This document discusses how marketers often make incorrect assumptions about customer engagement based on email open and click rates. It notes that a customer's level of inbox activity does not necessarily correlate with their level of brand engagement. The document advocates considering total customer interactions across all communications channels rather than just email metrics like open rates. It also warns against using open rates to determine optimal email send frequencies, as this can introduce biases into marketing strategies.

1. Why Your Most Active Customers
May Not be Engaged At All!
Dela Quist: CEO Alchemy Worx
uk.linkedin.com/in/delaquist @delaquist & @alchemyworx
dela@alchemyworx.com

2. Why You Should Listen To Me?

4. “Alchemy Worx did a great job creating
an email infrastructure that fit with our
unique business needs”
“…email-centric, but they’re
fully aware of how email
impacts other channels”
“…they are way ahead of the curve in
terms of thinking about the space”
“… a nice team to
work with”
“Everybody should
use them!”
“…a strong agency that
delivered as promised”

5. Confirmation Bias

6. Active - Engaged Inactive - Disengaged Dead
Typical View of Engagement

7. Behavior of more than 600,000 users over
3 months
http://bit.ly/1NjoGfG

8. Inbox Type – RP Definitions

9. Who are the most engaged?
Data Source Frequency Matters – Return Path

10. Not Inboxes – Subscribers
Data Source Frequency Matters – Return Path

11. Primary Secondary Dead
Fits doesn’t it

12. What send strategy does
“current best practice” suggest
you adopt for each group?

13. Current “best” practice
• Send more to your engaged or primary
• Reduce frequency to your inactive or
secondary
• Remove anyone who has not opened for
over ???? months

14. Confirmation Bias

15. Engaging with your email or cleaning
their inbox?
Data Source Frequency Matters – Return Path

16. Send more to the actives?
Data Source Frequency Matters – Return Path

17. Send less to the inactives?
Data Source Frequency Matters – Return Path

18. Never confuse
inbox related
activity with
brand
engagement
- Dela Quist
Never
confuse motion
with action
- Benjamin Franklin

19. Primary

20. Secondary

21. Dead

22. How we feel about email is not driven by
frequency but our relationship with the inbox
DMA Email Tracking Report

23. Confirmation Bias

24. Send frequency confirmation bias?

25. 4+ Per Week
Send frequency confirmation bias?
Data Source Frequency Matters – Return Path

26. Never use open rates to measure
engagement
Data Source Frequency Matters – Return Path: Analysis Alchemy Worx

27. Optimal email frequency is 6.21 emails
Data Source Frequency Matters – Return Path: Analysis Tim Watson

28. Send frequency confirmation bias?
Data Source Frequency Matters – Return Path

29. Never use open rates to decide optimal
frequency
Data Source Touchstone www.subjectlinegold.com

30. Never use open rates to decide optimal
frequency
Data Source Touchstone www.subjectlinegold.com

31. Open & Click Rates Make Us Blind

32. The Data Always Agrees
bit.ly/1Pz5doU

33. Group Sent Volume Opens Open Rate Clicks Click Rate CTO Unsub Rate
Complaint
Rate
1 Monthly newsletter 3 59,034 9,836 17.01% 1,870 3.23% 19.01% 0.54% 0.09%
1 Totals 3 59,034 9,836 17.01% 1,870 3.23% 19.01% 0.54% 0.09%
2 Monthly newsletter 3 57,028 8,294 14.82% 1,453 2.60% 17.52% 0.39% 0.12%
2 Resend 3 47,951 2,998 6.29% 508 1.07% 16.94% 0.38% 0.11%
2 Totals 6 104,979 11,292 10.89% 1,961 1.89% 17.37% 0.38% 0.12%
3 1st Bi Weekly E-Shot 3 56,630 7,951 14.27% 1,251 2.24% 15.73% 0.44% 0.09%
3 2nd Bi Weekly E-Shot 3 56,191 7,751 14.03% 1,219 2.21% 15.73% 0.35% 0.11%
3 Totals 6 112,821 15,702 14.15% 2,470 2.23% 15.73% 0.40% 0.10%
4 1st Bi Weekly E-Shot 3 56,696 7,754 13.89% 1,134 2.03% 14.62% 0.40% 0.11%
4 Resend 3 48,313 3,311 6.87% 900 1.87% 27.18% 0.36% 0.11%
4 2nd Bi Weekly E-Shot 3 56,109 7,192 13.02% 982 1.78% 13.65% 0.30% 0.08%
4 Resend 3 48,316 2,687 5.58% 482 1.00% 17.94% 0.28% 0.09%
4 Totals 12 209,434 20,944 10.10% 3,498 1.69% 16.70% 0.34% 0.10%
Use total opens/clicks to measure
engagement

34. Group
Mailable
Records
Mailings
Sent
Volume
Open
Reach
Opened
>1
Click Reach Clicked >1
Purchase
Reach
Purchased
>1
AOV
£/ Unique
Contact
List Churn
1 Monthly newsletter 19,678 3 59,034 26.99% 9.67% 6.88% 0.79% 1.39% 0.23% 179.58£ 5.57£ 1.58%
2 Monthly+ Resend 19,641 6 104,979 32.16% 16.71% 8.57% 1.35% 2.01% 0.31% 247.32£ 6.14£ 2.02%
3 Bi weekly E-Shot 19,646 6 112,821 32.25% 18.88% 9.66% 2.31% 2.10% 0.34% 225.78£ 5.96£ 2.28%
4 Bi weekly + Resends 19,747 12 209,434 38.97% 24.39% 13.36% 3.37% 2.11% 0.34% 243.32£ 6.17£ 3.52%
Use total opens/clicks to measure
engagement

35. Attribution Attribution Attribution
Bespoke analytics to find the right insight
and implement the relevant strategy

36. Touchstone: virtual subject line testing
www.subjectlinegold.com

37. Every Email You Send Is An
Opportunity To Engage

38. http://bit.ly/AWCalc

40. ImageWIZZ: highly personalized images
www.imagewizz.com

41. Further reading
Most popular articles:
FIVE reasons why open reach will revolutionise your email
marketing
http://bit.ly/1g4VGe7
Inactive subscribers – waste of time or gold mine? http://bit.ly/1v3ekHm
How to create emails that sell – even unopened http://bit.ly/1jGjbtI
Why every email is a reactivation opportunity http://bit.ly/1jGjcxJ
Is this common best practice costing your email program millions? http://bit.ly/1lwVlQs

42. Thank You & Stay in Touch
uk.linkedin.com/in/delaquist
alchemyworx.com/delaquist_ebook
dela@alchemyworx.com
@Alchemyworx
@delaquist
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