While industry averages may be helpful, they should not be the main focus, rather companies should focus on continuous improvement regardless of how they stack up to the competition.
Ryan Moss
Research Analyst
Many e-mail marketers use industry specific metrics to measure the success of their campaigns, however there are many problems with using industry metrics for this purpose. First, there is a lack of standardization in how industry metrics are determined, which might lead to inaccurate comparisons. For example, something as simple as open rates may be calculated by company A using the number of messages sent, while company B might use the number of messages delivered. Until there is a standard way set out to calculate these statistics, companies should avoid paying too much attention to industry averages.
Even when a standard calculation method is developed, companies should still refrain from making industry averages their main focus. Certain companies may have internal restrictions that prevent them from reaching industry averages and in those cases there is simply nothing that can be done. On the other side of that argument, if a company is above the industry average it may just sit back and relax without taking steps toward improving their campaigns.
Rather then focus on industry averages, companies should set their own goals for improvement. These goals should be realistic and achievable with incentives offered to marketers if they reach or exceed them.
Tags: e-mail marketing, E-mail Metrics, email marketing, Improvement, Marketing, Open Rates
