Effective email marketing involves careful consideration of various elements. Optimizing your emails is not enough if you cannot track the results and measure the impact of your efforts in achieving your goals. Is it to increase your subscriber list, generate more leads, or convert existing leads into customers?
Once you have identified your goals, you must determine which metrics to track to measure your progress. In this article, we will summarize the top 10 KPIs for email marketing for businesses to leverage the real benefits of email marketing.
Table of Contents
What Are Email Marketing KPIs?
Email marketing KPIs (key performance indicators) are measurable metrics that help businesses track the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns.
Here are some common email marketing KPIs:
- Open Rate
- Click-through Rate (CTR)
- Conversion Rate
- Bounce Rate
- Unsubscribe Rate
- List Growth Rate
- Mobile Open and Mobile Click Rates
- Revenue per Email
- Engagement Rate
- Forward Rate
1. Open Rate
The email open rate refers to the percentage of email recipients who open a particular email. Many email marketers focus on optimizing subject lines to increase email marketing open rates but should prioritize click-through rates instead.
However, the open rate can be a misleading metric because it only counts as an "open" if the recipient loads the email's embedded images. Since many email clients block images by default, the open rate may not accurately reflect the number of opens.
It’s important to remember that the open rate can still provide value as a comparative metric. For instance, comparing the open rates of two emails sent to the same list can offer some insight since the variables are somewhat controlled.
2. Click-through Rate (CTR)
The click-through rate (CTR) refers to the percentage of email recipients who clicked on one or more links in a given email.
To calculate the CTR:
- Divide the total or unique clicks by the number of delivered emails and then multiply by 100.
For example:
- 500 total clicks divided by 10,000 delivered emails multiplied by 100 equals a 5% click-through rate. Using either total or unique clicks in the calculation is acceptable if you remain consistent with your approach.
Email marketers typically prioritize CTR when it comes to tracking metrics. It is often regarded as the "day-to-day" email marketing metric since it allows you to measure the performance of every email you send and track how your CTR changes over time. CTR is valuable for A/B tests designed to identify new ways to improve clicks in your emails.
Tracking CTR is crucial for all email marketers since it provides direct insight into how many subscribers on your list are engaging with your content and are interested in learning more about your brand or offer.
3. Conversion Rate
Conversion rate refers to the percentage of email recipients who have clicked on a link within an email and completed a desired action, such as filling out a lead generation form or purchasing a product.
To calculate it:
- Divide the number of people who completed the desired action by the total number of emails delivered and multiply the result by 100.
For example:
- If 400 people completed the desired action out of 10,000 total emails delivered, the conversion rate would be 4%.
The ultimate aim of an email is to get the recipient to take a specific action, and the conversion rate measures how successful your email is in achieving this goal. It is a crucial metric for determining the extent to which you're reaching your email marketing goals.
To track the conversion rate, you need to integrate your email platform and web analytics by creating unique tracking URLs for your email links. The value of your conversion rate depends on your email marketing goals. If your goal is to generate leads, then conversion rates are significant as they show how effectively your newsletters generate prospects and leads.
It is important to note that the definition of a conversion is tied to the call-to-action in your email, which should be linked to your overall email marketing goal. You can, therefore, opt for professional conversion rate optimization services too.
4. Bounce Rate
Bounce rate refers to the percentage of total emails sent that could not be successfully delivered to the recipient's inbox. The average email bounce rate is 2.76%, but it's best to always aim lower.
To calculate it:
- Divide the total number of bounced emails by the number of emails sent and multiply the result by 100.
For example:
- If there were 75 bounced emails out of 10,000 total emails sent, the bounce rate would be 0.75%.
There are two types of bounces to monitor:
- Soft bounces occur due to temporary problems with a valid email address, such as a full inbox or issues with the recipient's server. The recipient's server may hold these emails for delivery once the problem is resolved, or you can try resending your email message to soft bounce.
- Hard bounces result from an invalid, closed, or non-existent email address, and these emails will never be successfully delivered. It's essential to immediately remove complex bounce addresses from your email list because internet service providers (ISPs) use bounce rates as one of the critical factors to evaluate an email sender's reputation.
While a bounce rate doesn't have a direct link to your email marketing goals, it's still important to monitor it to ensure no fundamental issues with your emails. A high number of hard bounces can make your company look like a spammer in the eyes of ISPs, which can harm your email deliverability and sender reputation.
5. Unsubscribe Rate
The unsubscribe rate indicates the percentage of recipients who opt out of your email list after opening an email and is an integral part of keeping to email marketing best practices.
