New IAB Survey Shows Canada a Leader in Email Delivery, Open, and Click-through Rates

Canadian marketers turn to email to reliably reach and dialogue with customers

Toronto, Ontario - March 14, 2006 - A recently-released Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB) survey of email delivery, open, and click-through rates across several major email marketing/service providers in Canada, shows marketers can turn to email to reliably reach and create dialogues with customers.

The informal IAB survey was initiated in order to compare email marketing effectiveness in Canada to campaigns originating south of the border. The project tracks three important success measures from 2003 through 2005, with the 2005 combined data reflective of over 7,000 campaigns and over 225 million emails sent. The survey further breaks out norms by type of newsletter/email list used (advertiser in-house newsletter lists, publisher-owned newsletter lists or third-party/ broker-rented lists).

"Delivery rates (of almost 93 per cent), open rates (of over 55 per cent) and click-through rates (of over 8 per cent) -- averaged over the three types of newsletter lists (see Table below) -- all firmly establish Canada as a leader in the industry," says Paula Gignac, President of the IAB Canada. "Individual results provide even stronger proof, and highlight Canada's heightened customer receptiveness and interaction -- making email an integral part of any smart marketer's overall strategy this year."

The Canadian email marketing service providers and list providers who participated in the survey can also take their fair share of credit for the great results.

"Before marketers send out their email communications, making sure they're utilizing as current a data set as possible is job one," says Rebecca Muller, account supervisor, Cornerstone Group of Companies. "At Cornerstone we are leaders in list hygiene and maintenance, and work with our clients to ensure they follow best practices in this area as well." Once, the email is sent, however, even newsletters that users have legitimately subscribed to, can be mistakenly stopped by Internet Service Providers' (ISPs) anti-spam software. "ThinData maximizes deliverability though ISP relations, sender guidelines compliance, testing and best-practices," says Wayne Carrigan, VP client services, ThinData. "Delivery is a priority, and our strong relations with ISPs allow us to resolve any issue quickly." Annual email marketing delivery, open and clickthrough rates will continue to be studied by the IAB in the coming months.

About the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB):
The IAB Canada (www.iabcanada.com) is the pre-eminent, national voice of the Canadian Interactive marketing and advertising industry, and is a not-for-profit association representing a membership composed of publishers, agencies, advertisers and interactive service associates.

About Cornerstone Group of Companies:
At the Cornerstone Group of Companies (www.cstonecanada.com), our mission is to be the best in the world at helping our Clients find and keep good customers. We do this by providing to our Clients the best prospecting leads available and by helping them to be the best in the world at managing and enriching their customer databases. Our success as industry leaders is built on our core competencies and absolute dedication to Client service, technology and our staff. Our Clients include some of North America's leading Not-for-Profit, Publishing, Consumer and Business organizations.

About ThinData:
ThinData Inc. (www.thindata.com) is a permission-based, full-service email marketing company that has been helping organizations manage relationships online for the past decade. A powerful combination of email software, strategy and creative, ThinData utilizes the power of email to conduct time and context-targeted communications, and develop company-customer conversations using its proprietary and industry-leading email marketing software, ThinData EMS. ThinData's customers are some of Canada's most recognized brands, including Aeroplan, Air Canada, Delta Hotels, Direct Energy and Mirvish Productions.

For more information contact:

President, IAB Canada
iabcanada.com

The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada is the national voice of the Canadian interactive marketing and advertising industry, and is a not-for-profit association representing a membership composed of publishers, agencies, advertisers and interactive service associates.

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