E-Mail Marketers Face New Hurdles

If you're an e-mail marketer who's running faster to stay in place, you're not alone. Not only are business e-mail lists dwindling, e-mail open rates are down. MarketingSherpa reported 33% of businesses saw e-mail lists dip last year, with an average 13% attrition. Other industry stats cite over 30% attrition. Meanwhile, Harte-Hanks Postfuture Index 2009-2010 -- based on 3 billion e-mail messages by 100 companies -- found e-mail open rates fell to 17% in 2010, down from 26% in 2009, despite better delivery, unsubscribe and bounce rates.