Authentication logo boosts open rates by 67%

It's not an independent survey, but this press release suggests that the appearance of an appropriate "certified" logo alongside an email's entry can have a strong positive effect on open rates.

The survey was by Iconix, who...ahem...happen to offer such a logo service.

Consumers download a free software plugin compatible with many of the main email software clients and webmail services. The software then verifies and identifies the sender using standard authentication methods and its own database of commercial senders.

If the right boxes are ticked, an appropriate "this sender is who they say they are" icon is displayed alongside the email. Its appeal to consumers is as a guard against phishing. You can find all the details at their FAQ.

Of course, you have to pay to play if you're a business sending out email and want to have this icon appear next to your emails. And its value depends on how many actual consumers have the Iconix software installed (I couldn't find a figure.)

But since their customers include the likes of American Express, Dell, eBay and other behemoths, it certainly seems like something worth investigating.

I suspect the main open rate improvements come if you have a trust issue to deal with, for example following phishing attacks on your business. But it would be interesting to see just how much of a response lift you could get through an icon, even where your identity is not in doubt.

If anyone has some insights, please do comment.

More on email authentication | Tags: email marketing, iconix, email certification, email authentication

Permalink | April 18, 2007 | 0 comment(s)
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