E-mail marketing is one of the more effective and less expensive ways to retain and engage customers.
In fact, early in 2009, comScore found that e-mail had a 4.4% sales conversion rate in the US. In a survey by MarketingSherpa and ADTECH, 44% of marketers said that e-mails to house lists had "great ROI."
CMOs told Epsilon researchers that e-mail was the marketing tactic that they would cut last, but that doesn't mean subscribers don't cut e-mail newsletters.
55% of e-mail subscribers in the US and Canada unsubscribe from opt-in e-mails occasionally and 14% do so frequently, according to an Epsilon and ROI Research study. Only 5% said they never unsubscribe.
Most Internet users unsubscribed due to irrelevant content.
Reasons internet users worldwide unsubscribe from permission-based emails, by region, April 2009 (% of respondents):
- Irrelevant content: 62% Asia-Pacific / 62% Europe / 67% North America
- Receive too frequently: 56% / 60% / 64%
- Think address being shared/sold: 30% / 39% / 50%
- Don't recall signing up: 20% / 31% / 48%
- Privacy concerns: 29% / 18% / 32%
(eMarketer, June 2009)
