Marketers Continue to Face Email Deliverability Challenges in 2016

New research shows that marketers are struggling to connect with prospects via email as inbox placement rates have experienced a decline from 2015’s numbers.

The “2016 Deliverability Benchmark Report” from Return Path found that an average of 73 percent of messages were successfully delivered to U.S. recipients’ inboxes over the past year. The placement rate stood at 80 percent in Q3 2015, before dropping down to just 69 percent in Q2 2016. A median of 6 percent of messages were marked as spam, and 22 percent missed inboxes completely.

Globally, 79 percent of marketing emails were successfully delivered to recipients. About 5 percent were marked as spam, and 16 percent were unsuccessfully sent to recipients.

“While the importance of reaching customers’ inboxes is undeniable, the reality is that many messages are missing the mark. With deliverability declining, marketers are missing out on building valuable relationships and achieving the highest possible ROI,” wrote the authors of the report.

The Timing of Email Marketing Campaigns

Part of achieving email marketing success depends on when messages are sent to customers and prospects, according to previous research. The “2016 Adestra Consumer Adoption and Usage Study” found that 84 percent of email users check their messages throughout the day. They specifically check their personal email accounts between one and three times during the workday.

Additionally, the study showed that Millennials are more likely to flag unread emails and go back to them later. About 71 percent of Baby Boomers (ages 56 to 67) do not flag emails for follow-up, compared to 53 percent of Millennials (ages 19 to 34).