Experian Marketing Services finds email volume increased 10 percent in Q2 2012

NEW YORK, Aug. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Experian Marketing Services showed that email volume[1] has increased 10 percent in Q2 2012 versus Q2 2011 according to the Experian^® CheetahMail^® 2012 Q2 email benchmark report. Experian CheetahMail also found that total open rates increased 1.5 percent in Q2 2012 versus Q2 2011.

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Analyzing the email volume among different industries shows that Travel and Consumer Products and Services emails reported the largest increases, with 41 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Media and Entertainment emails also reported a double-digit increase (17 percent) in Q2 2012 versus Q2 2011.There was only a 2 percent change in All Industry email volume from Q1 to Q2 in 2012, as all verticals except Travel had less growth from Q1 to Q2 in 2012 than they had for the same time in 2011.

"For Q2 2012, overall email volume increased 10 percent while open rates were slightly above the 2011 Q2 rates, as more than 55 percent of brands had statistically significant increases in open rates for Q2 2012," said Regina Gray, vice president of strategic services, Experian CheetahMail. "While click rates continued to show a year-over-year decline, there is some evidence that the rates are stabilizing. Email is still the most effective channel to connect with customers as we've seen a growing trend of brands utilizing social capabilities to acquire and engage consumers and fans across these new media channels."

The email and social media connection
The Q2 benchmark report analyzed the Q2 2012 mailings that had a reference to a social media site in the mailing name or subject line of the email - such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest - and then were compared to the performance of all other mailings from the same clients for the same time period found that:

• 70 percent growth in brands sending 'Like us', 'Follow us' or 'Pin us' email campaigns.
• Pinterest 'Pin us' mailings are generating unique click rates that are almost 25 percent higher than other mailings.
• Unique open rates for Twitter 'Follow us' mailings are 9.5 percent higher than those for their other mailings, but unique click rates are virtually identical to all of their other mailings.
• Coupons had over 50 percent higher click rates and double the revenue per email than campaigns without offers.

Experian CheetahMail's Q2 2012 Quarterly Benchmark Study is available to download.

Experian Marketing Services delivers best-in-breed customer data and insight, digital-marketing technologies and data management services into multiple regions around the globe. By helping marketers more effectively target and engage their best customers with meaningful communications across both traditional and digital media, Experian Marketing Services enables organizations to encourage brand advocacy while creating measurable return on marketing investment. For more information, please visit http://www.experian.com/marketingservices.

About Experian CheetahMail
Experian CheetahMail is the trusted service provider of integrated email, mobile, social and display marketing 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 (FTSE: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, India, Madrid, Beijing, Melbourne and Brazil. For more information, please visit http://www.cheetahmail.com or email [email protected].

About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients around the world. The Group 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 2012 was US$4.5 billion. Experian employs approximately 17,000 people in 44 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.

[1] Email volume is defined as mail sent from our clients or promotional email

Contact:
Matt Tatham
Experian Public Relations
1 212 380 2939
[email protected]

SOURCE Experian Marketing Services