Email campaigns currently rank as one of the most cost-effective ways to market products. After all, the average campaign delivers a return on income of about $40 for every dollar spent. As such, any business that knows how to capitalize on this marketing method can enjoy lower marketing costs coupled with higher sales, which would significantly affect its profits. It all comes down to mastering and paying attention to key email marketing metrics that can inform you just how well you are doing and what needs to change. Let's get into them.
What Metrics Do You Need and Why
The average click-through rate in email marketing campaigns is 16.79%. Couple this with the 3% average lead conversion rate, and you have the recipe for success. A single email marketing campaign is enough to take your business to the next level. But how can you tell what works and what does not? You use email marketing metrics.
These stats give you insights into how well your campaigns are doing, which helps you improve overall engagement by capitalizing on what works and changing what is not working. Here are the ones that offer you the most value:
The Open Rate
With people receiving hundreds of emails in a day, some may not open your email if the subject line does not get their attention. This figure shows you just how many people opened it, which sheds light on whether your subject lie was appealing enough. In some cases, the subject line may be too promotional, which can have the same effect as a boring line.
The Click-Through Rate
Email campaigns feature links that allow people to act on your call to action. This metric shows you the number of people who used the links. A low rate can indicate several things, from boring email content to a busy template to ineffective link placements. It's important to review your email and change what you think is not working.
The Conversion Rate
People may be opening your emails and clicking on the links but they do not proceed with the desired goal. In such a case, your problem lies in the effectiveness of your email or the landing page.
Perhaps you are not communicating how much value people will get from your product or providing a simple way for them to access it, e.g., a long checkout process. The conversion rate enables you to see just how many people complete the process, which helps you find the loopholes in your campaign.
The Return on Income
As a business, your goal is to generate income from every marketing campaign. But that's not all. You also want to turn a profit. So, are you making money from your emails? This statistic will help you figure this out. It compares your marketing costs to your overall sales, which helps you determine if you are making bank or losing money in the process. A low rate can point at several things, from improper market segmentation to ineffective email content, poor product fit, lack of convincing calls to action, and improper link placements.
The Bounce Rate
Is everyone getting your emails? You may have a mailing list with 1,000 leads, yet only 80% of them get the emails. It's important to know whether the email addresses in your list are valid and to get rid of the ones that are not. Otherwise, you will spend resources chasing potentials that do not exist. This statistic breaks down the number of email addresses with potential issues so you can clean up your list.
The List Growth Rate
Building a mailing list enables you to create a community of people who could turn out to be long-term clients. However, it takes a lot of intentional effort as subscribers always have the choice to opt out of lists that do not offer them value. So, how can you tell if you are losing people along the way or if your community is getting bigger? You look at the list growth rate, which accounts for the number of subscribers versus the number of unsubscribers. Naturally, you will lose some people along the way, but you want the overall trend to be upward. If it's plateaued or downward, the rate indicates that your lead generation and mailing strategies need a review.
The Email Sharing Rate
When people receive an email whose content is valuable, they share it with others. Luckily, there is a way you can track this by using this metric. Each time someone forwards the message to another person, you will get an update. This way, you can assess the emails that get shared the most to understand what people like about them. Then, you can use the same concepts to make your emails more engaging, which sparks organic growth.
Finally, how many people mark your email as spam? Spam complaints help you explore what recipients do not like about your emails so you can fix them to avoid getting more complaints. After all, the more recipients you retain, the more your list, and therefore your business, grows.