and variables affecting email rates (i.e. time of day sent, day of week sent, relationship to subscribers, the technology platform and about a gazillion others) Basically the report serves as trends and information on the email industry and one should always test against themselves to establish benchmarks.

What impact have you seen blogs & RSS feeds have on email subscriptions?

Personally - I haven’t seen any significant changes in email subscriptions … I guess our mantra is that RSS & Email are great tools together, and through our company blog & email newsletter, we cross promote the two quite often and it seems to work well. The way I feel about it is that blogs and email serve very different purposes (at least from a corporate point of view) and aren’t really in competition (though I do know others tend to disagree with this point)

What industries are the biggest users of email mail marketing?
Kelly - This is pretty tough to answer! The clients we deal with are pretty much all over the place, and my impression from email marketing industry research is that is the norm. Email has pretty much earned its place on the list of direct marketing tools, like direct mail or any other traditional marketing channel.. and as time goes on it will just become even more normal - that’s not to say it will grow stale however, because like anything in the online world new and exciting strategies and tactics come up all the time.

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