2013 Electoral Register opt-out rates begin to slow
Callcredit Information Group has today published its '2013 Regional Electoral Opt-Out Report'
Of the 46m consumers eligible to vote within the UK, 18m have chosen to opt-out and have therefore have made themselves unavailable for marketing activity and wider benefits it can bring. The over-all opt-out rate for 2013 is 39.8%, a 0.2% decrease from 2012.
There remains a large regional variation with the lowest opt-out rate of 8.03% and the highest of 80.25%, therefore marketers will need to continue to utilise additional data sources in order to verify their own customer data.
Key Findings of the Report:
- The two lowest opt-out councils North Tayside & Angus and Perth & Kinross are both based in Scotland, with the next two lowest Merthyr Tydfil and City & Council of Swansea, are based in Wales
- Blackpool has the highest opt-out rate at 80.25%
- Vale of Glamorgan has seen the most significant drop in opt-out rates, falling 74% to an opt-out rate of just 17.52%
- West Somerset has seen the biggest increase of opt-outs, rising 15.15% to total 51.57%
10 Highest Opt-Out Local Authority Areas:
|
Rank |
Local Authority Area |
% Opt Out |
Opt Out Change (%) |
|
1 |
Blackpool |
80.25 |
4.54 |
|
2 |
Bromley |
79.89 |
0.27 |
|
3 |
Shepway |
79.29 |
4.74 |
|
4 |
Wiltshire |
77.23 |
3.50 |
|
5 |
Tower Hamlets |
75.24 |
1.21 |
|
6 |
Epping Forest |
74.76 |
-0.59 |
|
7 |
Richmond upon Thames |
73.16 |
11.78 |
|
8 |
Sutton |
73.12 |
4.80 |
|
9 |
Horsham |
73.08 |
0.84 |
|
10 |
West Lancashire |
71.02 |
1.23 |
10 Lowest Opt-Out Local Authority Areas:
|
Rank |
Local Authority Area |
% Opt Out |
Opt Out Change (%) |
|
1 |
North Tayside & Angus |
8.03 |
-0.76 |
|
2 |
Perth and Kinross |
9.86 |
-0.03 |
|
3 |
Merthyr Tydfil |
10.51 |
-4.86 |
|
4 |
City & County of Swansea |
13.67 |
1.47 |
|
5 |
Walsall |
13.68 |
0.05 |
|
6 |
East Riding of Yorkshire |
14.25 |
-19.33 |
|
7 |
Great Yarmouth |
14.44 |
-1.32 |
|
8 |
Gedling |
14.45 |
-4.26 |
|
9 |
Fife |
15.18 |
-1.13 |
|
10 |
Slough |
15.20 |
-1.45 |
Zoe Palethorpe, Data Assets Director commented "While the number of those choosing to opt-out of electoral data has begun to slow down, this can still pose a serious problem for those marketers who only use electoral data for their campaigns. Businesses are now required to alter their strategies in order to reach the maximum number of consumers and our Define database has proved to be an invaluable tool in bridging this gap.
"Define has grown significantly since its launch last year and contains over 43 million consumer contacts, offering marketers unrivalled insight into their consumers. This rich data source will also now be incorporated into our updated CAMEO UK segmentation later this year. By using the latest census data and becoming less reliant on electoral data, Define will offer businesses the most recent and reliable consumer data available"
