Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Conversion Rates When You Can't Convert.

Posted by Anonymous on 4/28/2008 at 3:18 PM ET 50 Points
I manage the email campaigns for 4 major travel brands. We have an exclusive sale with a major cruise vendor coming up that starts on 5/6. 3 of the 4 brands want to send their email at midnight on 5/5. The other wants to send their email mid-day on 5/5 when the sale is not even live. There is no waiting list, or any actionable links relating to this sale until 5/6 I contend that the consumer, on average, will not return to the email at a later date, and we are wasting an opportunity for incremental revenue. Are there any studies or metrics that support my case? Will customers still convert at the same rate if they cannot convert at the time that receive an email?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by michael on 4/28/2008 at 6:50 PM Member
    Well....are you talking about end users or travel industry professionals?

    If it's agents you're talking about I wouldn't send on 5/5 or 5/6. m Go with Wed 5/7.

    Michael
  • Posted by Neil on 4/28/2008 at 10:31 PM Member
    I do not think midnight is a good time as by morning the email may get lost in the shuffle.

    Schedule your email for every early on 5/6 so that people can open and use actionable links right away. There is no point in sending an email out without actionable links.

    The exception would be if you announced the coming sale ahead of time (right now!) to build some anticipation then scheduled the live link email on 5/6.
  • Posted on 4/28/2008 at 11:11 PM Accepted
    In direct mail, we know that if you can't get the recipient to take immediate action with the mailer, response can drop by 50% or more.

    This is because people misplace the mailer, it gets buried under other items as the days go by -- and, most importantly -- the next time they find the mailer, they might not be in the same buying mood as they were when they saved it originally.

    I haven't seen any specific data for email, but people are people, and I suspect email would have similar results.

    Also, if you send out an email containing disabled links, it may not be clear to the recipient that those links will begin working at a later date -- so you run the risk of having your email deleted.

    Send the email on 5/6 with actionable links.
  • Posted on 4/29/2008 at 9:33 AM Member
    I would send the email on 5/6 when the links are live. "Dead" links will only frustrate people who receive the email, and they are not likely to return to it.

    There is a report, by an email marketing company, measuring aggregate open and click-through rates by industry, by day, and by subject line, text vs. html, among other things.

    Here are some findings from the report:

    1) The average travel industry open rate is 25.69%

    2) Open and click rates are higher earlier in the week. Messages sent on Tuesday got the highest click through rates.

    Since every little bit helps (particularly with a high ticket purchase such as a cruise), you could point out these things and recommend that since 5/6 is a Tuesday, your open and click throughs will be higher on that day, making it a better choice.

    You can download the report here.

    https://www.mailermailer.com/metrics/
  • Posted by Neil on 4/29/2008 at 7:45 PM Member
    To add to what Jkaplin has said there is an unwritten rule in email marketing to never send an email on a Monday or Friday.

    However, it might be good to break the conventional wisdom and see what happens.

    This does not pertain directly to your question but just a general statement about emailing unwritten "rules."
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