The Next Big Thing ... Email relevance metrics

Who's doing it 

Most email marketing firms have relevance measurements. One of them, US-owned E-Dialog, recently launched its email relevance metric package, the Email Relevance Trajectory, in the UK.

Content is assessed and scored using six factors: segmentation, lifecycle management, triggers, personalisation, interactivity and any pre-testing. Each score is weighted, with segmentation more significant to the overall score than interactivity, such as the use of hyperlinks. The total is then calculated, giving marketers an indicator of relevancy.

E-Dialog has trialled the metric in the US and users include the National Football League, a domestic airline and digital music retailer.

The lowdown 

With email inboxes becoming cluttered, marketers are keen to improve relevance to ensure stand-out, as well as delivery. Untargeted emails also risk damaging a brand's reputation or being captured by spam filters.

Richard Gibson, commercial director of RSA Direct and chairman of the Direct Marketing Association's Email Council Benchmarking Hub, says "the concept should benefit the client in terms of deepening customer and prospect engagement".

Others in the sector believe it's a valuable tool, but advise against just focusing on relevance. David Smith, head of CMW Interactive, says relevance should be developed with other DM touchpoints.

Some say a better understanding of email relevance will boost investment in the channel. Nick White, head of customer marketing at Telegraph Media Group, says a clear definition, as well as targets, for relevance will be something "marketers can use to underline internally the case for investment in the channel," and "bring e-mail to the boardroom".