A recent study has found email open rates are improving, but the flood of email consumers are experiencing is continuing to rise.

The Epsilon Q1 2009 Email Trends and Benchmarks study found email deliverability continues to remain stable at 94.1%. Open rates increased for the third quarter in a row, with 12 of the 16 industries measured seeing an increase over Q1 2008.

However, while click rates increased slightly to 6.1% from 5.8% in Q4 2008, they are down slightly compared to Q1 2008 when rates were 6.4%.

The open rates are encouraging, but the study found that average email volume per client is up 12% from this same time last year - so the inbox overload issue continues to be challenge - and this is where a good subject line can help set your email marketing ahead of your competitors.

While a solid subject line is important, the “From” line can make a huge difference too. I occasionally get valid marketing emails with a from name of “admin” or equally vague details - and the first thing I think of is spam. A from name should be tied to your business.

Epsilon also noted 59% of Asia Pacific consumers making an offline purchase as a result of email marketing, followed by 53% in North America and 37% in Europe. Epsilon’s quarterly analysis was compiled from 6 billion emails sent by the company in January, February and March 2009.

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