The Alchemy Worx Consumer Mailbox Index, a monthly survey of what email marketers are up to…
The AWCM Index [pronounced: aw-suh m], will regularly report on volumes, frequency, send days, from addresses, and spam folder messages received by the monitor.
This month we are very excited to be able to share the first year on year data from the AWCM index. Email marketing activity aimed at consumers has increased significantly in the downturn. Year on year the number of emails received by our inbox is up 29%! The growth is fuelled by increases in both the number of brands actively emailing their subscribers and the average number of emails sent by each brand.
Monthly volume received
The AWCM Index reveals that despite an 11% decrease in the number of emails received in August 2009 compared to July (down from 323 to 288), there was a 29% increase in the total volume of emails received in August 2009 compared to August 2008 (up from 223 to 288 – Figure 1).
Weekly volume received
Following decreases in the number of emails in week 33 and 34, week 35 saw an increase in the number of emails to 70, up from 62 in week 34 (Figure 2).
Over the next 12 months, we will be looking to identify the extent to which these changes are attributable to seasonality, and the current economic climate.
Average Frequency
While the number of companies sending emails decreased slightly in August 2009 to 72 (from 74 in July) of the 107 companies on the AWCM Index, the number of companies sending emails was 14% higher than recorded in August 2008 (up from 63 – Figure 3).
Figure 3: Number of Companies Mailing per MonthThe average number of emails sent per active company decreased to 3.78 however, the average number of emails sent per active company in August 2009 over the same month in 2008 increased (up from 3.54 – Figure 4).
Average Day of the Week (Aug08 – Sept09)
Across the 56 weeks that the AWCM Index has been running, the majority of messages (91%) were received in the monitor on week days. Thursday and Friday were the most popular send days during the working week, accounting for 21% and 24% of mailings respectively, ahead of Wednesday (18%), Tuesday (15%) and Monday (13% – Figure 5).
Day of the Week by Quarter
The share of messages received on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays increased in Q3 2009 over Q2 2009, with Thursdays increasing for the third consecutive quarter and Fridays for the second consecutive quarter. Mondays lost share for the third consecutive quarter, Tuesdays lost share for the second consecutive quarter, while Wednesdays and Sundays dropped in the latest quarter to fall lower than previously recorded in any of the AWCM quarters (Figure 6).
The AWCM Index was started in July 2008 with a fixed number of subscriptions. The index is made up of subscriptions to over 100 free email newsletters or offer programs. The companies represented in the survey cover a broad range of consumer goods and services, including travel, retail, supermarket, comparison sites, DIY / furniture, fashion, health, jewellery, mobile phones, movies, music, photography and electrical goods. Please email us for a full list of companies.
Analysis has been undertaken by Alchemy Worx and the independent Research agency BML.
Last updated: Nov 05, 2014 admin
