What Do Recipients Really See in Your Email Message?

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Each year, marketing departments spend countless hours and thousands of dollars to develop the kind of email messages that will resonate with the company’s customers. The body of the email message might include cutting-edge creative, with flash animation or vivid product shots. But do you know if your email message is actually getting through to recipients in the way you intended?

The Silverpop "2005 Broken Link Study" reveals alarming trends in the prevalence of broken imagery and links contained in email campaigns from some of the best-known brands in the world.  While an HTML-based email message provides a richer product experience for consumers, the benefits that accrue are lost if the images and links are not functional. And in fact, a mis-rendered HTML email can not only perform worse than its text-based counterpart, but can have a net negative impact on both brand perception and the health and size of your list.

Silverpop undertook a comprehensive study that documented the frequency and degree to which emails are received partially or completely broken in recipients' inboxes. The findings indicate that, although technologies have changed drastically, the prevalence of broken messages has remained at nearly the same level as in the previous study period conducted in 2002, albeit for different--and sometimes surprising--reasons.

Silverpop's "2005 Broken Link Study" reviewed the prevalence of broken images and links in commercial emails. The study reviewed messages sent by 360 of the largest U.S. companies in nine major industry segments.