Not analyzing your email marketing engagement metrics would be like sending emails in the dark. You’ll have no way of knowing if you’re in the direction of reaching your marketing goals!
The success of any email campaign depends on how well it is measured. In this article, we’ll list key email metrics every marketer needs to know. Analyzing these metrics will allow you to quickly identify what works and what doesn’t to maximize results.
With the correct data, you can maximize your efforts and focus on segments that respond positively. This can also help you refine your messaging for audiences that engage less.
Key Engagement Metrics to Improve Your Email Campaign
Open Rate
This metric compares the total number of emails you send to the number of emails that recipients actually opened. The open rate gives you a sense of how engaged your subscribers are and if your subject lines are effective. You can test subject lines through A/B testing to know what attracts and doesn’t interest your subscribers to open your emails.
Click-through rate (CTR)
This measures the effectiveness of emails by calculating the ratio of users who clicked on email links to the total number of emails sent. When you include a link to redeem an offer in your email, the CTR will determine how many subscribers clicked on your links.
There are a few ways that can help you increase click-through rates. A great way is to include links throughout the email. You can also add an eye-catching call-to-action (CTA) button that subscribers can use to redeem your offer.
Click-through rates tend to be much lower than open rates. According to Campaign Monitor, the average click-through rate for most campaigns is slightly over 2%.
Conversion rate
Click-through rates measure how many people clicked on your link. The conversion rate, on the other hand, will determine how many clicks lead to a specific action.
Let’s say you included a link in your email for an exclusive sale. The conversion rate will indicate how many people clicked the link and purchased.
Bounce rate
The email bounce rate refers to the percentage of emails sent out that could not be delivered to their intended recipient. Reasons for this include invalid email addresses, blocks from spam filters, or server problems. There are two types of bounces you can track:
Soft bounces: Caused by temporary problems with the email address of the recipient
Hard bounces: Permanent address issues like invalid email addresses.
By measuring bounce rates against open rates, you can better understand the quality of your subscriber lists. If most of your emails end up as hard bounces, that may indicate that your list contains invalid and fake email addresses. It may be time to have it updated.
Implementing a double opt-in during email sign-ups is a great way to reduce your bounce rates. This will ask subscribers to verify their email addresses before they can be part of your email list.
Number of unsubscribes
Also known as the opt-out rate, this shows how many people unsubscribe from a mailing list after receiving emails. A high unsubscribe rate could suggest that content quality needs improvement. It can also mean that your email lists need proper segmentation.
You can measure the unsubscribe rate easily through data from email providers. This can usually be found in your main dashboard or metric dashboard.
A high unsubscribe rate isn’t always all bad. It can also be beneficial because it helps streamline your list, so the people left are those genuinely interested in what you offer.
Overall ROI
Is your campaign worth running? Well, your overall ROI can help answer that.
You can measure the overall ROI from emails in terms of the total revenue generated from email campaigns compared to the cost incurred. This provides insight into whether a particular campaign was profitable or not and how it compares against other email campaigns that were conducted.
Email marketing can be a good investment because it has one of the highest ROI of other digital marketing channels. If your ROI isn’t meeting your expectations, it might be time to change your strategy.
List growth rate
List growth rate measures the speed at which new subscribers are added to an email list. It allows marketers to track how effective your strategies for attracting new subscribers are over time.
This metric can be calculated by taking the number of new subscribers minus the number of unsubscribers. The result is then multiplied by your list’s total email addresses.
Spam complaints
It can be very disappointing to see recipients reporting your emails as spam. And you may ignore this metric altogether, but it’s important to pay attention to spam complaints.
Service providers want to ensure email quality and track spam complaints. Your email service provider may block your account if this rate goes too high. It would be best to avoid spam filters in your email campaigns to maximize your views, clicks, and conversions.
Final Words
You can set your campaigns up for success by understanding and leveraging email marketing engagement metrics. After all, the data doesn’t lie.
By taking the time to identify how your audience responds to your emails, you’ll be able to improve and refine your messaging accordingly. As a result, you should see an uptick in click-throughs, open rates, unsubscribes, and other vital aspects of your email marketing efforts.
So get out there, measure those results, and watch your bottom line grow!
Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.