Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business. You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)

Email timing is critical to marketing success

The 'Email Delivery Performance Survey 2012' study found that 80% of business leaders reported performance increases from emails delivered during a particular time of day, and 60% reported a decrease in performance when emails did not arrive at a scheduled time.

Despite the fact that most business (74%) said they would like more control over the arrival of their email campaigns, the study found that 53% were not actually testing for an optimal delivery window, and 61% were not doing any segmentation of email campaigns based on time of day.

"The time when an email arrives in a recipient's inbox can play a significant factor on whether it's read or acted upon; however, it's clear from this survey that not enough marketers are testing for optimal delivery windows nor have the control they need to get messages delivered when they can be most effective," said David Atlas, senior vice president of marketing for StrongMail.

For example, according to Jessica Shapiro of flash sale site Zulily, many mothers have made the site's 6.00am boutique-brand offer email part of their daily routines. These emails, delivered by StrongMail, help to ensure that Zulily meets its members expectations and provide them with a valuable service that builds engagement and loyalty, and maximises email views and open rates.

With 80% of the survey's respondents reporting that they have seen spikes in performance based on when emails are delivered, it is perhaps surprising that more than half (53%) aren't actively testing for optimal email delivery windows. It is interesting, however, that 87% of marketers report that there are tangible benefits to being able to control when emails arrive. Two of the top three benefits are linked directly to the primary goals of nearly all email campaigns: increased engagement (65%) and increased revenue (34%). The ability to run time-sensitive promotions (54%) was the second most important benefit, which emphasizes the importance that email timing plays in limited inventory promotions (e.g. flash sales) or any communication where success is linked to the start of an event (e.g. flight status updates).

While the survey results confirm that most marketers do understand the value of getting emails delivered when they are most relevant, nearly three-quarters (74%) said they would still like more control over the arrival time of their campaigns. But there are several factors that can limit a marketer's ability get their messages delivered during a set delivery window: With the top inhibitors being identified as internal resources (50%) and email service provider (ESP) limitations (22%), it is important for marketers to partner with a provider that has the resources and technology required to guarantee delivery of email campaigns within a set delivery window.

The full results of the survey have been made available for free download from StrongMail's web site - click here (PDF document; no registration needed).

Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business.

You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy. Grab this goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, technologies, research, suppliers and partners, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid CX strategy.

While most marketers could list maybe a dozen key points for improving their brand's Customer Experience (CX), the researchers and writers at The Marketing Factbook have identified FORTY main 'CX Keys' which will help you drive your customers to new levels of delight, loyalty, advocacy and profitability.

The areas in which customers have direct contact with your organization are perhaps the most obvious places in which CX improvements can be made, and this report addresses all 24 of these 'Direct CX Keys', applicable to offline and online businesses alike.

At the same time there are many other areas that indirectly affect CX (such as the supply chain, policies and processes) in which every business can make simple but far-reaching improvements. This report guides you through the problems and solutions for all 16 of these 'Indirect CX Keys', many of which are often forgotten or under-played even in the best CX strategies.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)