Fright School Friday: Email stats to make you tremble

1. 39% of marketers have no strategy for mobile email

Responsive design - two words which strike fear into the heart of many email marketers.

Do you remember the days of using disposable cameras? You would take lots of pictures on holiday, wait in anticipation for them to be developed, only for most of them to come out too dark or blurry. Or, someone always had their eyes shut. Just as you’d bin those not-so-great snaps, 80% of consumers will delete an email if it doesn’t look good on their device. There’s nothing worse than spending time and effort crafting great content, only for it to go to waste.

But don’t fear - there are some simple steps you can take to ensure your messages are properly responsive. For your HTML email: add ALT tags to images, use alternatives to bullet points (e.g. asterisks) as these tend to break in HTML emails, use lots of tables nested together, avoid shorthand CSS, bring your styles inline, slice images and link them separately to the email, and include a link to a web-based version.

2. 30% of subscribers change email addresses annually

Don’t damage your reputation by sending to inactive recipients. Clean your contact list regularly and encourage users to update their information. Use a re-engagement campaign to weed out the abandoned accounts. This is also a way to win back users who are still actively using their account but not engaging with your emails.

If there’s no response, it’s time to say goodbye. Your sender reputation will thank you for it, as unsubscribing users who have been inactive for more than a year increases your deliverability rate by 3-5%. You can then spend more time developing relationships with customers who want to hear from you.

3. Only 13% of UK and 17% of US email marketers use personalization

In a study of 650 multi-channel campaigns, personalized ones consistently out-performed static ones, producing a higher response rate. Personalization is a great way to build a stronger connection with your customer. With email, it’s now possible to simultaneously mass market while tailoring to the individual.

We’ve made it easy to add the personal touch to your emails. Using a tool like Passport, you can segment by behavior, personalize by location and customize elements such as the subject line, to build a closer relationship with your customers. A great way of doing this while not appearing too big brother is by personalizing your pre-header.

4. 17% of marketers don’t track or analyze email metrics

Email marketing is a two-way communication. Imagine if you were talking to someone and they kept coming out with non-sequiturs or the topics were completely irrelevant to you? You would lose patience and interest. The same goes for your subscribers, if you don’t care about their preferences, creating content that isn’t relevant to the individual, they aren’t going to open your email or click through and engage further.

Tracking and analyzing metrics can help you better shape your content to your subscribers’ needs and carry on the conversation. A/B (or A/X) test different subject lines to find one which really speaks to your subscriber.

Track bounces, unsubscribe rates and SPAM complaints and follow up on these, for instance, by removing inactive contacts. This will help you maintain a good sender reputation in the long-term.

Spook-tacular takeaways

Updating your list, personalizing, analyzing and making sure your emails are responsive, are all key ingredients in successful email marketing. These email stats may give you a scare, but hopefully our tips will give your marketing the shock treatment it needs to boost your ROI and give your users a treat.