The winner is email marketing. Consumers may be engaging with other online channels such as social media, but they are also responding to email campaigns with a resounding yes.

The Experian CheetahMail Q1 2011 Client Benchmark Study clearly reports that while email volume remains higher than in Q1 2011, total and unique open and click rates increased year-over-year at 3% or more and 6.5% or more respectively.

Revenue per email remained steady at $0.13 as it has been since Q3 2010. Specific verticals in particular saw strong trends across all engagement and transaction metrics such as the Home Vertical. Grocery & Pharmacy, Shoe, and Telecom & Technology Verticals also saw nice increases in transaction rates. The positive trends might reflect a slightly healthier economy or that email marketers are getting smarter. Marketers are investing more into segmenting their email file by email response as much by traditional RFM rules as well as by incorporating more lifecycle driven triggers and optimizing their subject line and creative on an ongoing basis to maintain a healthy file and strong metrics.

Congrats, email!

Compared to holiday-related emails sent on all other major U.S. holidays – including Cyber Monday, Valentines Day, Christmas and more – those deployed on Memorial Day tend to spur the highest transaction rates.

What could be the reasoning behind this trend – why are customers so quick to react to these emails, on this date, in particular? And, what can email marketers do the make the most of it?

Our observations lead us to believe that one of the main transaction-rate drivers is the pure sense of urgency that Memorial Day emails evoke. Many of the emails sent on the holiday itself stress that it is the “last day for the sale” through subject lines such as, “Last Day 20% off,”  “Memorial Day only, $2.99 shipping,” and “Time is running out!  Final hours.” Given that much of America celebrates over a three-day weekend, in combination with the unofficial kick-off of summer and backyard barbeques, those “last hours” and “final day” messages have such a high propensity to attract attention and customer action.

How can Memorial Day emails make your customers act this year? There are a few things email marketers can apply to their holiday campaigns to be successful:

Be relevant to the season: Summer is more than a new season. Summer is an exciting time for so many people especially those ready to get outside after a long winter! People are ready for activities and merchandise relevant to the season. Make sure everything about your email – the copy, imagery, featured products and more – scream, “Summer’s here!”

•  Build up excitement early: Highlight Memorial Day sales, specials and items at least three weeks prior to the holiday. (Note: that means now)
• Use holiday-appropriate imagery: When planning your creative, think of bar-b-ques, outdoor gatherings and parties.
• Create urgency in the subject line: This is a ‘must do,’ especially for the emails that go out on Memorial Day itself. Words such as ‘final,’ ‘last’ and ‘today only’ can be your best tools.