Open rates are one of the metrics that make up the foundation of email marketing reports. That being said, the problem with measuring open rates is that you have no idea of what happens post-open. This metric only tells part of the story. And if you aren’t making money from your email campaigns, open rates aren’t likely to tell you why. That’s why we have put together a list of 10 metrics that track the effectiveness of your email campaigns, other than open rates. Read on to learn more and get the most out of your email marketing.

Click-through rate (CTR)

Click-through rate is the natural progression from open rate; measuring how many people have gone on to click the links within your email. This metric shows that your content is engaging and relevant enough that recipients want to click through and find out more. Progressing through the buying journey in the process. CTR formula: (Number recipients that clicked/number of emails delivered) x 100

Conversion rate

But, what happens after the click? Conversion rate measures how many of those email clicks go on to complete a certain action, named a conversion. The definition of conversion differs from business to business dependent on their goals. It could be anything from a newsletter sign up to a product purchase. Conversion rate enables you to identify how many of your subscribers actually go on to convert and take meaningful action with your business. As opposed to dropping off and not continuing through the buying journey. Conversion rate formula: (Number of converting recipients/number of emails delivered) x 100

Overall ROI

It’s all well and good that recipients click through and convert, but is that making you any money? Overall ROI measures the money that you actually made from your email campaign, to identify if it was worthwhile, or if it was just a drain on budget. Overall ROI formula: (Money made – money spent)/money spent

List growth

This metric identifies the rate that your email list, or database, is growing. If your list is growing rapidly with genuine, interested recipients, it shows that consumers are engaging with your brand and are keen to hear more from you. If your list isn’t growing quickly, don’t worry, for many brands long term, steady growth is far more sustainable and just as positive. List growth formula: (New subscribers – unsubscribes) / email addresses on list x 100

Unsubscribe rate

Unsubscribe rate is essential to monitor how engaged your overall list is. If a high percentage of recipients are so disengaged as to actively unsubscribe, either the campaign you have sent isn’t cutting it, or the data you have sent to isn’t healthy. However, a small amount of unsubscribes isn’t a bad thing. It enables you to fine-tune your email list, ensuring that you are only sending to the most engaged and interested recipients. Unsubscribe rate formula: (Number of unsubscribes/number of emails delivered) x 100

List churn

List churn takes your unsubscribe rate a step further, looking at how many of your recipients are dropping off over a longer period of time. This is essential for identifying if you have ongoing issues with your email strategy or your database health. List churn formula: (Unsubscribes over specific period/total number of subscribers) x 100

Bounce rate

Bounce rate measures how many recipients who were sent your email didn’t receive it. This is a key metric as:
  1. If recipients aren’t even receiving your email, then you’re falling at the first hurdle
  2. It can be an indication of more serious, underlying issues with your email campaigns
A soft bounce rate will monitor temporary issues with email addresses, such as inboxes being full, or a file within your email being too large. Whereas hard bounces suggest that there is a more permanent issue with the email address. For instance, it could be fake, or the recipient’s server won’t accept emails. These email addresses are ones you will want to remove to maintain your list health. Bounce rate formula: (Number of bounced emails/number of emails sent) x 100

Spam complaints

Spam complaints are something every email marketer dreads. If a recipient has marked you as spam, it means that they didn’t want to sign up for your emails or are very unhappy with the content within your communication. However, unfortunately, sometimes it is just a way for the recipient to clean up their inbox. However, spam complaints can become a deliverability issue, and ESPs (email service providers) take them very seriously. If your spam complaint rate gets particularly high, your ESP may choose to take action, even blocking your account. Spam complaint rate formula: (Number of spam reports/number of emails delivered) x 100

Heatmapping

Not technically a metric, but heatmapping is something we would recommend all email marketers to practice and monitor. Heatmapping allows marketers to see which parts of their emails are receiving the most engagement. For instance, which links are clicked on the most, how far through the email recipients scrolled, and if they are clicking images that don’t link to anywhere. All of the above is insightful data that tells you how recipients are engaging with your emails.

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