3Q08 saw stable email performance with a slight decrease in deliverability and an increase in average volume per client because of holiday-season campaigns, according to an analysis from Epsilon.

Click rates, although up 27.6% from Q208, still remain lower than the same period in 2007, the research found (via MarketingCharts).

Data from Epsilon's Q3 2008 Email Trends and Benchmark Report also shows that despite the lagging economy and CMOs' plans to decrease ad spending, email continues to deliver healthy returns. These findings are consistent with Epsilon's recent CMO Survey in which CMOs stated that spending on email is least likely of any media to be reduced.

Key research findings:

• Email deliverability in Q3 declined slightly to 93.6%, a positive sign for the industry, Epsilon said, because of concerns about the increasing use of email filtering. The continued overall decline reflects a tighter deliverability environment as ISPs continue to refine and tighten delivery rules.
• Open rates have remained consistent over the past year, ranging between 19% and 21%.
• Click rates rose 27.6% from Q208 which was the lowest observed to date. They are still down 8.2% from the same period last year and down 18.2% from two years ago.
• Average volume per client increased 13% from Q208 as brands began to market aggressively in advance of the holiday season.
• Email is currently driving an average of $0.14 in revenue per email delivered which means that email continues to deliver a healthy return even in the current economic downturn, according to Epsilon.

In terms of industry-specific data, Business Publishing/Media, Consumer Publishing/Media, Retail General and Travel Services saw an increase in all three major metrics - deliverability, opens and clicks - compared with Q208. No industries saw a decline in any of those three metrics.

"Despite concerns about the declining effectiveness of advertising and the challenging economy, email continues to perform consistently in 2008," said Kevin Mabley, SVP of Strategic Services, Epsilon. "Our clients view email as a valuable and cost-effective marketing tool."