10 email marketing metrics to know and monitor

Email marketing can seem complex to someone who is just starting out in the field. Several terms to learn, and many useful tools to master in order to become truly effective. It is therefore easy to get lost or feel discouraged.

On the other hand, it is a field where you will not necessarily need to be an expert to give it a try. A few basic concepts will allow you to get started with greater confidence.
To help you, we have outlined some tools that will simplify your life, as well as the key metrics to take into account.
But first, a word on why metrics matter.

Why pay attention to your email marketing metrics?

Quite simply because these metrics will allow you to analyse specific aspects of your email campaigns. In email marketing, for example, we can talk about open rates or the browser your users are using.

These metrics are essential because they inform you about your audience and the success of your campaigns. It is then possible to act accordingly to optimise the impact of your future campaigns. For example, several factors may explain a campaign with a low conversion rate. Attempting a new campaign without having looked into the reasons for that failure is like shooting in the dark. It might work, but without any guarantee, and purely by chance.

The key to success is knowing which metrics you need to monitor, how to interpret them, and, above all, how to access them.
Let us now talk about a few tools that will give you access to these metrics.

3 free tools for analysing your email marketing metrics

MailChimp

We have already talked about MailChimp several times, notably for the creative templates it offers.
MailChimp is one of the most well-known email marketing tools. It offers a variety of features suited to both SMEs and large enterprises. The MailChimp platform is composed of 4 main functions: a simple, intuitive campaign builder, extensive campaign automation capabilities, solid analytics, and the ability to integrate with many other platforms. This obviously makes it possible to include a sign-up form on those platforms to collect your users' email addresses.

Key features:

• Intuitive email campaign creation, using a block-based system (text and image blocks in particular) that you drag and drop into position, along with dozens of pre-built templates.
• Ability to automate every aspect of your campaigns, including their frequency and target audience.
• Integrates with many third-party services, including most e-commerce platforms.
• Solid analytics, including dozens of metrics.
• A/B testing.

2. Benchmark Email

In some respects, Benchmark Email is quite similar to MailChimp. It too allows you to create email campaigns, grow your audience through its analytics, and integrates with many third-party platforms. The similarities actually go even further. Ultimately, choosing between these two tools will mainly come down to personal preference. Test both and choose the one you feel most comfortable with.

Key features:

• Intuitive campaign creation based on pre-built templates.
• Audience segmentation and automation.
• Integrates with dozens of other platforms.
• Analytics for your performance metrics.

3. Google Analytics

The two previous tools enable metric analysis. But Google Analytics obviously surpasses them.
However, you will need to use another tool to set up your email campaigns. Google Analytics, as its name suggests, handles only the analytics side. But that is a small price to pay for access to the wide variety of metrics Google Analytics enables you to analyse.

Key features:

• Integrates with several websites, applications, and email marketing tools.
• Analyses dozens of relevant email marketing metrics.

10 metrics to consider in your email campaigns

Every email marketing campaign is unique. But regardless of the tool you use or the approach you take, you will sooner or later need these metrics. The aim here is to briefly introduce each metric and how to approach it.

1. Open rate

The first and simplest metric is the open rate. Not all your recipients will open every campaign you send them. But those who do increase its open rate. If your open rate seems low, don't panic. The average open rate for most email campaigns is between 10 and 30%. Below 10%, the rate is considered very low; above 30%, you can regard your send as a resounding success.

In relation to this metric, the most important factor influencing your recipients is the subject line of the email. Without an impactful subject line, or with one that is overly commercial, there is a strong chance that recipients will ignore your email (or even mark it as spam).

2. Click-through rate

The click-through rate refers to the number of people who click on a link included in your email campaigns.
Every well-crafted campaign should have a specific goal. For example, making sales, offering quality content to users, or simply bringing internet users back to your website. Every goal should have at least one call to action. If users do not click on it, this may indicate a problem with your design, your copy, or your call to action — or all three combined.

A good click-through rate is between 1 and 3%.

3. Clicks per link

The click-through rate only tells you the number of users who clicked on one of your links. But it does not provide information on how many times each link was clicked.
By knowing the number of clicks per link, you can see which content interested your readers more than others. And use that information to perform better in your next email campaign.

4. Conversion rate

We mentioned this earlier. Every good email marketing campaign needs an objective. When we talk about "conversion", we mean the number of users for whom the objective was achieved.
So, if the goal was to sell a product, the conversion rate corresponds to the number of users who went through the entire process and actually purchased the product.

The importance of this metric is obvious. Every time you manage to convert a user, you are one sale or one visit (depending on your objective) closer to success.
To analyse this metric, you need to define your objectives and then implement them with your email marketing tools. Note, however, that MailChimp does not offer this metric in its free version. Google Analytics, on the other hand, does. If you want to stick with MailChimp, you can integrate the two tools and use Google Analytics solely for the conversion rate.

5. Bounce rate

This represents the percentage of emails returned to the sender with an error message because they could not be delivered. There are soft bounces, which occur because the address is temporarily unavailable (server issue, full mailbox). And hard bounces, which mean the address does not or no longer exists. This metric is very important — it should always be at 0%.

6. Unsubscribe rate

The name of this metric speaks for itself. At times, users will unsubscribe from your mailing list. Perhaps they did not find the content offered relevant to them. Perhaps they feel they are receiving too many emails from you and have grown tired of them. It is difficult to truly know the reasons that lead a user to unsubscribe. But it is possible to minimise this rate by consistently maintaining high quality in your campaigns.

This metric is obviously among the simplest to find and analyse. Most email marketing platforms display it automatically.

7. Spam rate

This is one of the most feared aspects of managing an email campaign. Again, the term is fairly self-explanatory. It refers to the number of times a user has marked your email as junk. Your email campaign platform normally keeps a record of these spam complaints, and may take action against you if these complaints become too numerous.

Most users mark as junk emails of too low a quality or with an overly pushy commercial tone. Our advice to maintain a certain level of quality is therefore all the more important. If MailChimp suddenly receives many more spam complaints than usual, this can become a serious problem for you.

8. Forward rate

If a user shares your email with someone else, it is counted in your forward rate. This rate represents the proportion of your recipients who have forwarded your email.

This metric is particularly interesting, as it reflects a higher-than-average level of enthusiasm for your content. If someone forwards one of your emails, you can be certain that they find the content relevant.

9. Session duration

As the name suggests, this refers to the time spent by a user reading your email. Your email marketing platform displays the average session duration.

Of course, the longer your users spend on your emails, the better. This means they are paying greater attention to your content and are more likely to convert and engage with your calls to action.

10. Overall quality

A quality email campaign should ideally have a low bounce rate, rejection rate, spam complaints, and unsubscribe rate. Overall quality is ultimately a composite of most of the other metrics mentioned above. If you manage to keep your rates at a high-quality level, overall quality will follow.

(Source: photos and free translation from Elegantthemes)