Email Open Rates Decline 16.5% in 2005

Email open rates have declined 16.5% in 2005, according to a study by ExactTarget. Click-through rates remained steady in 2005.

Email open rates have declined 16.5% in 2005, according to a study by ExactTarget. Click-through rates remained steady in 2005.

In 2005, open rates dropped at an average of 1.8% per quarter. Open rates came down to 35.5% in the fourth quarter of 2005, compared to 42.5% for the same quarter in 2004.

Click-through rates for the fourth quarter of 2005 increased to 6.6%, compared to 6% in 2004.

Morgan Stewart, director of strategic services at ExactTarget, said: “Late email adopters have the advantage of established best practices in email design that are more successful at getting subscribers to click-through. List fatigue also plays a role in the decline of open and click-through rates over time.

Established senders can combat this by developing re-engagement and list cleansing strategies. Organizations may want to take note of these practices and give their email programs a lift.” [Source]

The ratio of opens-to-clicks has come down from 6.6% in the first quarter of 2005, to 5.4% in the fourth quarter.

Morgan Stewart said: “The importance of sender and subject lines is increasing because subscribers are using them to determine if they are going to get engaged with an email. Higher engagement means more clicks.” [Source]

To request a copy of the study, click here.