e-Business-Formula Internet Marketing Discussion Forum

[Kevin Robb]

Here follows a great report on opening rates of eMails.

Open rates on marketing e-mail and newsletters dipped in Q4 of 2005, according to the "Q4 2005 E-mail Statistics" report released by eROI.

From the Q3 to Q4 2005, open rates dropped 29 percent. Click rates fell 21 percent in the same period. The report speculates image blocking in Gmail, Outlook 2003 and other e-mail clients chipped away at open rates. The sheer volume of e-mail received over the holidays is another factor considered by the e-marketing agency.

The study finds Friday to be the best day to send e-mail. The past two quarters show a tendency for higher open and click rates on Friday. Tuesday gets the second-highest open rate, with Thursday earning the second-highest clickthrough rates.

Follow this link to see a great chart that rates each day and explains some of the things you can do to improve your opening rates.

Cheers

Kevin Robb

[Steve MacLellan]

Hi Kevin,

These stats must depend on who compiles them and from what sources. I remember Dad saying when I was a kid, that there are three types of lies. There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Tom Kulzer, CEO of Aweber published stats based on his autoresponder customers and service last August. You can [url=http://www.aweber.com/news/newsletter_statistics_for_best_open_clickthru_and_delivery_rates_1250.htm]read the report here[/url].

Of course this can't discount ClickZ Stats, as they are a trusted and viable source of information.

I always had better luck sending my homebusiness-websites.com newsletter on Wednesday, but on the other hand... when I was running and operating "Truro Used Cars" my newsletter did better on Fridays.

Best Regards,
Steve MacLellan

[webmonkey]

[quote="Kevin Robb"]Here follows a great report on opening rates of eMails.

Open rates on marketing e-mail and newsletters dipped in Q4 of 2005, according to the "Q4 2005 E-mail Statistics" report released by eROI.

From the Q3 to Q4 2005, open rates dropped 29 percent. Click rates fell 21 percent in the same period. The report speculates image blocking in Gmail, Outlook 2003 and other e-mail clients chipped away at open rates. The sheer volume of e-mail received over the holidays is another factor considered by the e-marketing agency.

The study finds Friday to be the best day to send e-mail. The past two quarters show a tendency for higher open and click rates on Friday. Tuesday gets the second-highest open rate, with Thursday earning the second-highest clickthrough rates.

Follow this link to see a great chart that rates each day and explains some of the things you can do to improve your opening rates.

Cheers

Kevin Robb[/quote]

Definately some interesting stats. I never thought about changing open rates for emails depending on the day. I guess it would make sense because those are the days people are more likely to vege out and read email all day.

I will make note of this when sending out email to our lists. Thanks for the tip!

[Kevin Robb]

I'm sure that it depends on your market but in my recent experience it seems that Friday is the best option.

If I send my Internet Marketing Newsletter out on a Friday it achieves by far the best opening rate, the next closest being Wednesday.

Monday and Tuesday are very poor days for me so I suggest you do your own trials to ensure that you are maximising your returns.

Cheers

Kevin Robb

[CarrieGee]

That's interesting Kevin, because it completely contradicts what I've read about e-mail response rates. If I can find the article I'll certainly post the link, but basically the message was that, if you're sending out e-mails that require a response, Friday is the worst day to do that.

Maybe people are using Fridays as their day to catch up on unread e-mail and the like, in order to have a clean slate for Mondays? That would make a lot of sense, and a well-timed newsletter that catches their attention on a Friday would fit in perfectly.