Contact Frequency Affects Click Through Rates

Bombarding your audience with messages could be driving them to opt out. The DMA survey results show that those contacted via email every month had an opt-out rate of below 1 percent. Those who were contacted on a weekly basis were more likely to become disinterested and this is reflected in a 2.5 per cent opt-out rate. Click through rates were seen to decrease when contact frequency increased.

"ESPs, and indeed clients, need to find the right balance between maintaining current relationships while not irritating with over-contact," said Richard Gibson, chair of the DMA Email Marketing Council's benchmarking hub.

"One solution is to let the customer choose. Providing customers with options regarding content and frequency of contact could ensure high click-through rates are maintained and less customers are likely to opt out."

Click through rates have improved over the last few years, as email messages become more targeted and relevant. According to the survey, two-thirds of ESP’s experienced opt-out rates of less than 0.5% in 2006, compared with 44% in 2005.

Tags: click through, content, DMA, email marketing, frequency