August 30, 2012

Experian CheetahMail study finds continuous growth in email marketing

Email marketing is show no signs of slowing. In fact, in some industries, the growth is significant.

Marketers in the travel industry, for example, greatly increased their email activity between Q2 2011 and Q2 2012, says Regina Gray, Experian CheetahMail's VP of strategic services. The results are reported in the company's Q2 2012 Email Benchmark Report.

While travel marketing emails had the largest volume growth, with a 41.3% year-over-year increase, all verticals included in the study saw year-over-year growth in email volume. These categories include catalogers (.3% increase), consumer products and services (19 % increase), and media and entertainment (16.9% increase).

Gray notes that email volumes simply demonstrate the extent to which marketers use the channel, and not whether it leads to click-throughs or conversions. “Volume tells you what the industry is doing,” Gray says. “The other metrics tell you if it's working.”

The volume statistics noted by the study demonstrate that email continues to increase in importance for direct marketers—a trend that's been consistent for the past three years, Gray says.

Other providers of email marketing services and solutions have noted upticks in activity stemming from email marketing. A recent study from Epsilon found that open rates for triggered and business-as-usual (BAU) emails grew immensely. Another recent study, from Silverpop, found that marketers see increased click-throughs with personalized email content.

Experian CheetahMail's study found that open rates in Q2 2012 grew slightly, by .3%, compared to the same period one year ago.

Ultimately, email remains the top channel for direct marketers due to its cost-effectiveness, especially compared to other mediums, Gray asserts. Retailers in particular find value in email marketing, she says.

“Emails do drive revenue, so it's going to continue to be used,” Gray says. “It's a great format for one-to-one marketing.”