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The AWCM Index
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[pronounced: aw-suh m]
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The Alchemy Worx Consumer Mailbox Index - a monthly survey of what email marketers are up to...
Welcome to the AWCM Index. Every month we report on different aspects of B2C emails received by our monitor, including volumes, frequency, send days, from addresses, subject line lengths, spam folder delivery, and anything else we think you might find interesting.
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. For a full list of companies, please email us.
The AWCM Index reveals a 26% decrease in the total volume of emails received by the AWCM index in January 2009 compared to December 2008 (down from 384 to 283). The January volume figure was also lower than in October and November 2008, but 18% ahead of September 2008, and 27% ahead of August (See Figure 1).
Figure 1: Monthly volume received
The 44 emails received in the week straddling the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 ('week 1') was the lowest recorded since the AWCM began. However, since that low, the volume of emails received has been in excess of 60 per week, representing a return to the levels seen in October 2008. Moreover, volumes have increased week-on-week so far in February, with the 85 received in the latest week ('week 7') the 4th highest recorded since the ACWM index began (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Weekly volume received
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.
The number of companies sending emails stayed more or less level between November 2008 and January 2009, at c80 (75%) of the 107 companies on the AWCM Index. This followed a 27% increase in the number of active companies between August and November 2008 (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: Number of Companies Mailing per Month
The fact that only one less company was active in January 2009 over December 2008, while the volume of emails received decreased by 26%, means that the average number of emails sent per active company fell significantly, which is most likely due to the seasonal differences. Indeed, the average of 3.45 sent in January 2009 was 27% lower than the equivalent figure for December, around 15% lower than for October and November, and 2-3% lower than for August and September (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: Average Frequency
Across the 28 weeks that the AWCM Index has been running, the majority of messages (91%) were received in the monitor on week days. Friday was the most popular send day during the working week, accounting for 24% of mailings, ahead of Thursday (21%) and Wednesday (18%) (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Average Day of the Week (Aug 08 - Feb 09)
The share of messages received on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays has increased slightly in each of the last two quarters, contrasting with consecutive quarter share decreases for Tuesdays and Wednesdays. These changes mean that Friday was the most popular send day in Q4 2008 and so far in Q1 2009, whereas Thursday took the largest share of email volumes in Q3 2008.
Although Monday remains the least popular weekday for sending emails, it has seen the largest share increase over the period as a whole, up from just over 10% in Q3 2008, to just under 15% in Q4 2008 and Q1 2009 to date (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Day of the Week by Quarter
Each month we will report on these base metrics and other, relevant topics. If you would be interested in receiving weekly updates or analysis by industry sector please
email us
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)
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