PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new benchmark report from email marketing services provider Yesmail Interactive, an Infogroup company, finds that consumers open almost half of all brand emails on mobile devices, yet they prefer to interact with promotional messages on a desktop computer.
More than 5 billion marketing emails sent by Yesmail in the second quarter were analyzed for this benchmark study. The report reveals that marketers have failed to account for the shift to mobile by not optimizing emails read on a mobile device. While 49 percent of all email opens happen on a mobile device, the click-to-open rate (how many consumers clicked after opening an email) is significantly lower for mobile. Twice as many people click on an email after opening it on a desktop (23 percent) than a mobile device (11 percent).
"The findings show that many marketers are providing their customers with a poor mobile experience," said Michael Fisher, president of Yesmail Interactive. "The discrepancy between click-to-open rates means many consumers are disregarding mobile emails. Brands need to implement mobile-first strategies that rely on responsive design, customized content and easily clickable calls to action. Otherwise, their messages will be deleted or go unread."
The study finds that 61 percent of consumers now read at least some of their emails on a mobile device, with 30 percent reading email exclusively on mobile devices. Another one-third are device agnostic, meaning they aren't committed to either desktop computers or their mobile device and use them interchangeably – a practice referred to as "hybrid viewership."
Yesmail statistics show that iOS devices are consumers' top choice for reading emails on the go, with 82 percent of all mobile messages opened on an Apple device. Android comes in second with 17 percent of mobile email opens. Blackberry, Windows Phone and other devices combined account for less than 1 percent of mobile email opens.
Other mobile findings from the Yesmail benchmark report include:
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Consumer services companies, such as Groupon and Yelp, enjoy the best interaction on mobile devices, with a mobile click-to-open rate of nearly 20 percent. Financial services emails have the lowest click-to-open rate at 2 percent. Both industries have more than 50 percent mobile open rates (among the highest on an industry level), indicating that consumer services companies do a better job of optimizing emails for mobile.
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Sending emails three to seven times a week is the most effective frequency. Company databases with the highest percentage of active subscribers (21 percent) email at least once every other day. When emails are sent daily, that number drops to 11 percent. The numbers are lower yet for companies that email customers less than three times a week.
- Email hygiene is critical to the success of all digital communications, and while Yesmail is leading the industry with a 97% delivery rate for all email communications, marketers should focus on best practices for data hygiene as a 1% improvement in deliverability can move the performance needle significantly.
To download the full report, "Yesmail's Email Compass: The Mobile Effect," click here.
About Yesmail Interactive
We power intelligent customer interactions. We give you the insights to recognize and understand your customer to deliver contextually relevant digital communications- while respecting their preferences and privacy. We help marketers evolve their customer relationships through intelligent interactions via technology, insights and services in a near real-time multichannel environment. We help you compete in the age of the customer. For more information, visit www.yesmail.com.
About Infogroup
Infogroup's 1,900 employees enable clients – from local businesses to the Fortune 100 – to increase sales and customer loyalty by leveraging our proprietary Data Axle™ of contextually relevant real-time information on more than 235 million individuals and 24 million businesses to deliver the complete spectrum of value added data and innovative targeted marketing solutions. For more information, visit: www.infogroup.com.
