Proximity Bbdo Email Benchmark 2007 2008

Benchmark Works E-mail 2007

BenchmarkingThe definition

Benchmarking is the search and implementation of best practices

Benchmarking is systematic research into the performance and the underlying processes and methods of one or more leading reference organizations in a certain field, and the comparison of one’s own performance and operating methods with these ‘‘best practices’’, with the goal of locating and improving one’s own performance.

Benchmark worksOur interpretation

1. Results Comparison

Campaign by Campaign & Client by Client

2. Analysis of differences &

Interpretation3. Integration of the

Learnings within future Campaigns

Benchmark worksE-mail marketing

Status

1780 actions from 2007 analysed More then 13 million individual

E-mails Results of 1st half of 2008 are also

available

Benchmark worksE-mail marketing

Glossary

Unsubscribe rate. Is an indicator if the product/brand still fits the expectations & the values of the customer. Formula = Unsubscribers / (Sent – bounces).

Bounce rate. Indicates the % of e-mails that did not reach the customers. Hard Bounces includes for example wrong e-mail addresses. Soft bounces mainly concerns Out of Office replies.

Open rate. The ratio between the total number of opened e-mails and the the total number of delivered e-mails (sent-bounces)

Click-through rate (CTR). The ratio between the number of unique ‘clicks’ and the total number of delivered e-mails.

Click-to-Open rate (CTO). The ratio between the number of unique ‘clicks’ and the total number of opened e-mails

Benchmark worksE-mail marketing 2007

BtoB vs BtoC

2007 BtoB BtoCUnsubsribe Rate 0,1 0,1Bounce Rate 10,5 9,3Open rate 26,1 34,9CTR 6,9 13,4CTO 26,4 38,4


Day in the week

B2B e-mails are best sent on Friday. Open Rate & CTR are the highest (36 and 12%, instead of 25 and 6,5% on Tuesday). Also the Unsubscribe rate is lower. Although the Bounce rate is higher on Friday (14% vs. 6% on Tuesday).

B2B-emails are better not sent on a Wednesday. Open rate and CTR are clearly lower & Bounce and Unsubscribe rate higher

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Day in the week

For B2C-e-mail conclusions are less obvious. Open rate is the highest on Thursday and the lowest on Tuesday.

CTR on the contrary is the highest on Tuesday and lower at the end of the week. But then Bounce rate and Unsubscribe rate are lower. In addition differences are not that significant as they are in B2B.

Monday seems to be not really the moment to sent out. Open rate and CTR is lower, while Bounce rate and Unsubscribe rate are higher.

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Type of action

Most common type of actions in B2B are product launches, e-newsletters en e-promotions (in each case 30% of the volume).

B2B e-mails are the most successful for product launches. Open rate (40%) and CTR (13%) are the highest.

E-promotions shows results that are clearly less good. (Open rate of 26%, CTR of only 2 %)

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Type of action

In B2C 55% of the sent volume are promo newsletters, 20% info newsletters and 15% contests.

The info newsletters are the most successful with an Open Rate of 48% and a CTR of 25%.

Promo newsletters are less successful (Open rate of 32% and a CTR of 13%). Also the Unsubscribe rate is clearly higher (0,2 in stead of 0,1%).

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Call to Action

In B2B 65% of the volume is realized in campaigns where customers could participate a contest. In 30% of the volume ‘subscription for an event’ was the CTA.

For E-mails with a CTA ‘Subscription’ Open Rates were clearly higher (48%) , as were CTR (30%). Unsubscribe rates were lower.

E-mails asking consumers for information and campaigns without a clear CTA had lower Open rates (24%).

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Call to Action

Most common used CTA in B2C was a mix of ‘Request for information’ and ‘subscription’

This CTA is also the most successful with an Open rate’ of 49% and a CTR of 22%..

E-mails asking Consumers for data have a less good Open rate (29%), as are e-mails with a e-commerce offer (32% Open rate). Also CTR is clearly lower in these cases and Unsubscribe rate higher.

