Online marketing firm eROI recently reported that open and click-through rates for marketing e-mails in the U.S. were highest on Saturdays for the second quarter of 2006. This finding breaks the trend from prior quarters.
E-mail open rates were 38.3% on Saturdays, while click-through rates were 5.4%. Sunday was the second best day for e-mails, with open rates of 37.1% and click-through rates of 5.2%.
This study paints a different picture than the first quarter of 2006, when Tuesday was the best day for open rates, while Sunday was the best day for click-throughs. Oddly enough, Saturday had the worst open rate, and a click rate of 5.0%, which was in the middle of the pack.
This is also different from the fourth quarter of 2005. Fridays were the best days for both open and click rates. Saturday was the worst for both rates.
There are justifications for each of these findings, which may or may not affect this data’s significance. However, eROI does think that the most recent results indicate something about a shift in the strategy e-mail marketers are taking.
“We’ve seen a lot of uptick in more segmented B2C e-mails,” said Jeff Mills, a sales and strategy analyst at eROI.
Marketers seem to be sending e-mails closer to the weekend to target consumers’ weekend plans and activities.
The report also showed that 12:00 p.m. saw the most consumers clicking through their e-mails, with a rate of 6.2%, while 4:00 a.m. saw the most consumers reading their e-mails, with a rate of 38.4%.
In terms of opt-in e-mails, 79% of those who subscribe to business-to-business e-mail marketing receive them at their business e-mail address, compared to 19% of those who get their business-to-consumer e-mail marketing at their business e-mail address.
The study also showed that 24% of consumers receiving B2C e-mail received these e-mails at an e-mail address created specifically for these opt-in e-mails.
The data used to come to these conclusions about open and click rates came from e-mail campaigns that eROI sent out during the second quarter of 2006. The company also surveyed more than 300 people about their e-mail behavior.
Sources:
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=46717
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1004109
http://www.eroi.com/eMarketingGuide/Q2-06-stats-study.pdf
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