Experian®, the global information services company, today published annual research that reveals that one in six marketers in Australia have no means in place to measure the success of their email campaigns. Despite this, 95 per cent of marketers believe their marketing campaigns generate average to good ROI.
The lack of reporting and measurement tools mean that marketers have no idea whether campaigns achieve positive business outcomes or indeed whether they damage their brand by sending out irrelevant content.
Despite the fact that many are blind to the results, the research confirmed that there is a growing dependency on email marketing for lead generation and customer retention. 31 per cent of marketers send five or more email communications per month and 67 per cent plan to increase campaign frequency into 2010.
Compounding the increase in volume, a quarter of all marketers in Australia still do not segment their email campaigns, continuing to opt for a ‘load and blast’ approach (26%). However, this is an improvement on the findings from Experian’s 2008 research which revealed more than a third of marketers did not use segmentation (35%).
John Merakovsky, Director of Experian CheetahMail, APAC, said, “It is not surprising that given its high return on investment, the use of email marketing by Australian organisations is increasing. However, too many marketers continue to ignore the need to improve the quality of email campaigns. With so many organisations now conducting email marketing, consumers are struggling with a very crowded inbox.”
Even marketers themselves admitted they are bombarded with too much content via email with almost two thirds claiming they delete between 25 and 75 per cent of all marketing communications they receive from other organisations without reading them. 24 per cent delete more than half.
Added to this rise in email fatigue, marketers also face a growing pressure from their senior executive team with the research indicating 74 per cent of executives value or highly value email marketing.
Merakovsky continued, “The research shows there is a clear division in quality occurring in the Australian marketing industry as a significant proportion of marketers still fail to embrace more advanced email marketing. With executive pressure to make the most of this effective marketing tool, marketers are currently focused on just getting the email out. Marketers need to focus on providing audiences with relevant content and they also need to pay more attention to the accuracy of their email programs to see continued increase in its impact. If not, the risk is a poor return on investment and even brand damage if they fail to refine techniques.”
In response to the increasing challenges that marketers face, a full report of the Experian research is available in a free paper that reveals the missed opportunities to enhance email marketing.
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Notes to editors:
The research was commissioned by Experian and conducted by independent research house, PureProfile. It examined the views of more than 300 B2B and B2C marketing professionals across multiple industries in Australia. The respondents’ roles ranged from marketing directors to online marketing managers and executives.
About Experian CheetahMail
Experian CheetahMail is the trusted service provider of online marketing solutions for top enterprises worldwide. Offering industry-leading email marketing and customer intelligence solutions, as well as providing a broad range of client services, Experian CheetahMail enables clients to build data-driven, relevant relationships with their customers.
Servicing the world’s most recognisable brands, Experian CheetahMail’s globally diverse client base includes Barclays, Borders Books, Discovery Communications, KLM, and Wyndham Hotels.
Experian CheetahMail, a business unit of Experian® Group Ltd. (LSE:EXPN), was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in New York City with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, Melbourne and Barcelona.
For more information, please visit http://www.cheetahmail.com.au or email info@cheetahmail.com.au
About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 65 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.
Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2009 was $3.9 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; Costa Mesa, California; and São Paulo, Brazil.
For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.