Report Highlights Best Practices for Subscription e-Mails, Marketing, and Wholesaler Involvement
NEW YORK (February 10, 2003) – kasina, a strategy consulting firm for the financial services industry, today announced the release of its newest whitepaper, �Intermediary e-Mail Trends and Best Practices.� The first comprehensive review of intermediary e-mail marketing for the asset management industry, the report found that asset management firms plan to triple spending on intermediary e-mail efforts over the next three years. The kasina report names the �Top Three� asset management firms in �Subscription e-Mail Messages,� �e-Mail Marketing Campaigns,� and �Wholesalers & e-Mail,� and highlights industry-wide best practices for e-mail usage.
�The results of our study demonstrate that asset management firms still lack coherent e-mail strategies for dealing with financial intermediaries,� said Lee Kowarski, a kasina consultant. �While intermediaries are open to receiving information electronically, most firms are only now beginning to provide information via e-mail.�
�Intermediary e-Mail Trends and Best Practices� is based on kasina�s analysis of 118 asset management firms in Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The company held in-depth interviews with 30 of these firms to identify best practices. Additionally, kasina interviewed more than 400 financial intermediaries to understand their use of, and attitude toward, e-mail.
The report focuses on three areas of e-mail usage, naming the �Top Three� firms in each:
- Subscription e-Mail Messages � updates & alerts that intermediaries can opt-in to receive
- e-Mail Marketing Campaigns �e-mail messages used either as part of integrated marketing campaigns or as purely on-line campaigns
- Wholesalers and e-Mail �the process by which wholesalers send e-mail to intermediaries
�Top 3 Asset Management Companies � Subscription e-Mail Messages�
- INVESCO Funds (U.S.A.)
- Putnam Investments (U.S.A.)
- Scudder Investments (U.S.A.)
�Top 3 Asset Management Companies � e-Mail Marketing Campaigns�
- Franklin Templeton Investments (Canada)
- Franklin Templeton Investments (U.S.A.)
- Investec Asset Management (United Kingdom)
�Top 3 Asset Management Companies � Wholesalers & e-Mail�
- Frank Russell Company (U.S.A.)
- Franklin Templeton Investments (Canada)
- Phoenix Investment Partners (U.S.A.)
Other findings in the study include:
- Asset management firms send an average of 65,442 e-mails to financial intermediaries every month.
- In 2002, the average budget for intermediary e-mail efforts at asset management firms was slightly more than $30,000 per year. Over the next two years, this budget will triple as e-mail becomes a more dominant form of communication. Leading firms will spend upwards of $250,000 annually.
- The average unsubscribe rate for the industry is 1%, and the average bounce-back rate is 6%.
- The average click-through rate is 26%, but this number varies greatly from firm to firm. Companies whose e-mails include teasers that drive recipients back to a Web site file generally see click-through rates in the 40 to 50 percent range. Firms that include the full content in an e-mail message see click-through rates in the 5 to 15 percent range.
�While many companies have spent the past several years developing robust Web sites for financial intermediaries, firms have now shifted toward a more holistic approach to e-business,� said Kowarski. �The success of such an approach is dependent on an effective strategy for customer segmentation, which kasina refers to as an Intelligent Distribution� strategy. Using e-mail in conjunction with a detailed segmentation strategy will allow firms to conduct dynamic one-to-one marketing.�
�Intermediary e-Mail Trends and Best Practices� is now available at www.kasina.com.