However, this metric may not accurately represent your email list's health, as some subscribers may stop engaging with your emails without formally unsubscribing. Therefore, measuring subscriber engagement using click-through and conversion rates is better.
By monitoring unengaged subscribers, you can decide whether to remove them from your list. Although the unsubscribe rate doesn't directly impact your goals, it can help calculate the overall growth rate of your list. Hence, it's recommended to keep an occasional check on it.
6. List Growth Rate
The growth rate of your email list refers to the pace at which your email list is expanding.
To calculate it:
- Subtract the number of unsubscribes and email/spam complaints from the number of new subscribers, divide the result by the total email addresses on your list, and multiply the quotient by 100.
For instance:
- If you have 500 new subscribers and 100 people unsubscribe or report spam out of a list of 10,000 email addresses, your list growth rate is 4%.
Besides tracking call-to-action metrics such as CTR and conversion rates, monitoring your list growth and attrition is crucial. By growing your list, you can increase your reach, broaden your audience, and establish yourself as an industry expert.
It's worth noting that your email marketing list naturally decays by around 22.5% annually, underscoring the significance of maintaining a healthy and expanding subscriber list. Therefore, keeping an eye on your list growth rate is highly valuable.
7. Mobile Open and Mobile Click Rates
This metric operates in the same way as the regular open rate but is specific to mobile devices such as phones and tablets. Unlike desktop open rates, which are more likely to occur on weekdays while people are at work, mobile open rates are more prevalent on weekends.
However, it's important to note that Apple's Mail Privacy Protection feature may impact this metric. This feature not only prevents open tracking but also blocks the ability to determine the device or operating system used by the user.
As for mobile click rates, they function the same as desktop click rates but are specific to mobile devices. Mobile click rates are usually lower than desktop click rates because users tend to perform multiple tasks and complex browsing maneuvers, which are easier on a desktop than on the phone.
Like the mobile open rate, the mobile click rate may be affected by MPP. Nevertheless, if you intend to target your audience primarily on their mobile devices, it's best to remember that weekends are typically the optimal time to do so.
8. Revenue per Email
Every $1 spent on email marketing returns an average of $40. While the ROI provides a comprehensive view of your investment returns, examining the revenue generated per email can reveal the effectiveness of each email individually.
Calculating this metric can assist you in identifying the top-performing emails and, according to Forbes, helps to pinpoint any that may be dragging down the overall ROI.
9. Engagement Rate
While automation in your email service provider can schedule emails based on customer actions or triggers, tracking engagement rates can help identify the peak click-through rates for non-automated emails.
Although some email service providers automate this feature and collect relevant data, tracking this metric independently is advisable to determine the most suitable send times for your industry and subscriber base. By monitoring engagement trends over time, you can gain insights into the optimal time frames for sending messages.
10. Forward Rate
A forward rate is the percentage of email recipients who clicked the "share this" or "forward to a friend" button to post email content on a social network or send it to someone else.
To calculate:
- (Number of clicks on the share or forward button ÷ Number of delivered emails) * 100
For example:
- 100 clicks on the share/forward button ÷ 10,000 delivered emails * 100 = 1% email sharing/forwarding rate.
Although it may seem insignificant, tracking the rate at which your email recipients forward or share your emails with others is one of the most crucial metrics to monitor. This is how you can acquire new contacts.
The individuals on your email list are already in your database, and while conversion is still essential, you need to expand your lead pool. By encouraging your readers to share your email with others, you can track the number of new contacts you can add to your database.
Takeaways on KPIs for Email Marketing
Every marketer needs to monitor these email marketing metrics, which remain relevant despite some undergoing significant changes. These metrics offer valuable information for directing email campaigns, providing insights into user behavior, and keeping your team aligned with campaign objectives.
By establishing campaign goals and measuring these metrics against industry benchmarks, you can determine your overall success and make any necessary modifications to your strategy. Opting to outsource email marketing agencies is a great option for businesses, and can help businesses with most of the heavy lifting.
KPIs for Email Marketing FAQs
1. What are the KPIs for email marketing?
Key performance indicators (KPIs) serve as metrics for evaluating various components of an email campaign.
While tracking metrics such as open rates and email forwarding is crucial, focusing solely on these indicators will give a partial picture of your campaign's effectiveness.
Monitoring email KPIs can provide diverse insights.
2. What are the top email marketing KPIs?
The top 10 email marketing metrics or KPIs are:
- Open Rate
- Click-Through Rate (CTR)
- Conversion Rate
- Bounce Rate
- Unsubscribe Rate
- List Growth Rate
- Mobile Open and Mobile Click Rates
- Revenue per Email
- Engagement Rate
- Forward Rate
