With multiple email metrics and KPIs, you can get data-driven insights to improve the results of your email marketing campaign. In this post, we will describe 4 key email marketing metrics. So, why only 4 metrics?
Each of these metrics corresponds with a specific, high-leverage part of your email. If performance dips, reviewing which of these numbers changed can help you exactly understand what happened and HOW to fix it.
The 4 metrics are…
1. Deliverability
2. Open rate
3. Click-through rate
4. Disengagement rate
Let’s dig into these metrics and go over what they are and how you’ll use them in your email marketing.
1. Deliverability
Not all emails you send are delivered to their destination, that is, to the mailbox of users in your email list. Some of them may not reach the recipient because their email address has become invalid, and some of them, despite delivery, end up in the junk mail or spam folder.
Thus, the deliverability rate is the percentage of emails that make it to the inbox. It’s also important to note that email deliverability also depends on the email platform. 95% or higher is considered a decent delivery rate.
How to increase your deliverability rate?
■ Keep an eye on the accuracy of your email list.
■ Observe and comply with the CAN-SPAM law.
■ Make it easy for subscribers to unsubscribe.
■ Don’t use deceptive email subject lines.
■ Check if HTML and plain text are in sync.
2. Open rate
One of the simplest and most widely used email marketing metrics is the open rate, which shows the percentage of emails that are opened for a particular marketing campaign.
There are two significant aspects that this indicator gives us an idea of:
■ how involved the subscribers are;
■ how effective are your subject lines.
What is Considered a Good Open Rate?
Openness varies across industries and should therefore be compared to the average in your industry. An open rate of 17% is considered good as it is in line with the industry average.
How to Increase Open Rate?
■ Segment your users and send them relevant content based on which segment they belong.
■ Choose a specific time of day and days of the week to send emails based on A/B testing results.
■ Include a catchy, non-patterned, and clear subject line in your email.
■ Include the recipient’s name in the email subject line to give it a personal touch.
■ Continually develop distinguished and helpful content for the long term to increase the open rate for future campaigns.
3. Click-through rate
One of the main tasks of your email is to bring users from the message to the pages of the site you need. The click-through rate (CTR) tells you how many people clicked on the links in your email. Email services will allow you to compare the CTR of different emails and different links in the same email. It will help you understand where it is best to place important links, and in what context they attract the most attention.
How to increase the click-through rate?
■ Include catchy and enticing preview text after the email subject line.
■ Segment and personalize your marketing emails.
■ Optimize your CTA with larger fonts and dynamic colors.
■ Include valuable content in the email (images, GIFs, icons, well-formatted design, relevant and smooth flow of information).
4. Disengagement rate
There will always be readers who decide to unsubscribe from your emails. As long as this figure doesn’t exceed 0.2% after each email, you can be calm – this is a common trend. If the number of unsubscribes is higher, or you notice that percentage of them has increased dramatically compared to the previous period, start looking for the cause of the problem.
The more personalization options your email has, the easier it is to retain subscribers. Using the unsubscribe link, suggest users change the frequency of receiving emails or select individual topics. In this way, you will significantly reduce the disengagement rate.
How to reduce the number of unsubscribes?
■ Share valuable and personalized content with different lead segments.
■ Adjust the frequency of sending emails. Just don’t send too many emails to the same potential client.
■ Correctly determine the time of sending letters.
■ Ask people who unsubscribe why they made this decision. Do it to reduce future unsubscribed.
The data from each of these metrics will help you improve your email marketing strategy. So, invest time and effort into these metrics and KPIs to take the correct action and assemble a team to improve your email campaign results.