Decline in email click-through rates blamed on automation

The continued growth of machine-generated opens and a demonstrated lack of marketer maturity in marketing automation have been blamed for a decrease in email click-through rates across industries, as revealed by a recent survey from Deployteq, a part of the Inspired Thinking Group.

The company's Email Benchmarking Report 2024 unveils a decline of 0.31 percentage points in click-through rates since 2022, marking a drop to 3.16% from a high of 3.38%. Despite this industry-wide decrease, the report highlighted the government and the industrial and production industries as sectors with continued click-through rate success, registering 10.67% and 7.76% respectively. However, when specific to click to open rates, the industrial and production industry showed the greatest achievements at 21.91%.

The findings spotlight the necessity for marketers to enhance their efforts in order to keep subscribers engaged within an increasingly competitive environment created by the proliferation of email campaigns. Such efforts should focus on data-driven automation, personalisation and innovation, allowing for the delivery of content that is relevant, useful, and timely.

The survey findings also indicated a decrease in the Click to Open Rate over 2023, falling from a high of 5.9% to 4.7% in August, before re-stabilising at 5.7%. Even so, this still represents a significant fall from the 2022 average of 7.3%. As per the report, the decrease can be attributed to the surge in machine-generated opens that began in late 2021.

Pauline Buil, Marketing Director for Deployteq, emphasised the need for a more holistic approach to campaign success metrics. "Marketers have to pay real attention to the personalisation and relevancy of their communications. It is also important for marketers to acknowledge the limitations of open rate and click to open rate as a sole metric of success and concentrate on creating comprehensive strategies," she said. She also noted the importance of an email marketing approach delivering value and enhancing brand awareness, requiring marketers to devise precise methods to gauge the success of their outreach.

Supporting Buil's sentiments, Simon Ward, CEO of Inspired Thinking Group, underlined the importance of a data-driven strategy and innovation for success in the current email marketing landscape. "Through the integration of data and leveraging advanced technologies, businesses can consistently develop personalised campaigns to deeply engage customers, foster brand loyalty and drive sustainable business growth," he stated.

The report follows Deployteq's strategic expansion in the UK market, fostering partnerships with major brands such as Wickes, Center Parcs and Virgin Media. The insights provided by the data allow for a focused approach towards marketing automation, personalisation and improved strategies, these being critical for successful email campaigns in the modern digital environment.