• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, November 8, 2018

Build your email list. That seems to be the main takeaway from Omnisend’s new study. 

Lists with 5,000 email addresses have higher open (20.2%) and click-through rates (5.3%). But they have an average order rate of only 1.8% versus almost 20% for lists with more than 50,000 email addresses.

We would guess there are many possible explanations for this. Larger firms have experienced creative teams, machine learning, analytics, better customer service and access to outside help in all these areas. But even they face challenges.  

"As larger lists earn more orders, marketers should take advantage of the high-traffic holiday period by acquiring as many email subscribers as possible as part of a profitable long-term strategy," states Rytis Lauris, CEO of Omnisend.

Omnisend studied over964 million emails studied sent during 2017.

The study also found that cart abandonment emails perform more poorly on Black Friday, pulling 1.65% for a decrease of 31% compared to the rest of the year. However, winback orders increase by 106% during Black Friday.

November has more email campaigns in motion, but February has the best open rates (17.9%) and click rates (3.6%) of the year. 

Order confirmation email generate the highest open (64.4%) and click rates (18.1%). However, the best order rate — 2.4% — is achieved by cart recovery emails.

On Black Friday, the cart recovery rate is 1.65%, and customer activation rate is 1.30%. However, that’s not bad, given the timing. 

Automation helps, producing Black Friday open rates of 58.20%. In general, automation contributes to a 59.10% post-purchase open rate and a cart recovery order rate of 2.39%. 

The study adds that automation workflows produce 309% higher opens and 455% better click rates than bulk newsletter campaigns. 

Apart from the holidays, the first of the month is the best time to send emails, and the 28th the worst.

What do you do to build your list? The study lists the best tactics as follows:

• Signup box — 1.3% 
• Pop-up — 3%
• Wheel of Fortune — 10% 
• Landing Page – 23%

The report adds that conversion rates hit 10% when you ask for three pieces of information on your sign-up form. But brands can achieve 8% rates with two, four and five pieces of information.

The best signup rate apparently is achieved when firms ask for email address and phone number. Second is email and name, which has a 7.41% subscription rate.

Email and birth date pull 5.73% and email and gender 5.93%.