Experian CheetahMail Finds Deeper Discounts via Email Have Increased 30 Percent This Holiday Season

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Experian® CheetahMail®, the leading global technology services provider of integrated email, social, mobile and display marketing, today released new data indicating that deeper discounts are being offered through email more frequently this year. This holiday season, the percentage of campaigns offering 50 percent off is up 30 percent compared with the same time period in 2010. Those campaigns offering 10 percent and 20 percent off have decreased.

Top subject line words
Looking at the top 25 keywords in email subject lines (see table below), discounts and offers in general are more popular this 2011 holiday season than last year. This is evident through the year-over-year growth (18 percent) on the use of "% off" in subject lines. The use of "50% off" saw the biggest year-over-year growth, with a 30 percent increase. New to the top 25 subject line list this year is "30%," replacing the word "hot" from the 2010 holiday season. Also notable is that 16 of the top 25 subject lines include words that relate to offers or urge action by the subscriber, such as "Today," "Only" and "Now."

With a typically large increase in email volume thus far this holiday season, a number of other trends are more apparent than ever:

• There have been more than three times as many campaigns with "Facebook" in the subject line so far this holiday season compared to 2010.
• Flash sales continue to increase in popularity, with 31 percent more campaigns versus this time last year.
• Similar to last year, mailings on weekends make up 17 percent of the volume and provide 22 percent of the transactions and 21 percent of total revenue. 

"Each year, email volume increases dramatically over the holidays and retailers are constantly refining their strategies to ensure their offers are top of mind with their subscribers. While discounting has been considerable, our customers are also sending more relevant and targeted content to their subscribers and in many cases have reduced email send volumes for 'bulk' emails year over year. The combination of great offers, great content, and mailing to engaged customers has yielded terrific results thus far,"  said Rachel Bergman, general manager, Experian CheetahMail.  

To keep up with the latest trends in holiday email marketing, visit Experian CheetahMail's blog, http://www.emailresponsibly.com.

About Experian CheetahMail
Experian CheetahMail is the trusted service provider of email marketing and customer intelligence technologies for top enterprises worldwide. With the industry's largest client services teams, feature-rich email technology and a broad range of data management options, Experian CheetahMail enables clients to build data-driven, relevant relationships with their customers. Servicing the world's most recognizable brands, Experian CheetahMail's globally diverse client base includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Chicos, Neiman Marcus and Wyndham Hotels. Experian CheetahMail, a business unit of Experian (LSE: EXPN), was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, Sydney, Auckland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Madrid, Beijing, Melbourne and Brazil. For more information, please visit http://www.cheetahmail.com or email [email protected].

About Experian Marketing Services
Experian Marketing Services delivers best-in-breed data, analytics and platforms into multiple regions around the globe. It is focused on helping marketers more effectively target and engage their best customers through email, digital advertising, customer data management, customer and competitive insight, data enrichment and list rental, modeling and analytics, and strategic consulting. Through these capabilities, Experian Marketing Services enables organizations to encourage brand advocacy, create measurable return on investment and significantly improve the lifetime value of their customers. 

About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 80 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2011 was US$4.2 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 41 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Experian CheetahMail