Kiersnowski's company is one of 27 of the UK's email service providers (ESPs) - together, they're responsible for 75 per cent of all registered email traffic sent by third parties - that have agreed to take part in a regular collection of data to help increase understanding in the sector.
Initial figures released cover basic statistics such as how often, on average, customer retention emails are sent (50 per cent go out once a month, the research reveals). But, eventually, it is hoped that the DMA's Email Benchmarking Report will become a quarterly must-read for email marketers and that some key issues will be addressed as well.
Kiersnowski suggests: "The report can only be a good thing, chiefly because there just isn't any (industry data). It will make public quite a bit of data from our own campaigns. If you're a service provider, it will be useful to know how many emails are being sent out."
He adds: "Deliverability is a hot topic at the moment. The research will help us to count the number of 'false positives' (emails that are reported as having arrived, but actually go straight to spam folders or are not sent on by users' ISPs). And if you can find out how big the problem is, it gives us more ammunition to address the issue, whether that's with the ISPs or the spam-filter companies."
The aim of the report is to provide essential data on which to base decisions and to persuade clients of the worth of email-marketing campaigns.
Given that other forms of online media play the accountability and measurability cards so heavily, it is crucial to overcome the lack of generic email statistics, such as deliverability and open rates.
Nik Margolis, managing director of email agency Squeeze Digital, reckons the new figures could not have come too soon. "For too long, 'email' has been the marketplace for the charlatan and the 'spin meister'," he suggests.
"The lack of industry benchmarks - indeed, the lack of traditional agency virtues - in this sector, has meant that far too many clients fall for cheap tricks and pretty graphs.
"We've all heard the same lines. 'Rich media emails are twice as responsive as plain HTML' - yes, but what about the 71 per cent of recipients who cannot see the rich media? 'Clickthrough rates of 50-60 per cent' - yes, but is a sample size of six statistically valid?" he asks.
Richard Gibson, who is leading the project for the DMA, reckons: "From what you get from ESPs at the moment, the data tends to be skewed, purely because it can only be based on their own customer base - this is the first view of the entire industry. And, because every contributor is generally already a DMA member, they have signed up to the code of conduct and you know they deal with blue-chip customers."
However, some major ESPs have still to be persuaded to take part in the research; three, in fact, though their names are a closely guarded secret.
This anonymity is real. Skip Fidura, director of European operations at email agency Digital Impact, is chairing the deliverability hub on the project and even he can't see who supplies which data. But this anonymity is essential since Gibson hopes to bring the rest of the sector on board.
He is confident that, once the first report has been digested and its value realised, gaining the input of other companies will be simpler next time round.
"What we are trying to do is start the process going," he explains. "Next time we'll have more information, and we'll be able to track trends and so on."
Simone Barratt, UK managing director of email marketing agency e-Dialog, which was also heavily involved in the project, considers the report "quite a breakthrough". She adds: "We managed to get 27 of the UK's ESPs (to take part) and I think that shows a willingness to share information.
"Over time, it will be more about looking at trends - at the moment, it is just a snapshot. It also does a job in terms of educating the client base about the sorts of things they should look for and the questions they should be asking," she adds.
Essentially, the report will provide industry averages for key data, such as open rates for different campaigns. Agencies will be able compare this information with other media and clients will be able to contrast it with their own efforts. Also, such data will help to inform the entire industry on which types of campaign are most successful, prompting better email marketing in future.
"One of the first things that I'm asked by new clients who are running (email marketing) programmes is 'how am I doing?'," comments Margolis at Squeeze Digital.
"The National Email Marketing Benchmarking Report should offer those clients the metrics they need to effectively benchmark their own activities. And, for the industry as a whole, they should give more confidence and support to those looking to start an email marketing programme."
Barratt of e-Dialog says that the next goal is to attract input from clients in the next issues of the survey to give it even more credibility.
Margolis concludes: "For the first time in five years, the industry is showing real signs of maturing. This DMA initiative - alongside the Institute of Direct Marketing's repositioning to give digital its rightful place alongside direct and data, and a growing understanding that email is the new direct marketing channel - means this really could be the year that email finally gets a seat at the table it richly deserves."
See news, p14
FINDINGS OF THE DMA EMAIL MARKETING COUNCIL
The council's first Email Benchmarking Report (January 2005) found that:
- 68 per cent of all acquisition emails are sent on a weekly basis;
- 50 per cent of all retention emails are sent once a month;
- The most popular type of emails sent, which accounted for 73 per cent of the total, are product promotions and newsletters;
- Eight per cent of all email service providers' (ESPs') clients market to both businesses and consumers, although, in terms of volumes sent, there is a heavy emphasis on business-to-customer (b2c) marketing;
- The largest industry sectors that are served by ESPs are b2c travel and leisure (26 per cent) and b2c retail (14.8 per cent);
- Following increasing concern that some solicited emails are being accidentally blocked by ISPs, 41 per cent of ESPs are now tracking that email has been received (no soft or hard bounce) and also that it has successfully made it past 'bulk' folders into an inbox;
- While all clients can measure ROI, less than 40 per cent of the survey's respondents said that their clients actually tracked conversions.
.jpg)
.jpg)