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Language

Dutch B2B e-mails have a higher Open rate then the French (30% vs. 27%) and a higher CTR (8% vs. 7%). English e-mails have rates that are even lower.

In B2C French e-mails have a higher Open rate then the Dutch (44 vs. 40%) and a higher CTR (20% vs. 15%). English e-mails have a Open rate & CTR that is far lower.

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Sector

In B2B campaigns conclusions are not easy to make because of the differences between Open Rates and CTR by sector.

For B2C e-mail campaigns are more successful in sectors as Laundry & Household products, ICT, Telco, Finance and HR.

Lower rates we see in Office, Cars, Food, Consumer Electronics & Beverages.

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Contact Step

In B2B 27 % of the volume is in programs with a regular frequency, 40% in ‘First contacts’ and 27% in reminders.

Teasers have an open rate of 33%, First contacts 30% & reminders 26%. Confirmation e-mails & ‘follow-up’ mails are very successful. ‘Last calls’ are clearly less successful.

The regular frequency programs have an average Open rate and a CTR 10 % above average.

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Contact Step

In B2C 80% of the volume concerns programs with a regular frequency.As in B2B teasers, first contacts & reminders have a slowly decreasing rates. ‘Last calls’ are less successful.

The regular frequency programs have an average open rate but a lower CTR (10% in stead of 13,4%).

An in depth analysis learns that in these programs open rates are slowing down in the time, but that specific offering can break this evolution

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Personalization

In B2B 56% of the e-mails were not personalized, in B2C only 14%.

Both in B2B and in B2C personalized e-mails were more successful. Open rate is 7 to 8 % higher. De impact on CTR is negligible in B2B but double as high in B2C with personalization.

Remarkable is the fact that the Unsubscribe rate is higher in B2B in the case of personalization.

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Benchmark worksCase in the picture

Personalization

Doubling the Open Rate in a monthly e-news program

The importance of an offer that creates expectations

Company BCCJ ob name Pushmail 200712 - NL V1

moment in week MondayBounce% 1,17

unsubcribe % 0

Open% 70,72

CTR % 17,71

Type action Info news

Type call to action Information request

Target Group B2C

Language NL

Contact Step Regular

Personalization Personalized


Personalization

The need for quality control in address gathering process

The importance of the right proposition for the right target group at the right moment

Company Adecco

J ob name Studenten 2007 alg - NL

moment in week Friday

Bounce% 44,89

unsubcribe % 0,0

Open% 59,6

CTR % 29,1

Type action Productlaunch

Type call to action Subscription

Target Group B2C

Language NL

Contact Step First contact

Personalization Personalized


Personalization

The need for quality control in address gathering process

The importance of the right proposition for the right target group at the right moment

Company Lifescan

J ob name Bloedsuiker

moment in week Thursday

Bounce% 24,2

unsubcribe % 0

Open% 61,73

CTR % 25,46

Type action I nfo news

Type call to action I nformation request

Target Group B2C

Language NL


Personalization Non personalized


Personalization

Lack of Brand Awareness, image? No relevancy for the Target Group? No real proposition?

Company KBC

J ob name Newsletter pour La France


Bounce% 0

unsubcribe % 0,0

Open% 18,61

CTR % 2,36

Type action Productlaunch

Type call to action Info News

Target Group Diverse

Language FR


Personalization Non Personalized


Personalization

Impact of editorial (with photo) on Open rate

No Impact of the editorial on CTR Importance of relevant content to

enhance CTR

Company Siemens

J ob nameIndustry Newsletter #19 - Mixed - NL with Edito


Bounce% 7,06

unsubcribe %

Open% 31,41 (vs 24,52)

CTR % 7,68 (vs 7,58)

Type action Info news

Type call to action Information request

Target Group B2B

Language NL




Personalization

No relevant proposition? No relevant offer? No relevant message?

