The Alchemy Worx Consumer Mailbox Index, a monthly survey of what email marketers are up to...
The AWCM Index [pronounced: aw-suh m], regularly reports on volumes, frequency, send days, from addresses, and spam folder messages received by the monitor.
The AWCM Index reveals an 8% increase in the total volume of emails received in July 2009 compared to June (up from 298 to 323). This is the highest level recorded so far in 2009 (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Monthly volume received
Following increases in the number of emails in week 30 and 31, week 32 saw a slight decrease in the number of emails to 74 and week 33 saw a further decrease to 73 (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.
Figure 2: Weekly volume received
The number of companies sending emails increased slightly in July 2009 to 74 (from 73 in June) of the 107 companies on the AWCM Index, returning to the level recorded in March 2009, but falling short of the levels recorded in April and May (75 each - (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Number of Companies Mailing per Month
Despite a drop in the number of emails received, the increase in the number of companies sending emails in July over June meant that the average number of emails sent per active company increased to 4.15, to the highest level recorded so far in 2009 (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Average Frequency
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 23% of mailings respectively, ahead of Wednesday (18%), Tuesday (15%) and Monday (14% - (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Average Day of the Week (Aug08 - July09)
The share of messages received on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays increased in Q3 2009 over Q2 2009, with Thursdays increasing for the third consecutive quarter. Tuesdays lost share for the second consecutive quarter, down from c17% in Q1 to c14% in Q3 2009, and Sundays dropped in the latest quarter from c5% to c3% to fall lower than the level recorded in Q3 2008 (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Day of the Week by Quarter
Methodology
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, jewelry, 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
(www.bookmarketing.co.uk)
