Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools available to businesses. It allows you to connect with your audience, share valuable information, and drive conversions. But how do you know if your email campaigns are working? The answer lies in tracking the right metrics.
By keeping an eye on key metrics, you can understand how your emails are performing and make improvements. Whether you’re new to email marketing or a seasoned pro, these are the metrics every email marketer should track.
Open Rate
Open rate is one of the first metrics you should monitor. It tells you how many people opened your email. This is important because it shows if your subject line is doing its job. A higher open rate means your subject line caught people’s attention.
To calculate open rate, divide the number of people who opened your email by the number of emails sent. Then multiply by 100 to get a percentage.
- Example: If you sent 1,000 emails and 200 people opened it, your open rate is 20%.
A good open rate shows that people are interested in your emails. If your open rate is low, it might be time to rethink your subject lines or send times.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Once people open your email, you want them to take action. That’s where click-through rate (CTR) comes in. CTR measures the percentage of people who clicked on a link in your email.
To calculate CTR, divide the number of clicks by the number of emails delivered. Then multiply by 100 to get a percentage.
- Example: If you sent 1,000 emails and 50 people clicked a link, your CTR is 5%.
A higher CTR means your content is engaging and people are interested in learning more. If your CTR is low, you may need to make your links more appealing or place them more strategically within your email.
Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of people who took the desired action after clicking a link in your email. This could be making a purchase, signing up for an event, or downloading a resource.
To calculate conversion rate, divide the number of conversions by the number of people who clicked a link. Then multiply by 100 to get a percentage.
- Example: If 50 people clicked a link and 10 of them made a purchase, your conversion rate is 20%.
Tracking conversion rate helps you understand the effectiveness of your email’s call to action (CTA). If people are clicking but not converting, you may need to adjust your offer or landing page.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate measures how many of your emails were not delivered. There are two types of bounces: hard bounces and soft bounces.
- Hard bounces happen when an email can’t be delivered due to a permanent reason, such as an invalid email address.
- Soft bounces occur when there’s a temporary issue, like a full inbox or a server problem.
To calculate bounce rate, divide the number of bounced emails by the number of emails sent. Then multiply by 100 to get a percentage.
- Example: If you sent 1,000 emails and 50 bounced, your bounce rate is 5%.
A high bounce rate can hurt your sender reputation. To keep it low, regularly clean your email list and remove invalid addresses.
Unsubscribe Rate
No one likes seeing people unsubscribe from their list, but it’s a fact of email marketing. Unsubscribe rate measures the percentage of people who opted out of receiving your emails.
To calculate unsubscribe rate, divide the number of unsubscribes by the number of emails delivered. Then multiply by 100 to get a percentage.
- Example: If you sent 1,000 emails and 10 people unsubscribed, your unsubscribe rate is 1%.
A low unsubscribe rate shows that people find value in your emails. However, if your unsubscribe rate is high, it could be a sign that your content isn’t relevant to your audience.
List Growth Rate
List growth rate is the rate at which your email list is growing over time. It’s important to track because it shows how successful you are at attracting new subscribers while retaining your current ones.
To calculate list growth rate, subtract the number of unsubscribes from the number of new subscribers. Then divide by your total email list size and multiply by 100.
- Example: If you gained 200 new subscribers but lost 20 to unsubscribes, and you have 5,000 people on your list, your list growth rate is 3.6%.
A healthy list growth rate indicates that your email marketing efforts are expanding your reach.
Email Sharing/Forwarding Rate
This metric tracks how often your subscribers share or forward your emails to others. When someone forwards your email, it’s a strong signal that they found it valuable.
To calculate email sharing/forwarding rate, divide the number of shares or forwards by the number of emails delivered. Then multiply by 100.
- Example: If 10 people forwarded your email out of 1,000 delivered, your forwarding rate is 1%.
A high forwarding rate can help you grow your list organically, as new people are introduced to your content.
Spam Complaint Rate
Spam complaint rate measures the percentage of people who marked your email as spam. This is a critical metric because too many spam complaints can hurt your sender reputation and lead to deliverability issues.
To calculate spam complaint rate, divide the number of spam complaints by the number of emails delivered. Then multiply by 100 to get a percentage.
- Example: If 5 people marked your email as spam out of 1,000 delivered, your spam complaint rate is 0.5%.
A high spam complaint rate could mean your emails aren’t relevant, or you’re sending too frequently. Always ensure your emails provide value and make it easy for people to unsubscribe if they no longer want to hear from you.
Engagement Over Time
Engagement over time helps you understand when your subscribers are most active. By tracking open and click rates over days or weeks, you can find the best times to send emails.
For example, if you notice that emails sent on Tuesday mornings have higher engagement, you can adjust your strategy to focus on that time slot. By tracking this, you’ll optimize your send times and improve overall engagement.
ROI (Return on Investment)
Return on investment (ROI) is a key metric for any marketing campaign. It measures how much revenue your email marketing efforts are generating compared to the cost.
To calculate ROI, subtract the cost of your email campaign from the revenue generated, then divide by the cost and multiply by 100.
- Example: If you spent $1,000 on an email campaign and made $5,000 in sales, your ROI is 400%.
A high ROI shows that your email marketing is working and generating income. If your ROI is low, you may need to reconsider your strategy or content.
Mobile Open Rate
With more people checking emails on their phones, it’s important to track your mobile open rate. This metric shows how many people opened your email on a mobile device.
To calculate mobile open rate, divide the number of mobile opens by the total number of opens. Then multiply by 100 to get a percentage.
- Example: If 300 people opened your email on mobile out of 600 total opens, your mobile open rate is 50%.
Tracking mobile open rate ensures that you’re optimizing your emails for mobile devices. If a large portion of your audience is on mobile, you’ll want to make sure your emails are easy to read on smaller screens.
A/B Test Results
A/B testing is a way to experiment with different aspects of your emails to see what performs best. This could be testing subject lines, CTAs, or even different designs.
By tracking the results of your A/B tests, you can see which versions get higher open rates, CTRs, or conversions. This allows you to refine your strategy over time.
- Example: If version A of your subject line had a 25% open rate and version B had a 15% open rate, you know version A performs better.
Tracking A/B test results helps you understand what resonates with your audience.
Final Thoughts
Email marketing is all about connecting with your audience and driving results. But to do that effectively, you need to track the right metrics. From open rates to conversion rates, every metric tells a story about how your emails are performing.
By keeping an eye on these key metrics, you can refine your email marketing strategy, improve engagement, and boost conversions. Remember, every number you track offers insights that can help you grow and improve over time.