Top Email Marketing Matrics You Need to Know

Whenever we start sending out emails, we’ve got a goal in mind. It could be anything from showing off a new product to getting people to sign up for a subscription. These goals help us figure out what we need to keep track of – like how many people are actually opening our emails. Some things, like open rates, are super important. We can’t ignore them. Others, like where people are opening our emails from, aren’t as urgent but still give us good info. So, let’s take a look at both the big numbers and the smaller details in email stats.

Deciding which email marketing stats are most important

Setting priorities helps you sort out which Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) matter most. But why bother prioritizing? Well, if you search online, you’ll find loads of lists detailing 5, 6, 10, and even 22 essential metrics. But they often lack explanations about which ones truly hold the most value. That’s why we’ve gathered some of the top-rated sources for you.

Understanding which performance metrics are more important can be tricky. To simplify this, we’ve applied the MoSCoW framework to prioritize them. Now, you’ll easily see which metrics fall into these categories:

– Must-haves
– Should-haves
– Could-haves
– Won’t-haves

MUST-HAVE Email Metrics

Key performance indicators (KPIs) that are essential for evaluating email campaign performance are critical. We’ve identified five top-priority metrics:

1. Open rate
2. Bounce rate
3. Unsubscribe rate
4. Spam complaint rate
5. Click rate

Open Rate

The open rate indicates how many recipients from the entire email list opened the campaign. This happens after the email is successfully delivered. Factors like the subject line contribute to this – a more engaging subject line usually results in a higher open rate. To ensure effectiveness, it’s important to check your subject lines using email testing tools. However, it’s not just about the subject line; the sender’s name matters too. Emails sent from different sender names can have varying open rates.

Inbox placement, or which folder the email lands in, is also significant. For instance, Gmail categorizes emails into Primary, Promotions, Social, and others. Users tend to prioritize emails from certain folders over others.

Other factors such as brand recognition and email history also influence the open rate.

Formula:
Open rate = (total unique opens ÷ total recipients) × 100

Benchmark:
Opinions vary on the ideal open rate, depending on factors like industry and email purpose. However, most experts agree that an open rate below 20% is considered a failure.

Tracking frequency:
It’s recommended to track open rates weekly.

Bounce Rate

The bounce rate indicates the proportion of bounced emails to all email addresses in the mailing list. A bounced email is one that failed to be delivered, and there are two types of delivery failures:

1. Soft bounce – occurs due to a temporary issue, like the recipient’s mailbox being full.
2. Hard bounce – happens due to a permanent problem, such as an invalid email address. 

Formula:
Bounce rate = (total bounced emails ÷ total email recipients) × 100

Benchmark:
Ideally, if fewer than 2% of your emails fail to reach recipients’ inboxes, that’s acceptable. However, exceeding this threshold indicates a need to improve your delivery rate (the opposite of the bounce rate). A double-digit bounce rate is a warning sign that your sender reputation could be at risk.

Tracking frequency:
It’s advisable to track bounce rates on a monthly basis.

Note: An alternative metric to consider is the inbox placement rate (IPR), which reveals how many campaign emails successfully landed in recipients’ inboxes. Both bounce rate and IPR are crucial for deliverability; therefore, we recommend reading our email deliverability guide for further insights.

Unsubscribe rate

The unsubscribe rate is the ratio of the recipients who clicked Unsubscribe to the total number of emails delivered. As a rule, this metric shows how many subscribers have lost interest in your product or service. At the same time, the reasons that lead to opting out may include:

• misleading subject lines
• emailing too frequently 
• ineffective offer
• and many more

Unsubscribe rate can point out how to fine-tune your email campaigns and filter out irrelevant subscribers. Segmenting subscribers will also help you reduce unsubscribe rates.

Formula: Unsubscribe rate = (total unsubscribes ÷ total emails delivered)

Benchmark:

The threshold value of the unsubscribe rate is 0.5% per email campaign. This means that of 100 emails delivered, you may have up to 5 unsubscribes. 

How often you should track it:

Every week

Spam Complaint Rate

The spam rate represents the proportion of recipients who marked your email as spam compared to the total number of emails delivered. It’s a crucial metric for assessing your domain reputation and overall deliverability.

It’s important not to confuse this metric with the Spam score, which isn’t influenced by recipient actions. The Spam score acts as a sort of ticket for your email campaign to bypass spam filters. If your email receives a high spam score, it’s likely to land in the spam folder automatically. You can learn more about this in our blog post “Why Emails Go to Spam and How to Prevent It.”

With the spam complaint rate, the fate of your email rests entirely in the recipient’s hands. They may mark your email as spam for various reasons, such as:

– Sending emails too frequently
– Providing irrelevant content
– Lack of an opt-out option
– Sending without the recipient’s consent

The last two points are particularly crucial for GDPR compliance. For further information on this topic, check out our blog post about GDPR for email marketing.

Formula:
Spam complaint rate = (total “marked as spam” ÷ total emails delivered) × 100

Benchmark:
The ideal spam complaint rate is below 0.1%. If it exceeds this, it suggests your email marketing might be targeting incorrect recipients or providing poor value.

Tracking frequency:
It’s recommended to track the spam complaint rate weekly.

Click Rate

The click rate, also referred to as the click-through rate (CTR), measures how many recipients clicked on the links within your email. Several factors influence this metric:

– Compelling and trustworthy content
– Email formatting
– Anchor text used for the link
– Placement of the link within the email body
– Total number of links included

All these elements should motivate recipients to take action and click the link. A poor click rate indicates that you’ve struggled to effectively convey your call-to-action (CTA) or idea to subscribers.

