30B ECommerce Emails Analyzed! (Top 3 Points From YLM’s Email Benchmark Report)

Yes Lifecycle Marketing released their2017 Email Benchmark Report, with a view to how email marketing will be affected in 2018.

Here are the Top 3 points we took from the report:

#1 – Triggered email campaigns perform 2x better than non-triggered campaigns on average.

Every type of trigger drives a better open, unique click and CTO rate than standard non-triggered message,” writes Yes Lifecycle Marketing, “Even reactivation emails, which are sent exclusively to subscribers who have not engaged with a brand for months (and even years), rival the performance of standard messages in terms of CTO and conversion rate.”

AsAmy GesenhuesofMarketingLandcorrectly pointed out,

Unfortunately, only 2.3 percent of the emails it evaluated were part of a trigger campaign – a number that remained the same throughout all four quarters of the year.”

Performance of standard versus triggered emails

TowerData’s Interpretation of this data

Our customers understand this clearly. Triggered email campaigns based on visitor activity lead to better open, click, and conversion rates. We’ve proven that remains true when the visitor has not directly opted-in to your site. At the end of the day, email recipients care most about value.”

#2 New email subscribers decreasing quarter after quarter after quarter…

Yes Lifecycle Marketing

Throughout 2017, the share of new subscribers in marketers’ databases consistently declined, falling to its lowest point in Q4 when new subscribers accounted for just 3.5 percent of marketers’ mailable audience,”

Amy GesenhuesofMarketingLand

In addition to the share of new subscribers growing smaller throughout the duration of 2017, 20 percent of brands’ mailable audiences (anybody that has opted-in to receive emails) hadn’t opened an email in more than a year – representing a 22.5 percent year-over-year jump in inactive subscribers.”

Share of recent subscribers opting in within 90-days

TowerData’s Interpretation of this data

We see the decrease in subscription rates as aclear indication of FoNo, the “Fear of Noise”. eCommerce website visitors are demonstrating their lack of interest in receiving weeks and months of email. They would prefer to receive one email campaign when the time is right, triggered by their own purchase interest activities. This is exactly what we deliver at TowerData to the anonymous audience.”

#3 Which incentives most affect opens and clicks?

Yes LifeCycle Marketing suggests that the email goal for 2018 should be to balance the number of emails with an incentive in the subject line, and those without. They point out that emails without offers in the subject line have higher open rates and click through rates, but that emails with the offers in subject lines have higher conversion rates.

We agree. Statistically, we’ve seen that emails to the anonymousemail retargetingaudience perform much better when they include incentives. It makes sense to include the incentive, and balance its inclusion in the subject line.

Success rates based on email subject line offer types

Learn more about email retargeting for your business by visiting our email retargeting page!