Sharing Newsletter Statistics
Each time one of our clients uses SwiftSend to release an email marketing message, SwiftSend generates a robust report. I thought it would be interesting to share some of our statistics.
The screenshot above is an actual report generated by SwiftSend showing what Email Programs (Also known as “Email Clients”) our recipients like to use. While it’s not really much of a surprise considering how much B2B work we do, Microsoft Outlook users take the cake with nearly 55%. Steve Jobs will be happy to know his Apple Mail has nearly 20%. Google’s Gmail comes in 3rd spot. Why is this important? Well for example, users using Outlook 2007 (15% of our subscribers) are unable to see background images built into newsletters. The email newsletters we design and build must be adaptable for this reason.
Skipable Geek Explanation: This is a limitation due to the fact that Outlook 2007 uses MS Word to render HTML content. Crazy I know! Current plans indicate Microsoft’s “Outlook 2010″ is planning on doing the same. This has those who offer eMail Marketing Services up in arms. There are many web-based, and social media movements attempting to stop this from happening.
The “Open Rate” report is the proverbial “Meat & Potatoes” of all the statistics SwiftSend has to offer. Often we hear the question “What is a good open rate?’
Well, in the above example (Our May Newsletter about Skunk-Fu) had an open rate of about 41%. Not bad. Compare that to other traditional marketing efforts and you’d be smiling.
For Open rates, there are a few general trends…
- As list size goes up, the open rate tends to fall; possibly because smaller companies are more likely to have personal relationships with their list subscribers.
- Companies and organizations that are focusing on enthusiasts and supporters, like churches, sport teams and non profits see higher open rates
- More specific niche topics, like some manufacturing areas also typically have higher open rates than emails on broader topics
