After steadily dropping for at least two years, e-mail open rates finally leveled off in late 2007 through 2008, according to a benchmark report published today by Epsilon.
In a study of 6.2 billion e-mails sent by Epsilon on behalf of its clients, open rates for the last quarter of 2007 and the first three quarters of 2008 were 19.8%, 19.9%, 19.8% and 19.8%, respectively, according to Epsilon.
These figures are down from an average 23.9% in the third quarter of 2006, according to the marketing services firm.
An “open” is recorded when the receiving computer calls for graphics from the sending machine. E-mail inbox providers, such as Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft Hotmail, earlier this decade began blocking graphics in an attempt to protect users from computer viruses and unwanted images.
As a result, e-mailers began to see their open rates steadily decline until late 2007.
Also, according to Epsilon’s Q3 2008 Trends and Benchmark Study, marketers’ average click rates jumped 27.6% from 4.7% in the second quarter of 2008 to 5.9% in the third.
However, they are still down from an average 6.2% and 6.5% in the second and third quarters of 2007, respectively, according to Epsilon.
Moreover, marketers’ average click rates are down 8.2% from last year and 18.2% from two years ago, according to Epsilon.