Company Walibi

J ob name Held van het J aar - November NL

moment in week Dinsdag

Bounce% 0,26

unsubcribe %

Open% 18,49

CTR % 5,97

Type action Wedstrijd

Type call to action Informatie zoeken/vragen

Target Group B2C

Language NL

Contact Step First contact



January > June

2008 Comp. 2007BtoB BtoC BtoB BtoC

Unsubsribe Rate 0,2 0,1 200 100Bounce Rate 13,3 9,0 127 97Open rate 23,2 30,5 89 87CTR 4,8 12,6 70 94CTO 20,6 41,4 78 108

Benchmark worksThe Use of it within Proximity BBDO

Clients & Agency

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Benchmark worksProximity BBDO Objectives

1. A Yardstick for internal evaluation

2. A Catalyst for KPI & dashboard standardisation

3. A support Tool for campaign learnings

Result Works & Benchmark worksHow it works

1. Distinction of Operational & Tactical Reporting

2. Use of all common campaign tools in the market for Operational Reporting

3. Creation of a Campaign Warehouse by Client to deliver the tactical reporting

4. The common structure of this WH enables powerfull benchmarking

Benchmark WorksAs A consequence

Best Practices

Limit your objectives Do not ask to much info at once Activate the subject line. Be aware of

spam. Rotate in high frequency e-mails. Be compatible with the preview panes Put the single most important message and

the CTA left on top


Best Practices

Limit the number of fonts and colors used

Pay attention to the medium concerning copy. Short and above the fold

Use a clear CTA (max of 2). Repeat Bring relevant & credible contentTest


Checklist

CHECKLIST EFFECTIEF COMMUNICEREN VIA EMAIL

JANEEN

Doelgroep/Doelstelling

Weet ik precies naar welke doelgroep de email wordt gestuurd?

Is er één duidelijke doelstelling bepaald?

Kan ik via email deze doelstelling bij de doelgroep bereiken?

OptinIs de copy van de optin voldoende activerend geschreven?

Is er gebruik gemaakt van een JA/NEE optin?

OptoutIs er een optoutmogelijkheid voorzien?

Wordt de optout gevolgd door een vragenlijst?

Is er een tell a friend optie voorzien?

Is er een privacystatement voorzien?

Subjectline en afzender

Is de subjectline voldoende activerend?

Is de subjectline beperkt tot 45 karakters?

Is de subjectline spam proof?

Wordt in subjectline of afzender het merk duidelijk vernoemd?

Is de subjectline gepersonaliseerd (naam/gedrag)?

Is de afzender van de mail een naam, en geen emailadres?

Technische specificaties

Is de lettergrootte 11 of meer?

Is de maximumbreedte 600 pixels?

Is de mail outlook 2007 compliant?

Is de mail, inclusief call to action, leesbaar zonder beelden?

Is de tekst donker, en de achtergrond licht?

Is er een ‘niet leesbaar, klik hier’ knop voorzien?

CreatieIs alle belangrijke informatie terug te vinden in de linkerbovenhoek?

Heeft de mail niet meer dan 3 verschillende letterypes?

Heeft de mail niet meer dan 3 verschillende kleuren?

Heb je nagedacht over de mogelijkheid van bewegende beelden?

CopyIs de copy kort en interessant gehouden?

Is de mail scanbaar via titels en subtitels?

Is er een duidelijke call to action in het preview vak?

Komt deze call to action terug doorheen de mail in tekstlinks (6)?

Is de mail gepersonaliseerd indien mogelijk?

VersturenHeb je nagedacht over het beste moment van versturen?


19,4% Open rate & 23,2% CTO 20,0% Open rate & 27,5% CTO


Detailed results available for clients


Results integrated within Clients Campaign Dashboards

Proximity Bbdo Email Benchmark 2007 2008

Business

mail marketing

mail marketing

mail marketing

regular frequency

open rate

average open

higher open

regular frequency