Email Marketing Research

Email Marketing Creative Formats- Text or HTML?

Opt-in News Email Marketing Research Brief: Email Marketing Creative: Favorable Formats Html email continues to dominate the industry as the preferred format and ad copy choice among permission-based email marketers. Included in the strategic development of permission-based email marketing campaigns is the decision on which creative format should be implemented. Similar to audience segmentation, demographic and geographic profiling, content and timing, the format is an important factor of an email marketing campaign. Some factors considered when determining the selected format include: Audience acceptance - Comprehending what email client a list audience possesses and what email formats the client supports. Time to display - Calculating an audience connection speed coupled with the creative file size to determine the loading time for recipient to view an email message. Source of broadcast - Depending on the source used for a mailing, what creative formats are supported; costs associated with broadcast; and file location (hosted or embedded). B2C Direct Email Creative In 2003 the favored choice among email marketers for their permission-based direct email campaigns continues to be that of the Html formatted copy. As broadband accessibility among consumers increase the use of larger file sizes and more dynamic Html solutions grow. Although only a slight increase from 2002, the use of Html has broadened its use considerably from 1999. Compared to only 18% usage of the format in 1999, Html formats now dominate the permission-based email marketing industry comprising more than 81% of all direct email marketing campaigns that target consumers. Today, the permission-based email marketing industry primarily leverages three messaging supported formats. These formats include Html, text and the use of richer media such as Flash. Currently Html formats hold considerable ground over any other creative type used for consumer-based direct email marketing campaigns. According to our 2003 study, 81% of consumer-based email campaigns are formatted for Html, while 16% are text-based formats, and only 3% of consumer-based emails broadcast in 2003 used a richer media format such as Flash. Over the last four years Html and text-based formats have switched roles as the primary email format used by permission-based marketers for consumer related campaigns due to audience acceptance, increased accessibility in broadband, and technology advancements in the email messaging industry. Although the use of richer media formats offer more consumer interaction as well as ability to demonstrate sound and video, the accessibility in broadband among consumers is still a deciding factor when selecting an email creative format. Rich media formats have increased over the last couple years in use, but continue to make up only a small portion of the overall consumer-based email campaign format. Since 1999 Html has increased usage by more than 60% with a steady incline each year. Text-based email formats have decreased from 82% in 1999, to fewer than 20% of all consumer-based email marketing campaigns in 2003. Some analysts contribute this swing to more Html tools for marketers offered by list management solutions. B2B Direct Email Creative Business-to-business audiences, unlike consumer-based audiences, have been a more difficult sell for email marketers in the industry. The audiences tend to require more substance within the content mailed, and the addresses themselves are far more difficult to acquire than that of their consumer counterpart. Since B2B recipients are more likely to possess broadband connection, it is no surprise that the Html format is favored among permission-based email marketers when targeting these audiences. In 2003 there has been a 5% increase in the use of Html emails with 87% of B2B direct emails formatted for Html. Although Opt-in News currently offers no specific research data, it is estimated that more than 50% of all Html formatted business-to-business email marketing campaigns provide a text-based copy for recipients who possess email clients that are not supporting an Html format. According to the 2003 study, only 4% or twelve of the 300 B2B direct email campaign included in the research, were comprised of a richer media format such as Flash. Unfortunately this number can be deceiving, due a small portion of the 87% of Html direct email campaigns may have included links or banners that were comprised of a richer media format. This study reflects the primary technology utilized for the development of the direct email creative format. EXAMPLE: If a direct email campaign were created in an Html format, yet offered a small Flash-based animation, the campaign would still be considered an Html campaign for this study. Compiled Research The 2003 study consisted of approximately 500 B2C and 320 B2B direct email campaigns in the U.S. and Canada 2003 Comparison Summary of B2C and B2B Direct Email Format Usage HTML B2C B2B Analysis The study defines HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) usage as any campaign primarily using HTML as the foundation for the creative format. Currently 81% of all permission-based direct email campaigns leverage Html as the creative format. Currently 87% of all permission-based direct email campaigns leverage Html as the creative format. Both B2C and B2B permission-based direct email