Formula:
Click rate = (total unique clicks ÷ total emails delivered) × 100

Benchmark:
There isn’t a universally optimal click rate as values vary across industries. For instance, according to Constant Contact’s Knowledge Base, the average CTR in the transportation industry in September 2019 was 16.61%, while in the travel and tourism industry, it was only 5.92%.

Tracking frequency:
It’s advisable to track the click rate weekly.

Total opens

The open rate is determined by unique opens, meaning each email opened by a recipient counts only once. However, if a recipient opens your email multiple times, you can monitor this using different tracking methods. One such method is the total opens metric, which aggregates all the opens by each recipient.

Why does this matter? Well, if a subscriber opens your email repeatedly, it likely indicates a high level of interest. This might be an opportunity to engage further and follow up with them. Conversely, multiple opens could suggest that the email content is appealing but too lengthy, prompting the recipient to revisit it later.

Formula:
Total opens = Sum of total opens by each recipient in the mailing list

Benchmark:
Not applicable

Tracking frequency:
It’s recommended to track total opens twice a week.

Conversion rate

Conversion rate is the ratio of email recipients who completed a desired action to the total number of emails delivered. Each email campaign has its own desired action, such as clicking a link or purchasing a product. The successful desired action defines the conversion. 

For example, in your email, you’re calling the subscribers to switch their free trial account to a paid one via a corresponding link. Of 100 emails delivered, 20 recipients clicked the link, but only 5 of those signed up for the paid subscription. So, the conversion rate will be (5 ÷ 100) × 100 = 5%. However, if your desired action was just to click the link, the conversion rate would be (20 ÷ 100) × 100 = 20%. 

Formula:

Conversion rate = (total recipients who completed the desired action ÷ total emails delivered)  × 100

Benchmark:

The conversation rate depends on the email types you send and which action you need the recipient to complete. If you expect to sell something via a newsletter, the average conversion rate in this case is around 1%. Follow-up emails or abandoned cart emails can boast a conversion rate of around 5%.  

How often you should track it:

Every month

Campaign ROI

The return on investment (ROI) for your email campaign is calculated by dividing the total revenue by the total expenses. However, relying solely on campaign ROI may not provide an accurate picture. For instance, your first email campaign might have required a larger investment but brought in some revenue. Subsequently, the next campaign might have cost less but yielded more benefits due to the residual impact of the first campaign. Combining the revenues from both campaigns gives a more accurate ROI. This consolidation is essential regardless, as ideally, each campaign should function independently, excluding external factors.

An email itself is a free asset, while an email campaign represents an investment asset encompassing expenses for platforms, templates, testing tools, etc. Tracking ROI for each campaign provides valuable insights for optimizing your email marketing strategy.

Formula:
Campaign ROI = ((total revenue – total investment) ÷ total investment) × 100

Benchmark:
Although the statement “$38 for every $1 spent” is often cited to underscore email ROI, it may not be entirely accurate. According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) survey in 2018, the average return was £32.28 for every £1 spent, showing a potential shift in confidence regarding ROI calculations. While there’s no specific optimum campaign ROI, you can use the average value to assess your campaign’s performance.

Tracking frequency:
It’s advisable to track campaign ROI every month.

Forwarding Rate

The email sharing rate indicates how frequently your subscribers share your email campaign with others. This metric is crucial for gauging the quality and engagement level of your email campaign. Content that resonates with recipients is likely to be shared on social media or forwarded to friends, extending the reach of your product or service beyond your mailing list. Numerous social media marketing companies can assist in maximizing this potential.

Formula:
Email sharing rate = (total shares/forwards ÷ total emails delivered) × 100

Benchmark:
Sharing and forwarding rates vary across industries. For instance, according to The 2018 Hidden Metrics of Email Deliverability by Return Path, the average rate of email forwards in the insurance industry was 0.16 (16%) in 2017. In contrast, industries like sporting goods, toys/hobbies/crafts, and even flowers/gifts had lower rates, with an average of 0.01 (1%).

Tracking frequency:
It’s recommended to track the email sharing rate monthly.

Subscriber List Growth Rate

The subscriber list growth rate measures the rate at which new subscribers or users are added to your funnel. If your email campaign includes prompts such as “Subscribe to Our Blog” or “Sign up and try Mailtrap for free,” monitoring the subscriber list growth rate becomes essential. This metric is actionable for various goals, including driving website traffic, increasing free trial signups, expanding outreach for sales, and more. It’s crucial for your subscriber list to continuously grow, ideally by at least 3% per month, while also considering potential losses due to unsubscribes.

Formula:
Subscriber list growth rate = ((new subscribes – unsubscribes – spam complaints) ÷ total subscribers) × 100

Benchmark:
While benchmarks vary by industry, the average subscriber list growth rate is around 3% per month.

Tracking frequency:
It’s recommended to track the subscriber list growth rate monthly.

Select Metrics According to Your Objectives.

Selecting metrics based on your objectives is crucial. Tracking these metrics helps determine whether your email campaign has achieved its goals. Therefore, it’s essential to begin by identifying the primary goal of your campaign. Next, define the target audience and any necessary segmentation. Understanding the campaign’s goal and audience will guide the type of content needed. By considering the combination of goals, audience, segments, and content, you can determine the appropriate metrics to track.

Goal → Audience → Segments → Content → Metrics to track

This sequence leads to the selection of metrics that align with your campaign’s specific objectives and content. Utilize our comprehensive list of email marketing metrics to identify those that best suit your campaign goals and content. Best of luck with your email endeavors!

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