July 10, 2003
Blog Entry

Delayed Email Responses May Convert Better

RSS   Free Newsletters  
SUMMARY: No summary available.
By Managing Editor Anne Holland

I just learned something cool from our new B-to-B reporter Srikumar Rao (you may know the name -- he used to write on marketing
for Forbes.)

Srikumar said he's seen B-to-B email campaign data that shows the recipients who click last, convert at a significantly higher rate than the quicker clickers.

His theory is that if someone has taken the trouble to save your email message in their in-box for later reading, they are probably a more qualified sales lead. Even if it takes them a week or two (or even longer) to finally click through.

Makes sense.

In these days of email overload, I think many recipients are performing a sort of triage-system for incoming mail. You delete the crud quickly, you answer the easy stuff right away, and then you save the requires-thought stuff for later.

What it means for marketers: make sure you leave your landing page (aka splash page) and also anything powering your email's HTML images up for as long as possible. Not just a few days.

Also, don't measure campaign success based on 24-hour response. The really good replies may not have begun to come in yet.

BTW: Got any data from your own campaigns on this? Lemme know and maybe we'll write about you!

Improve Your Marketing

Join our thousands of weekly case study readers.

Enter your email below to receive MarketingSherpa news, updates, and promotions:

Note: Already a subscriber? Want to add a subscription?
Click Here to Manage Subscriptions