Experian CheetahMail, a unit of Experian Marketing Services and a leading global technology services provider of integrated email, social, mobile and display marketing, revealed its latest analysis illustrating how flash sale emails significantly outperform other types of offers in campaigns.

The study provides marketers with a thorough understanding of trends surrounding flash sale email marketing along with tactical advice they can apply to their programs.

Email is a key traffic driver for advertising Flash Sales and represents 18% of the referrals to flash sale websites - higher than social (13%) and search (11%) according to Experian Hitwise data.

Some of the key trends and best practices outlined in the study include:

  • Three-hour Flash Sales have the best transaction-to-click rates, which are 59% higher, as well as the highest transaction rates (14%).
  • US visits to Flash Sales Websites increased 59% in August 2011 versus August 2010, according to Experian Hitwise.
  • Transaction rates are 23% higher for evening Flash Sales compared with lunchtime sales, and revenue per email is 30% higher in the evening.
  • 74% of mailers have higher transaction-to-click rates and 67% have higher transaction rates on their Flash Sales compared with their yearly rate.

“The aim of this study was to provide our clients with actionable data they can use to develop more compelling and response-driven email campaigns this holiday season and beyond,” said Rachel Bergman, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Experian CheetahMail. “Continuous and calculated program optimization is crucial to maximizing ROI. It is our job to help clients get the very most out of each communication they have with their subscribers.”

To discover the aforementioned trends and strategies pertaining to flash sale email marketing, Experian CheetahMail’s Strategic Services team analyzed the performance of flash sales compared with bulk promotional campaigns from January 2010 through February 2011. For the purposes of this study, flash sales were defined as sales lasting less than 24 hours. To download a copy of the study, Top 5 flash sale tips, please visit http://www.experian.com/marketing-services/register-top-5-flash-sale-tips.html