‘Coupon’, ‘Intro’ and ‘Toy’ Got the Highest Email Open Rates During the 2011 Holiday Season

As we approach the 2012 holiday season, Epsilon recently unveiled its “2012 Holiday Trend Report.” It highlights many findings from last year’s holiday season, including open rates, click rates and average order values.

According to the report, call center/mail order sales peaked in week 49 in 2011, while retail sales peaked in week 51.

Overall sales in 2011 increased 11 percent from the mark set in 2010, according to Epsilon. This was mostly the result of an increase in average order value (AOV) and purchase frequency.

“Marketers should note the role social media played in early holiday conversions,” the report notes. “Social media was a key driver of sales on Thanksgiving Day as consumers sought product reviews and testimonials both the day before and on Thanksgiving Day.”

In 2011, conversion rates peaked at 15.7 percent the week of Black Friday, the week before holiday email volume peaked. Conversions reached a second holiday-period spike of 12.2 percent the week of Dec. 4.

Epsilon suggests that retailers should observe this and consider expanding the holiday season by starting email campaigns earlier in November. They should also think about promoting the biggest-ticket items and best offers earlier in the season when email conversions are high.

The report also noted that email volume was highest on Fridays and Wednesdays during the 2011 holiday season, while open rates were highest for emails delivered on Tuesdays. Click rates for emails were highest on Sundays, possibly because consumers were searching for last-minute deals or because consumers were considering making online purchases of items they saw in stores during the weekend.

“This season, email marketers should leverage this data and use Sundays as an opportunity to send last chance offers or follow-up messages to drive online purchases,” Epsilon recommends.

During the 2011 holiday season, AOV reached a peak of nearly $350 on Saturdays, while conversion rates peaked at 10.4 percent on Wednesdays and 9.5 percent on Saturdays. This holiday season, Epsilon suggests marketers promote big-ticket items on Saturdays.

The report also found that the keyword “coupon” was included in 2.1 percent of email subject lines, down from 2.7 percent in 2010. However, this keyword got an open rate of 16.3 percent, leading all other keywords.

“Intro” followed with a 16.1 percent open rate in 2011, while “toy” had a 14.7 percent open rate, “now” had a 14.5 percent open rate, “new” had a 14.2 percent open rate and “only” had a 12.8 percent open rate.

“Free” was included in 25.2 percent of email subject lines last holiday season, followed by “shipping” in 24.8 percent of subject lines, “sale” in 12.0 percent and “save” in 11.8 percent.

Epsilon concluded its report by offering three seasonal marketing tips:

incorporate pre- and post-holiday campaigns into 2012 holiday planning
be prepared for Black Friday and Cyber Monday volume
test a mix of tactics and leverage the lessons from 2011 in 2012 holiday planning and strategy

Source:

http://www.epsilon.com/tis-season-epsilon-releases-2012-holiday-trend-report