Mailing volumes rose by 79 per cent between October 2004 and September 2005, according to the DMA's National Email Marketing Benchmarking Report, suggesting a growing confidence in email marketing.
However, research from email marketing agency Adestra has revealed that many of the heaviest email users in the UK, including Tesco, HMV and Buy Cosmetics Direct, are still not asking contacts to add them to their address books. Doing so stops email systems from treating those emails as spam, resulting in higher delivery rates and, potentially, more sales.
Adestra's research found that only 50 per cent included a message within their emails asking contacts to do this, and only 25 per cent included the request within the sign-up process on their web site.
"Being falsely labelled as spam can damage brands through negative associations and reduce revenues through lost opportunities," said Paul Crabtree, Adestra marketing director. "For companies promoting products in the pharmaceutical industry, for example, who are constantly troubled by key words in spam filters, being added to the safe sender list is essential to ensure their legitimate emails are delivered."
The DMA Email Benchmarking Report also highlights this as a problem for marketers. Conducted quarterly, its latest report amalgamates the findings from its Q1 to Q3 2005 surveys, which questioned UK ESPs (email service providers).
For the first time, the report asked ESPs to estimate the cost of legitimate emails being mistakenly blocked. Nearly 20 per cent said that the cost of blocked emails for their clients reached more than £250,000 per ESP last year.
Last year, however, also saw a concentrated effort by ESPs to develop their delivery management systems and the majority say they now achieve a delivery rate of about 90 per cent.
"The issue for all email marketers, regardless of whether or not they use an ESP, is that ISPs (internet service providers) decide on what gets through. By aiming to put a value on what is not getting through, we at the DMA are trying to make a case for the potential lost revenue," commented Richard Gibson, chair of the DMA Email Marketing Council Benchmarking Hub.
Also released last month, new research from Thomson Intermedia and KPMG revealed that direct mail spend had fallen for the second year running, which the study partly attributed to the rise in email marketing.
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