DoubleClick Inc. announced the release of its Q4 2004 Email Trend Report that saw record email productivity during that quarter.

The report found that marketers saw an all-time high in order-per-email delivered rates at 0.35 percent. Click-to-purchase conversion rates were recorded at a 4.8 percent in Q4 2004; in Q4 2003, they were 4.2 percent.

The Email Trend Report covered the challenges in maintaining email marketing with the adoption of image blocking filtering mechanisms. Many major ISPs and email programs (such as Microsoft's Outlook) block and filter images messages as a response to protect readers from potentially graphical or offensive spam.

"As the email channel matures, it is important for marketers and publishers to evolve their strategies along with their success metrics in order to build and enhance their relationships with customers," says Kevin Mabley, director, strategic services, DoubleClick.

"In addition to monitoring traditional metrics of email performance, the savviest companies are putting these data into context with customer behavior and profile data to drive informed targeting and messaging," adds Mabley.