Understanding Vital Email Marketing Metrics: Beyond Opens and Clicks

A Deep Dive into the Numbers That Supercharge Your Email Campaigns

When we think back on the history of email, many people would imagine the mid-1990s when the Internet was beginning to penetrate households, and email was the newest form of communication.

However, did you know that email was actually invented as early as 1971? Since then, email has transformed, becoming a cornerstone for personal communication and a vital tool for business marketing

No matter what some might think, email will continue to be a powerful medium in the digital age. That’s why brands must understand and utilize essential email marketing metrics effectively. These metrics can provide insights into your campaigns, revealing what works and what doesn’t.

Deliverability Rate

The deliverability rate refers to the percentage of emails sent that successfully reach the recipient’s inbox. If your emails end up in the spam or junk folders, or worse, not being delivered at all, your deliverability rate will be low.

This can significantly hamper your communication efforts, making it difficult to reach your intended audience and achieve your goals. Monitoring your deliverability rate closely can help you identify issues quickly and take immediate corrective action to improve them.

How to Improve: Update your email lists frequently to remove inactive or incorrect email addresses. Use double opt-in to confirm subscribers’ interest in receiving emails from you, reducing the chance of being marked as spam.

Open Rate

This measures the percentage of recipients who opened your email. It’s your first indicator of engagement.

Knowing this rate tells you if your subject line and sender name were compelling enough to capture your audience’s attention. As such, a high open rate indicates that your email was successful in piquing interest.

How to Improve: Test different subject lines, sender names, and send times to see what resonates best with your audience. Personalization can also boost open rates. Ensure that your emails are mobile-responsive to cater to users on various devices.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The CTR measures the percentage of recipients who clicked on one or more links contained in your email. It gives insight into how engaging your email content is. High CTRs indicate that your email’s content, call-to-action (CTA), and design were effective in encouraging recipients to take the desired action.

How to Improve: Craft compelling and concise email content. Use clear and attention-grabbing CTAs. Ensure that your email design is visually appealing and that your links are easily clickable.

Conversion Rate

This refers to the percentage of recipients who completed the desired action after clicking on a link in your email. Take note that it’s not just about making a purchase. Signing up for a webinar or downloading a resource are also considered conversions.

Ultimately, email marketing aims to drive conversions. The conversion rate reveals your emails’ success in moving recipients along the customer journey.

How to Improve: Ensure that your landing pages are optimized for conversions. Provide a seamless experience from email to landing page. Test different offers and CTAs to see what resonates best with your audience.

Bounce Rate

The bounce rate measures the percentage of emails that were not delivered to the recipient’s inbox. Bounces are categorized into hard bounces (permanent delivery failures) and soft bounces (temporary delivery failures).

A high bounce rate can harm your sender reputation and deliverability. The bounce rate threshold should ideally be below 2%. Anything above this suggests that there’s room for improvement in your email-sending practices.

How to Improve: Regularly clean your email list by removing invalid or inactive email addresses. Implement a double opt-in process to confirm email addresses during sign-up.

Email Forwarding Rate

This rate gives insight into the percentage of recipients who forwarded your email to someone else. Email forwarding indicates that your content resonated strongly with your audience. It’s a measure of how shareable and valuable your content is.

How to Improve: Create content that provides value and is share-worthy. Encourage recipients to forward the email to friends or colleagues if they find it useful.

Unsubscribe Rate

This details the percentage of recipients who opted out of receiving future emails from your organization. While it may seem counterintuitive, tracking the unsubscribe rate is crucial. It helps you gauge the overall health of your email list and the relevance of your content. Moreover, a consistently high unsubscribe rate may signal issues with your email strategy.

How to Improve: Segment your email list to send more targeted content. Provide an easy and clear way for recipients to unsubscribe, as making it difficult can lead to spam complaints.

Mobile Open and Click Rates

Mobile open and click rates measure the percentage of recipients who opened and clicked on your emails using mobile devices.

There are nearly seven billion mobile phone users today. Because of that, businesses must determine how each email performs on smaller screens. Tracking and prioritizing mobile optimization is key to ensuring a positive user experience.

How to Improve: Use responsive email design to ensure that your emails look and function well on mobile devices. Keep your email content concise and easy to read on smaller screens.

Revenue Per Email

Revenue per email is a measure of the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns in generating revenue. This metric is calculated by dividing the total revenue generated by the number of emails sent.

It provides insight into the ROI of your email marketing efforts. The higher the revenue per email, the more effective your campaign is at driving revenue.

How to Improve: Test different email formats and content to see what engages your readers and prompts them to make a purchase. Tailoring messages to the recipient can increase engagement and conversions.

Empower Your Email Campaigns

Effective email marketing goes beyond sending messages; it’s about measuring, analyzing, and optimizing. These email marketing metrics provide the insights you need to refine your strategy continually.

By tracking and analyzing these metrics, you can deeply understand your audience, their preferences, and how they interact with your emails. Use this knowledge to tailor your email campaigns, experiment with new approaches, and ultimately, drive better results.

Want to see remarkable results in your email marketing? Consult with TWLV20 for expert guidance and support in optimizing your campaigns.