Those of you who play the email marketing game may well be interested in a recent report from US company DOUBLE CLICK. They completed analysis of more than 2 billion email marketing messages for 2004 and have compiled useful statistics in delivery, open and click through rates.

In summary, delivery rates have gradually increased since 2002, while open rates have declined and click-through rates have wavered but generally held steady. At the end of 2004, delivery rates stood at 90.6%, up from 87.3% at the end of 2003. Open rates were down from 36.8% in 2003 to 32.6% in 2004. Click-through rates declined slightly, falling from 8.4% at the end of 2003 to 8.0% at year-end 2004. Of interest, the researchers state that the lower open rates may have more to do with new anti-spam filtering software adopted by users which selectively quarantines messages with html or pictures.

For a copy of the full report click here.