• by Ross Fadner , December 5, 2003

For all the hue and cry surrounding the consumer backlash to email marketing, delivery rates for legitimate marketers are up in almost every category, according to the Third Quarter Email Trend Report, released Thursday by DoubleClick.

While open rates have declined in certain categories, clickthrough rates - a metric deemed more crucial by DoubleClick - have increased significantly year-over-year.

Despite the continuing increase in levels of spam and a corresponding rise in the use of firewalls and other spam filters, delivery rates in the third quarter of 2003 rose 1.7 percent over the same period last year to 88.2 percent.

The highest delivery rate and the subsequent highest percent increase was in the business publishing category, which rose 4.4 percent to a 92.9 percent delivery rate. The retail and catalog category ranked second, with a 90.6 percent delivery rate, an increase of 2.8 percent from 2002.

Overall, clickthrough rates posted very positive third-quarter results, increasing 8.2 percent from 2002's average clickthrough rate of 8.5 percent to 9.2 percent in 2003. While open rates dropped in some categories, certain industries posted big increases in clickthroughs. Retail and catalog clickthroughs jumped 27.5 percent to 8.8 percent. Business publishing rose 15.9 percent to 8 percent. Consumer products and services went up 12 percent to 11.2 percent, while travel increased 2.4 percent to an 8.5 percent clickthrough rate.

The big losers in the clickthrough category were consumer publishers, which saw rates decline 17.7 percent to 9.3 percent. Rates for business products and services remained at last year's 7.8 percent.

"The Q3 results seem to show that clients' improved practices and smarter marketing habits are helping them to keep ahead of the increasingly complex email environment, a positive sign as we enter the crucial holiday season," suggested Eric Kirby, vice president and general manager of DoubleClick's Strategic Services Division.