Q1 2011 North America Email Trend Results: Open Rates Increase from Previous Quarter and Q1 2010

June 2, 2011

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Dallas, Texas – June 2, 2011 - Epsilon and the Direct Marketing Association’s Email Experience Council today released the Q1 2011 North America Email Trends and Benchmarks Results which show a 4.2 percent increase in open rates over Q1 2010 and a 39.2 percent increase in average volume per client from Q1 2010.

The quarterly analysis is compiled from 7.1 billion emails sent by Epsilon in January, February and March 2011, across multiple industries and approximately 140 participating clients. The analysis combines data from both of Epsilon’s proprietary platforms, DREAM and DREAMmail.

Report Highlights:
• Open rates (23.3 percent) increased both quarter over quarter (by 5.6 percent) and year over year (by 4.2 percent). Five of the 13 reported industries saw at least a 5 percent increase in open rates over Q1 2010.

• The average click rate is 5.9 percent, a slight decrease from the same time last year (6.0 percent).

• Coming out of the holiday season, the average volume per client increased only slightly by 5.7 percent from Q4 2010 yet saw a significant increase of 39.2 percent over the same quarter last year.

• Click to conversion rates decreased 4.7% over last quarter but increased 26.5% over the same quarter last year. The 3.0% conversion rate is the strongest over a two year period, confirming that email continues to be a strong channel for revenue.

• Not surprising, messages categorized as Service messages had the highest open rates (37.5 percent) and click rates (7.9 percent).

"Email volumes continue to increase with a jump of nearly forty percent from the same time last year. Despite the increase in messages, email marketing remains a critical and effective communications tool that drives revenue, consumer engagement and brand loyalty,” according to Judy Loschen, vice president of digital analytics at Epsilon. “As email marketing matures, we recommend that marketers integrate the channel closely with other marketing channels, such as social media and online, to create the most relevant customer experience and to engage with individuals on a one-to-one basis how, where and when they want to receive communications.”

“The increased volume didn’t come at the expense of open rates.” said Yoram Wurmser, Direct Marketing Association, director of marketing & media insights. “For a mature channel, that’s impressive and indicates that email continues to have potential for continued strong growth.”

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