formats used throughout the U.S. and Canada are primarily composed in Html. More than 278 B2B direct email campaigns included in this study used Html as their primary format in 2003. Text-based B2C B2B Analysis The study defines Text-based (ASCII text) as any campaign that primarily used text as the direct email campaign format. Currently 16% of all permission-based direct email campaigns leverage Text as the creative format. Currently 9% of all permission-based direct email campaigns leverage Text as the creative format. There has been a 33% decline in the usage of text-based formatting for B2B campaigns since 2000. In addition, B2C text usage has dropped 66% for direct email usage since 1999. Rich Media B2C B2B Analysis The study defines Rich Media (such as Flash, etc) as any campaign that is uses either entirely or primarily rich media as the foundation of the format. Currently 3% of all permission-based direct email campaigns leverage a form of Richer Media as the creative format. Currently 4% of all permission-based direct email campaigns leverage a form of Richer Media as the creative format. Although rich media continues to be used in such a small percentage of overall direct email campaigns for both the B2C and B2B audiences, the format is incorporated more often within Html email formats. B2C Email Newsletter Creative As direct email providers within the permission-based email marketing industry continue to argue over which form of email marketing provides advertisers the greatest benefit, direct email vs. email newsletter sponsorships, the email newsletter continues fill their ad spaces with sponsors. Unlike direct email, email newsletter sponsorship incorporates paid advertisements within content related to a specific audiences interest or industry, rather than a stand-alone commercial email message. Depending on the format the email newsletter is published, the availability of Html, rich media and text-based sponsorships are decided. If a publisher only publishes his or her email newsletter in text, an advertiser may not leverage the use of Html or rich media formats for their ad copy. As both web-based and software providers of list management solutions increase the tools and ability to publish email newsletters, commonly referred to as ezines, within their services, publishers continue to expand their publishing formats. According to our 2003 study, more than 58% of advertisers sponsoring B2C email newsletters use Html formatted advertisements when targeting consumers. This is a 5% increase from a 2002 Opt-in News study where 56% of advertisers leveraged Html. Forty-two percent of advertisers published their advertising in text-based formats and less than 1% used rich media. Compared to our 2002 study, the use of Html creative for sponsorships within permission-based email newsletters has increased slightly. Currently 58% of all U.S. and Canadian B2C email sponsorships with email newsletters are Html formatted. This is a 2% increase from the 56% of Html usage in 2002. Although Opt-in News expects the use of Html as an email marketing format to continue growth over the next few years, the text-based formats will also keep their place within the industry. Due to a loyal following and a vast amount of text-based publishers, the life span of "text formatting" will maintain as long as email clients offer users the ability to select which format they wish to have email messages delivered within their email inboxes. B2B Email Newsletter Creative As more publishers consider the needs of advertisers, their formatting options increase. In 2003 there has been noticeable increases in the incorporation of richer media solutions, such as Flash with business-to-business email newsletters. Size and layout of the rich media usage varies considerably across publications, but an obvious increase is taking place. Although the use of Html formatting is growing among B2B email newsletter publishers, and is currently the most used, richer media options in 2003 have gained ground. In our most recent study we found that 57% of B2B email newsletter sponsorships in 2003 have been formatted for Html, 39% formatted in text, and 4% have been formatted in a richer media format - more than three times the usage amount in 2002. As more publishers open their options for Flash-based sponsorships, the interactive format is expected to expand in 2004 and 2005. Compared to consumer-based email newsletters, HTML is used 1% less in B2B formats. In 2003 B2C and B2B HTML formats have increased sponsorship usage by 2% between both U.S. and Canadian email newsletters. HTML File Size Publishers of permission-based direct email and email newsletters that offer HTML sponsorship formats primarily restrict ad copy to specific guidelines. These guidelines may consist of positioning or placement, dimensions such as pixels, and overall file sizes (k). The file sizes restrictions are primarily decided on the connection speeds possessed by the targeted audience. A list that is compiled of users that all possess a broadband access would be more likely to offer a larger sponsorship (file size) than that of a list composed of dialup users. According to research in 2003 by Opt-in News of size scale between 5-25k, approximately 43% of direct email list publishers offer sponsorships of no greater than 15k per email message. This is an increase of 7% from a 2002 study. ?

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