Trigger messages saw an increase in Q4 2012 of 73% from Q4 2011 according to a recent report by Epsilon, the global leader in delivering direct-to-consumer connections that drive business performance and the Email Institute, the Epsilon-powered email best practices destination.
Triggered messages accounted for 5.0% of total email volume in Q4 2012, according to the report, 73% higher than in Q4 2011(2.9%), according to the report.
Epsilon released its Q4 2012 email trends and benchmarks report this week. The report analyzed performance trends in industry and message type to provide an understanding on how the average company in each category performs. The report, which analyzed 7.3 billion emails from a myriad of industries with approximately 170 participating clients.
Epsilon’s triggered email metrics was compiled from over 360 million triggered emails sent in Q4, across multiple industries. The campaigns were deployed as a result of an action, such as welcome, thank you, abandoned shopping car and confirmation.
The study highlights significant differences between triggered email performance and Business As Usual (BAU) email performance.
Non-bounce rates continued to drive strong results, only 0.4% lower than BAU industry metrics, according to the report.
Triggered open rates were 70.5% higher than BAU in Q412. This is a decrease over Q411 when Epsilon saw a lift of 93.8% over BAU messages. Triggered click rates continued to perform well, reporting 101.8% higher than BAU. Q411 triggered click rates showed a 123.0% lift over BAU.
According to a release, the report’s Email Activity Segmentation Evaluation (EASE) revealed that for the third consecutive quarter over 50% of the average brand’s opt-in email list had no activity.
Jim Davidson, manager of marketing research for Bronto Software, wrote in an recent article that email marketers should inject its brand’s personality in its order and shipping confirmation emails using images and copy that reflect the reasons the customers decided to buy from them.
According to Davidson, if there are long fulfillment times, consider introducing additional emails that relate to the product of the purchase. Send emails containing information on product usage, assembly, customization or guides that could help the customer even after they have received their shipment.
According to a recent Multichannel Merchant report on email marketing, trigger and transactional messages are low volume, but offer a great return on investment. Trigger emails can generate 25% to 40% or more of retailers email revenue while representing less than 5% of volume.