DMers to Hike E-mail Spending

MORE THAN 80% of all direct marketers will increase their use of e-mail this year. Yet most feel that the e-mail lists on the market are average at best, and few firms rent out their own names.

Those are among the findings of the latest leadership survey by Victoria James Executive Search.

Of 62 respondents, 66% said they would increase their e-mail spending this year, almost 60% by a tenth or more.

The most popular day for sending e-mail is Tuesday. However, Wednesday ranks as the second most responsive day for business-to business mailers, and Monday for business-to-consumer firms. Almost all agreed that e-mail should never be sent on Saturday or Sunday.

Some 80% of the respondents do not rent outside lists for prospecting. Only 3% make a regular practice of it, while 19% do it occasionally.

That may be because the lists out there are poor. About 60% say the lists are average, and 33% believe they’re downright bad. More than half think they’re too expensive, compared with 42% that feel the cost is acceptable.

Firms that do rent outside lists use a variety of financial arrangements. Thirty percent use the traditional cost per thousand, 22% cost per acquisition, 17% cost per order and 15% cost per contact. Another 15% relies on all of the above.

Slightly less than half enhance their e-mail lists with outside data. Twenty-five percent use demographics, 16% append transactional data and 10% use psychographics.

Of the firms that use e-mail, 53% are doing it in house. A little less than half outsource it to an e-mail service provider.

Asked how they test, 30% of the respondents said they test all variables, including creative, copy, offer and list. But 19% test for copy only, and 18% for offer only. Thirteen percent restrict their testing to the list, and 9% to the creative. Ten percent don’t test at all.

Most respondents use traditional DM measurements for judging success. Two-thirds rely on response rates and sales for their acquisition campaigns, and slightly more for retention. Only 5% cite awareness as an indicator of success in acquisition efforts.

Victoria James Executive Search, Stamford, CT, conducted the survey in January. Seventy percent of respondents were vice presidents or higher.