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August 2005

real world newsletter statistics

AWeber, a popular broadcast email delivery system reports the following 30 day average email delivery statistics.

By evaluating these trends and how they impact email message open rates, VAs may better assist clients in planning ezine and autoresponder delivery campaigns. While these figures are reflective of only one company’s results, they can be applied generally across the spectrum of email broadcast programs and may influence newsletter and other message delivery and open potential.

Statistical Breakdown

12,561 subscribers in an average customer opt-in newsletter list.

Sunday generates the highest average open rate of 41.1%, followed by Saturday at 36.7% for newsletter sent date.

Average Open Rate by Sent Date: (higher is better)


 
 

Sunday

Saturday
Wednesday
Friday
Tuesday
Thursday
Monday

 41.1%
36.7%
34.0%
32.8%
29.6%
24.6%
23.2%		  

Sunday generates the fewest undeliverable bounces at 0.36% for newsletters sent on that date.

Average Undeliverable Rate by Sent Date: (lower is better)
  Sunday
Saturday
Friday
Thursday
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday		 0.36%
0.45%
0.47%
0.56%
0.77%
0.83%
0.88%		  

Monday is the most popular day of the week for customers to send their newsletters with 17.1% of newsletters being sent.

Percent of newsletters being sent by customers weekly:
  Monday
Tuesday
Thursday
Wednesday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday		 17%
17%
16.2%
15.8%
14.5%
10.3%
9.0%
 		  

The Results

  • An 8:00 AM EST send time generates the highest open rate of 50.6%. 
    Interestingly sending at 9:00 AM EST has a significantly lower open rate of 33.7% with the worst time to send being 3-4 AM at only 19% open rate.

  • Plain text messages are the most popular format of sending newsletters with 65.9% of all newsletters sent.  Mime format Text/HTML messages follow at 23.8% and a remaining 10.2% of customers still send HTML only messages even though it is strongly recommended to always include a plain text version.

  • Plain text messages generate the fewest undeliverable bounces at 0.46%. Mime format Text/HTML follows at 0.56% and HTML only messages have a whopping 1.09% undeliverable rate.  This is a significant reason behind our recommendation to always send a plain text alternative with HTML formatted messages.

  • Subject line personalization using the date generated an average open rate of 51.4% compared to personalization using the subscriber's first name generating 40.9% open rate.  Newsletters sent without personalization of any type in the subject line generated average open rates of 28.9%.

  • 17% of customer newsletter subject lines sent in the last 30 days contained date personalization while 19% used the subscriber's first name.  56.3% of subject lines did not contain any type of personalization.  Interestingly, using the subscriber's full name or last name generated lower average open rates at 20%

These results may clarify why a client's communications are not opened, read and acted on. Changing ezine, autoresponder and email campaign delivery day/times could have a tremendous impact. Personalizing the message and developing a focused subject line can also influence response.  Someone said, ". . .it's the little things that count".  One small adjustment you may positively impact your client's financial outcomes, and as a result increase the perceived value of your services. The client will continue to sing your praises and recommend your services to others. All because you keep up with technology trends and know how to implement change.


About the Author:
 Sharon Williams, MVA, PREVA, is president of The 24 Hour Secretary, an administrative, on and offline marketing, and virtual assisting company supporting busy entrepreneurs and professionals. Visit her virtual assisting services website for more information about how she can save you time, money and give you freedom to concentrate on income-generating activities, family and friends. Subscribe to Smart Business = Success, a free ezine stocked with business tips for busy entrepreneurs.