Silverpop releases new B2B/B2C email study
Permission-based email marketing provider Silverpop has released a new study: Email Creative that Works. (The report is free with registration — look for it under “Resource Library” on the homepage.)
The company undertook a “comprehensive study of B2B and B2C email messages, evaluating a variety of creative elements and comparing open and click rates.”
Silverpop’s key findings for B2B email messages:
Those messages with the call-to-action below the fold recorded 58% lower average click rates than those with the call-to-action positioned above the fold.
Messages that included the company or brand name in the subject line had significantly higher open rates — by as much as 12 percentage points, which translates into 60% more opens.
Text-heavy messages received higher click rates than those with equal amounts of text and images. All-text messages received a whopping 54% higher click rate!
For B2B, a postcard format, versus a newsletter format, generated high average click through rates (a surprising finding). Silverpop thinks this is due to their novelty — postcard formats being the purview of B2C marketers.
The study reinforces the fact that email marketing remains a viable tactic for B2B companies. Use email to remind customers to:
- Purchase products when supplies run low.
- Keep your company top of mind with prospects who have long sales cycles.
- Present your company’s expertise and thought-leadership in your industry.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Interesting. I was struck by the point that “all text” emails draw far better than those with images. Would this suggest that images — in this type of format — reduce the credibility of the message?
Maybe the image makes it look like a piece of marketing propaganda, while the text alone (at least on some subliminal level) feels more personal and honest.
Would you agree with that hypothesis?
October 30th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
Dianna – Cool stuff. Very useful. Will impact my next newsletter. – Mike
October 30th, 2006 at 7:54 pm
Britton, the study didn’t state why all text draws better for B2B, but from what I’ve read in other articles and have heard other experts say, B2B recipients prefer text over HTML. For example, I just did an email campaign where the majority of subscribers requested text — because they’re reading messages on portable devices. Also, text messages seem to get through the corporate filters better than HTML messages.