You probably send a lot of emails at your association. But do you ever wonder if those emails are actually effective? Maybe you’re monitoring the delivery rate and the open rate, but what actually constitutes as a good delivery rate or a good open rate?
For many, that’s debatable.
Fortunately, Informz, an email marketing software provider for associations and nonprofits, recently released its 2017 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report, and in that report, there’s a whole goldmine of information/statistics regarding association email marketing.
Want to know what’s normal and what’s not, what other associations are doing, and what’s actually working?! Check out these key takeaways from Informz’s 2017 Association Email Marketing Benchmark Report:
- Based on 2016 data, the average email metrics for associations include a 98% delivery rate, a 35% open rate, and a 15% click-through rate.
- Mobile dominated in 2016. 41% of emails were opened on a mobile device, whereas only 33% were opened on a desktop.
- Emails sent in late afternoon (after 3 p.m.) had the highest open rate of 36%.
- Friday had the highest open rate of 36% and the highest click-through rate of 16%.
- Subject lines with less than 10 characters had the highest open rate of 44%. That said, these types of emails accounted for less than 1% of the total email volume.
- On the flip side, emails with subject line lengths GREATER than 40 characters accounted for 50% of the total email volume, yet had open rates lower than the benchmark standard of 35%. (This signifies where change is needed!)
- Mobile readers engaged with emails longer than desktop readers. 67% of mobile readers spent longer than 10 seconds reading emails compared to 59% of desktop readers.
- iPhones accounted for 28% of all email opens. (Which is fascinating considering that’s only ONE TYPE of mobile device!)
One other key takeaway that’s worth mentioning is the fact that in 2016, the volume of emails sent through marketing automation campaigns grew exponentially – a 70% increase year-over-year! (Marketing automation campaigns refer to a series of scheduled emails, as opposed to one-off emails all conducted manually.)
Why this increase in automated emails? Well it may have something to do with the fact that results are generally better (because those messages are more targeted). In the report, Informz actually cites a marketing automation campaign that increased event registrations by 25%. (This is something your association may want to consider, not only for event registrations, but for dues renewals as well.)
The importance of knowing all of this is so you can improve your association’s email communications. The more effectively you can communicate with people, the more engagement you’re likely to see (whether that’s an increase in blog views, event registrations, dues renewals, etc.).
Want more tips for improving your association’s email communications? Check out our free email marketing guide below!
