In 2009, double opt-in email marketing accounted for almost 3% of online advertising in Australia. (IAB)

• Australian email open rates run at approx 15% - 20%
• The main factor which impacts this is the SUBJECT LINE of the email being sent out.

Many companies try and sell to everyone. This is a mistake.

The real secret is to target people who know about your product or service and focus your advertising campaign towards them specifically.

This will get you a much higher ROI.

There is a reason that most website only get 2% or less in sales conversions.

There are many problems confronting customers when they get to websites which are at the end of the click from the email. Bad design killed almost 7 out of 10 viewers.

Some other interesting stats from over 8,000 people surveyed are;

• Lack of TRUST from badly designed website - 68.95%
• Strange, Overpriced or Unexpected shipping charges - 51.61%
• Badly designed or confusing checkout which impedes purchase completion - 45.16%
• No physical address listed on the contact page 40.55%
• Checkout requesting too much information - 38.71%
• Lack of company information, returns info etc? - 35.6%
• Indecision as to whether this is the cheapest price or should they keep looking - 25.33%
• Confusing Checkout - too many steps - 24.19%
• No SSL (secure) certificate - 15.3%
• Badly designed Website / too confusing - 14.15%
• Other - 17.74%

Getting Customers

Getting customers to your website is only about 3% of the process especially if you do not get the hurdles out of the way.

As of June 2009, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported 8.4million active internet subscribers in Australia.
According to ComScore Australia's internet population over the age of 15 in 2009 grew to 12.6 million Australians from;

• 11.3 in 2008. ComScore, November 2009
• 79.1% of internet users in Australia view online video. Universal McCann, July 2009
• YouTube receives 6.17 million monthly Australian visitors. ComScore, 2009

Other Trivia

Sydney, 13 November 2009 - One-third of Australian consumers (33%) exposed to an online advertisement are able to recall that advertisement when asked, and 41 percent are able to link the correct brand to an un-branded advertisement, according to new online advertising effectiveness benchmarks released today by market research company Nielsen.

Australia's online advertising market has continued to show strong positive growth, recording impressive year on year growth of 14 percent according to figures released today by IAB Australia in its Online Advertising Expenditure Report (OAER) which is compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC). Online advertising expenditure in Australia for the first-quarter 2009 (three months ended 31 March 2009) totalled $439.5 million, the largest first-quarter recorded. Combined with the record 4th and 3rd quarters of 2008, the results show an impressive 22 percent growth when compared to the same quarters the previous financial year. IAB

Other major retail findings by Hitwise in Asia Pacific during Christmas last year included:

• Bricks and Mortar Retailers are winning the online battle: Visits to Bricks and Mortar Retailers by Australian Internet users attracted year-on-year growth of 19.2% in December 2008; in contrast to a decline in visits of 7.7% to Online Retailers. One of the main factors for this is the fact that BAM retailers have an address listed on their website which boosts customer confidence.
• Appliances and Electronics is the fastest growing retail category: Appliances and Electronics websites enjoyed the strongest growth in the retail sector over Christmas, with Australian visits increasing by 27.2% amongst all websites comparing December 2007 and December 2008.
• Shoppers hunt for second-hand products during downturn: Australian visits to the Classifieds category increased 24.9% in December 2008 compared to December 2007.
• Top retail brands are increasing their share of the search pie: The top 100 retail brands in December 2008 in Australia grew in search volume by 27.9%, while in New Zealand and Singapore the top brands grew by 21.1% and 10.6% respectively.
• Electronic products are driving the highest rates of paid search: In a Hitwise portfolio of the top 100 product search terms driving traffic to the Shopping and Classifieds industry, electronics-related terms accounted for 63.6% of paid clicks (4 weeks ending 27 December 2008).
• Bricks and Mortar Retailers are attracting affluent shoppers online: Bricks and Mortar Retailers in Australia were 28% more likely than Online Retailers to attract visits from the Mosaic Lifestyle Group, ‘Young Ambition'; Educated and high-earning young singles and sharers in the inner suburbs. IAB