Email List Fatigue and Marketing Fatigue are a Reality: Interact in More Relevant and Cross-Channel Ways

Author:

J-P De Clerck

Source:

All email marketing service providers (ESP) regularly publish email marketing benchmarks. These benchmarks are especially interesting for the users of the ESP’s platform.
 
After all, it is very difficult to compare the benchmarks of various ESP’s because all suppliers operate differently, offer different features and even have various kinds of clients and specializations.
 
However, the benchmarks that have been published these last few months show a recurring problem: dropping open rates and interactions. The conclusion is obvious: in a communication world where people have increasingly more control over the communication channels and processes, the phenomenon of ‘list fatigue’ in email marketing and the ‘marketing fatigue’ in general becomes more obvious.
 
Washington established MailerMailer published its benchmarks yesterday. Along with all kinds of “cool” information like the most used words in email ‘subject lines’, we can also see that the ‘open rates’ continue to drop: in the first half of 2009 the ESP still had an open rate of 12%, in the second half this was 11,2%.
 
The trend is also visible with other ESP’s. But according to MailerMailer ‘list fatigue’ is not the only reason. The company believes that ‘image blocking’ and the increased use of ‘email handheld devices’ also play a role. According to the ESP, the ‘click rates’ are also dropping.
 
Naturally there are fluctuations in all these parameters and there is always more than one reason for a phenomenon. But now it is really clear that ‘list fatigue’ and ‘market fatigue’ have become an issue. Recent data from other ESP’s and the DMA emphasize that....