Australian email marketing strategies on par with global standards but are lacking in some areas, indicates a Silverpop white paper that compares Australian email marketing with that in US.

The email marketing study, entitled ‘Retail Email Marketing in Australia,’ involving Australian retailers such as the ABC Shop, Big W, Dick Smith and Myer, found that local retailers are 25% more likely to offer email recipients choices during the opt-in stage than those in the US, but lag behind in offering consumers compelling sale or discount incentives.

However, while 96% of the retailers in the US communicate with their customers via email, only 86% of Aussie retailers surveyed follow suit.

Local retailers are more savvy when it comes to conducting personalised email campaigns, with 35 % offering registrants preference choices during the sign-up process, compared to 28 %o in the US.

Australian retailers also differ when it comes to offering customers discounts – just more than half (56%) incorporate special incentives such as sales and discounts into their email messages, while 68 percent of US retailers enticed recipients with special offers.

“Australian retailers are outpacing those in the US in asking their recipients what they want at the beginning of the relationship, but should be offering similar options to those unsubscribing,” said Jeff Clark, managing director of Engage Digital, Silverpop’s partner in Australia and New Zealand.

“With irrelevancy being the number one reason people unsubscribe from email programs, listening to your customers and delivering the information they specifically ask for, can have a tremendous impact on your program’s effectiveness.”