Consumer engagement with brand emails increased in the first quarter of 2018 thanks to fewer messages in inboxes, according to recent research from Yes Lifecycle Marketing.
The report was based on data from 7 billion emails sent by brands in 1Q18 via Yesmail360i, Yes Lifecycle Marketing’s cross-channel marketing platform.
Email marketing volume declined 29% between 4Q17 and 1Q18, due to a typical post-holiday dip in email cadence.
Consumer engagement with brand emails increased between 4Q17 and 1Q18 because of the dip in volume: The average open rate increased 6% quarter over quarter, the average unique click rate jumped 12%, and the total click rate increased 19%.
The share of email subscribers who were inactive for more than a year reached 22% in 1Q18, an all-time high.
Triggered emails garnered significantly higher open, unique click, click-to-open, and conversion rates compared with non-triggered emails in 1Q18, the researchers found.
The performance of email campaigns themed around holidays and events was a mixed bag in 1Q18.
Some campaigns, such as those themed around the Academy Awards, garnered higher than average engagement while others, such as those themed around April Fool’s, did not.
About the research: The report was based on data from 7 billion emails sent by brands in 1Q18 via Yesmail360i, Yes Lifecycle Marketing’s cross-channel marketing platform.
Ayaz Nanji is an independent digital strategist and a co-founder of ICW Content, a marketing agency specializing in content creation for brands and businesses. He is also a research writer for MarketingProfs. He has worked for Google/YouTube, the Travel Channel, AOL, and the New York Times.
LinkedIn: Ayaz Nanji
Twitter: @ayaznanji