The State of Email Metrics and Bounce Management

The evolution of email from a novel way of exchanging information into being the pivot point for online communication and commerce has sparked dramatic growth in email marketing. No longera backroom operation targeting a niche audience, email marketing is now a signifi cant, highly sophisticated channel that drives serious revenue for companies. Unfortunately, many of the practices that emerged in the early days of email haven’t changed as the channel has matured. Email metrics and bounce management are two specifi c areas that have not kept pace with email’s evolution. While essential to evaluating and enabling successful email programs, these critical practices vary widely among email marketers and the service providers that support them.

Survey Objective & Methodology

To assess the current state of email metrics and bounce management, the Deliverability Roundtable of the Email Experience Council (eec) fielded complementary surveys to Mailers and Email Service Providers (ESPs) in October 2006. 321 Mailers and 29 ESPs responded representing a cross-section of both groups.

Results Highlight Need for Standardization

The surveys revealed a lack of standards around industry metrics, bounce data, defi nitions and bounce management practices. As a result, Mailers and ESPs are unable to properly execute, measure and compare results on their programs.

By surveying Mailers and ESPs separately, the roundtable was able to identify common themes, as well as the most critical issues for each group. Additionally, the separate surveys showed how Mailers’ perceptions of ESP capabilities differ from those self-reported bythe ESPs.

The surveys also asked Mailers and ESPs (together “senders”) an open-ended question to solicit the top fi ve things they would change about deliverability. The responses overwhelmingly support the overall survey results with a strong call for standardized metrics, more accurate bounce data and improved bounce management capabilities.

The results paint an alarming picture of the industry’s inability to defi ne, calculate, view and act on key metrics. The lack of standardization and inferior bounce management capabilities prevent senders from properly following through with best practices, which ultimately affects the end consumer as well as an organization’s reputation and bottom line.

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