Average e-mail click-through rates dropped 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2008 from the third to 5.8%, the lowest ever recorded, according to a study released today by Epsilon.
They are down from 6.1% in 2007 and 6.5% in 2006, according to the marketing services provider.
Kevin Mabley, senior vice president of strategic services for Epsilon, contends a number of factors are at work.
“Similar to the seasonal drop we saw in 2007, fourth quarter 2008 click rates declined slightly, at a time of year when holiday campaigns flood consumer inboxes. In addition to sheer increases in volumes, file maturity and consumer sophistication in managing their inboxes can put downward pressure on click rates,” he wrote in an e-mail to this newsletter “At the same time, open rates have been on a steady increase over the past few quarters, again indicating email reach is effective but consumers have become more selective on the offers and campaigns they respond to—especially in an economic downturn.”
According to the study, average open rates increased for the third quarter in a row to 20.9%, up almost 6% from the fourth quarter of last year.
An “open” is recorded when the receiving machine calls for graphics from the sender. For several years as e-mail inbox providers increasingly began blocking graphics by default, e-mail marketers’ open rates steadily plummeted. They began to rise again in early 2008, according to Epsilon.
Inbox providers have not stopped blocking graphics by default, so it would seem that mass e-mailers are getting better at sending more relevant e-mail and/or getting recipients to turn their graphics back on.
Of the sixteen business categories into which Epsilon broke its study, financial services had the highest open rate, clocking in an average of 35.1%, the company reported. Financial services also recorded the highest average click rate at 8.5%, according to Epsilon.
Retail apparel recorded the lowest average open rate, 13.1%, and the second lowest average click rate at 3.5%.
The non-profit/educational sector recorded the lowest average click rate, 1.7%, and the fourth lowest open rate at 16.6%, according to Epsilon.
Consumer packaged goods and publishing also recorded relatively low open rates—16% and 16.4% respectively—but respectable click rates at 8.4% and 7%, respectively.
