Study Finds Top-Brand Marketers Are Missing Out On the 1-to-1 Marketing Advantages Offered By email Marketing

Eighty Five Percent of Marketers' Initial emails Lacked Personalization According To Return Path's New Subscriber Experiences Study

New York, New York and Denver, CO - For Immediate Release - Eighty five percent of companies failed to personalize the first email message sent to new subscribers, Return Path discovered with its new Return Path Subscriber Experiences study. This lack of customization, combined with other missed opportunities, leaves marketers unable to leverage the true power of email marketing.

Return Path, the leading email performance management company, conducted the study by subscribing and studying the email programs of 61 companies from the retail, consumer goods, travel, and media/entertainment industries.

The problem is not lack of data. Marketers are collecting information at sign-up that could be used to personalize their initial and subsequent emails. In fact, seventy percent of the companies studied collected additional information beyond a subscribers' email at sign up. Yet, 75% of the companies that collected that additional information did not use it to personalize their emails.

"As marketers continue expanding their use of email, they need to keep in mind the unique capabilities that email offers. If you're collecting information in addition to an email address when a person signs up, you should be using that information to create a personalized message. Personalization keeps subscribers involved with your brand and more inclined to purchase," said Bonnie Malone Fry, Director of Strategic Services.

In another surprising discovery, Return Path found that many email marketers are not acknowledging a new email subscriber with a welcome message. Sixty percent of the companies studied never sent a welcome message to new subscribers - missing out on an ideal opportunity to establish great rapport with new subscribers.

"Instead of putting out a welcome mat, marketers' are telling their subscribers to go away," said Fry. "This is not how you build a good relationship, either with customers or prospective customers."

Marketers are also struggling with the immediacy of email. In the age of instant messaging, Twitter, and constant updates from social networks, Return Path discovered that the companies studied sent their first regular email an average of nine days after a subscriber joined. In addition, 65 percent of those first regular email messages did not contain any special offer for the new subscriber.

"Combined with a lack of welcome message, this lag in sending email has implications for sender reputation and deliverability, too," said Fry. "Many people sign up for email, but quickly forget about the company if they don't get email quickly. When marketers finally do send something the risk is high that recipients will complain because they don't remember they opted in for the message."

While many marketers need to examine their email campaigns for personalization and quick engagement, the Return Path Subscriber Experiences study did find that companies across the board are intent on capturing customers' emails for future email marketing. Seventy seven percent of the companies studied made it easy to find their email registration box on their home page.

"The great news is that many companies are focused on growing their lists and ceding valuable website real estate to a subscribe function," said Fry. "Now they just need to close the loop by making the actual inbox experience really great for subscribers."

Return Path has recorded a webcast with Bonnie Malone Fry reviewing the study findings. Download that webcast here: http://www.returnpath.net/landing/subscribers. Downloading the webcast will also trigger an email message with a link to the study.

About Return Path
Founded in 1999, Return Path is an email performance management company dedicated to helping its clients build better relationships with their customers, generate higher response rates, and achieve significant returns on their investments from their email programs. More than 1,500 companies currently use Return Path's services to generate superior results from their email programs, taking advantage of Return Path's pioneering innovations in deliverability, email list quality solutions, customer acquisition, online market research, and best practices strategy. For more information, please visit www.returnpath.net.

Contacts:
Tami M. Forman
Return Path
212-905-5500 ext 205
tami.forman@returnpath.net

Jeff Rutherford
Jeff Rutherford Media Relations
413-369-4128
jeff@jeffrutherford.com