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E-Consultancy has a small article about declining e-marketing read rates. The article indicates that it is the way people read your e-mails rather than whether they do or not, which is having the impact, with many people choosing to not show images in HTML (the key to measuring read rates).

Many people are shocked when I first show them what can actually be measured with an e-mail campaign where the HTML versions are being read. That said, the situation is the same as with web statistics. They are purely there to guide you to make a better e-shot - testing and adapting the way that you send them.

If you have an action that needs taking - such as sending a ’sales’ message - then how many units sold of what you are selling is the better measurement to judge, rather than how many people read the e-mail. Open-rates and click-throughs are purely doors opening to the final goal. If you can open more of them, more people get through.

As well as people not chosing to ‘play ball’ and read HTML e-mails, it is also becoming harder to build a quality e-mail list. This is down to trust and value. How much have I got to gain (or lose) by signing up for your newsletter AND can I trust you not to spam me?

This is why RSS feeds are taking off, but even that is becoming harder. Why? Because of the noise: So many people saying the same things that aren’t necessarily relevant to the audience.

Marketing (especially online) is a bit like a game of cat and mouse with marketers desperately trying to keep up with the ever increasingly savvy consumer. E-mail marketing may even be running it’s course… along with blogging, social media and virtual worlds?