• by May 18, 2004

The all-important click-through rate for permission-based email campaigns has improved a bit in the first quarter, according to a new study by Bigfoot Interactive. Research by the email services company finds that click-through rates for permission-based email campaigns in the retail and financial services categories improved by 14 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

For the first quarter of 2004, the Bigfoot study found that the auto category experienced a 19.3 percent click-through rate for promotional email--up more than 8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2003--while the retail sector saw a click-through rate of 11.2 percent.

The media segment--comprising personalized newsletter headlines--saw a 26 percent increase in the unique click-through rate for editorial campaigns over the fourth quarter 2003, to reach 16.5 percent. Promotional campaigns, special offers, and contests helped boost the average unique click-through rate for promotional messages for a 96 percent increase over the fourth-quarter results, to reach 4.9 percent.

The click-through rate for financial services-related email campaigns rose to 22.1 percent for the first quarter of 2004, versus 17.6 percent for the fourth quarter of 2003.