• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 16, 2011

Epsilon and the Direct Marketing Association's Email Experience Council released the Q2 2011 North America Email Trends and Benchmarks Results which show a 16.2% increase in average volume per client from Q1 2011 and a 14.3% decrease in average volume per client from Q2 2010. Open rates increased by .4% from Q2 2010 and click rates were directly in line with the same time last year.

The report analyzes performance trends by industry and message type to provide benchmarks for marketers to glean insights and develop email strategies that take into account the challenges and opportunities facing each industry.

The quarterly analysis is compiled from 7.7 billion emails sent by Epsilon in April, May and June 2011, across multiple industries and approximately 130 participating clients.

Q2 2011 Overall Performance:

• Open rates (22.2%) saw a slight decrease quarter over quarter (4.8%), however increased over the same quarter last year (by 0.4%). Four of the 13 reported industries saw at least a 5% increase in open rates over Q2 2010.
• Click rates (5.2%) decreased slightly (by 11.1%) from last quarter. Click rates are directly in line with this same time last year and remain established over the last two years.
• Average volume per client increased 16.2% from Q1 2011 but shows a decrease over last year of 14.3% (Q2 2010).
• The non-bounce rate remained fairly stable, decreasing only 0.3%.
• Average order size saw a slight improvement of 0.9% over last year.
• Unique click to conversion rates increased 14.6% over Q1 2011 and 6.2% over Q2 2010.
• Revenue per email decreased less than one percent over Q2 2010 but improved 17.3% over Q1 2011.

Epsilon Non-Bounce, Open And Click Rates
Quarter	Non-Bounce	Open rate	Click-through
Q211	95.7%	22.2%	5.2%
Q111	96.0%	23.3%	5.9%
Q410	95.0%	22.1%	.1%
Q310	96.1%	22.0%	5.4%
Q210	94.8%	22.1%	5.3%
Q110	94.7%	22.4%	6.0%
Source: Epsilon, August 2011

Business Publishing/Media General, Consumer Services General, Retail General and Retail Specialty experienced at least a 5% increase in open rates compared to the previous year's metrics.

Consumer Service Telecom, Financial Services CC/Banks and Retail Specialty had an increase of at least 5% in click rate compared to the same quarter in 2010.

The highest open rates were in Financial Services CC/Banks, Financial Services General, and Retail General. The highest click rates were in Consumer Services Telecom, Consumer Products CPG, and Financial Services CC/Banks. Consumer Products CPG and Consumer Services Telecom had the highest click to open rates.

Epsilon Q2, 2011 North American Industry
	Non-Bounce	Open Rate	Click Rate	Click to Open Rate
Business Products and Services General	91.7%	23.0%	4.6%	19.9%
Business Publishing/Media General	97.1%	18.4%	4.4%	23.7%
Consumer Products CPG	97.2%	17.0%	8.0%	46.9%
Consumer Products Pharmaceutical	84.3%	18.2%	4.9%	26.7%
Consumer Publishing/Media General	98.3%	15.1%	5.3%	35.4%
Consumer Services General	98.2%	19.1%	4.1%	21.5%
Consumer Services Telecom	94.5%	22.2%	9.0%	40.7%
Financial Serviced CC/Banks	95.8%	33.7%	6.5%	19.2%
Financial Services General	95.6%	29.7%	5.6%	18.9%
Retail Apparel	99.0%	14.6%	3.5%	23.7%
Retail General	97.9%	25.2%	4.8%	19.2%
Retail Specialty	96.6%	21.6%	4.2%	19.2%
Travel/Hospitality Travel Services	98.1%	24.4%	4.6%	18.7%
Source: Epsilon, August 2011

The Q2 2011 Email Trends and Benchmarks also analyzed the types of messages sent and their performance metrics. 69.8% of emails deployed through Epsilon's DREAM platform were categorized as marketing messages, up from 66.7% the previous quarter.

69.8% of emails delivered by Epsilon were categorized as marketing messages, down from 74.4% the previous quarter

Performance Metrics by Message Type (Q2, 2011)
Message Type	Open Rate	Click Rate	CTOR
Acquistion	22.4%	2.4%	10.7%
Editorial	27.4%	8.3%	30.4%
Marketing	15.3%	2.8% 1	8.4%
Other	22.4%	3.5%	15.6%
Research	6.8%	1.8%	25.9%
Service	42.8%	8.9%	20.9%
Source: Epsilon, August 2011

Message types are based on emails deployed out of the DREAM platform and defined by the person(s) creating the campaigns which may not reflect the same definitions as your company

% Delivered in Q2 2011 (by Type)
Type	% Delivered
Research	0.0%
Service	4.3%
Editorial	0.6%
Acquisition	0.1%
Marketing	69.8%
Other	25.1
Source: Epsilon, August 2011

The report concludes by noting that marketers continue to fight for visibility within consumer inboxes throughout the year especially during critical marketing windows such as the holiday season. As the average volume of emails being sent per client continues to increase, so does the necessity to ensure email messages stand out. Therefore, they need to leverage data, both behavioral and stated preferences, to create more targeted campaigns. With this information in hand, marketers can personalize emails and increase relevance for better customer experiences.

To access complete PDF report, including industry-specific benchmarks, the Q2 2011 Email Trends and Benchmark report is available here. Or, the DMA summary may be found here.