I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mitch Rouda on a number of consulting assignments over the years. Frankly, you’d be hard pressed to find someone more knowledgeable about the publishing industry. Mitch has worked with over 40 organizations over the past three years and gives the following advice and statistics regarding enewsletter open rates – and – how media and non-media companies can improve their results.
Open Rate Ranges
From a low of about 8% open rate to a high of 45% open rate.
The average open rates for decent enewsletters are mid- to high-teens.
Monthly enewsletters average in the low 20% range.
Daily enewsletters average in the mid-teens.
How Do I Improve My Enewsletter Open Rates?
List quality (the #1 factor).
Quality of the communication in general (appeal, brevity, relevance).
Subject line.
Frequency (the more frequent get opened less).
The frequency of other promotional emails going to the same list.
Average Click-through Rates (CTR)
As for click rates, typically ads in enewsletters receive about twice the clicks of ads on corresponding web sites, when measured against OPENED newsletters. So 10,000 impressions online might yield a 0.2% click rate on average (20 clicks), but 10,000 impressions in an enewsletter will yield 1,000 opens (if a 10% open rate) and then a 0.4% click rate (4 clicks).
A more relevant CTR to look at is total clicks (all ads and edit clicks combined) measured against open rate. We like to see that number between 30 and 50%. So if 1,000 opens, there should be a total of 300 to 500 clicks. Most of the clicks will be on the content (editorial) areas.
In Summary
Make sure your enewsletter list is opt-in (requested by the subscriber).
The content needs to be relevant to the reader.
Editorial content wins out over advertising content.
Be careful of list burn (too many emails to the same list).
Thanks Mitch!
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