In the world of email marketing, the success of a campaign is often judged by its open and click rates. While these are undoubtedly important metrics, they provide only a partial view of your email campaign’s overall performance. To truly understand and optimize your email marketing efforts, it’s essential to look beyond opens and clicks and explore the full spectrum of email metrics. 

In this article, we’ll dive into the various metrics that can give you a more holistic view of how your email campaigns are performing.

Getting a Holistic View: The Email Metrics that Matter for Success

It’s important that you see each of these metrics as simply a piece of the pie. On their own, they only tell a fraction of the story. But together, they complete your email marketing story. 

1. Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is arguably one of the most critical metrics in email marketing. It measures the percentage of recipients who completed a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form, as a direct result of your email. This metric directly ties your email campaigns to business outcomes, providing a clear picture of their effectiveness in driving sales and other key objectives.

2. Bounce Rate

Bounce rate refers to the percentage of your emails that could not be delivered to the recipient’s inbox. There are two types of bounces: hard bounces, which occur when the email address is invalid or the domain doesn’t exist, and soft bounces, which are usually temporary issues, like a full mailbox. A high bounce rate can damage your sender reputation and reduce the effectiveness of your campaigns.

3. Email List Growth Rate

This metric measures the rate at which your email list is growing. Keeping track of how many new subscribers you are gaining versus how many you are losing (through unsubscribes and bounces) can provide insights into the overall health and appeal of your email program. A growing list is a sign of healthy engagement and interest in your brand.

4. Forward Rate/Email Sharing

The forward rate or email sharing rate is an often-overlooked metric that indicates how engaging and valuable your content is to your audience. It measures how often your subscribers forward your emails to others or share them on social media. High forward rates are a good indication that your content resonates with your audience and has the potential to reach a wider audience.

5. Unsubscribe Rate

The unsubscribe rate tracks the percentage of recipients who opt out of your email list after receiving an email. While it’s normal to have some unsubscribes, a high rate can be a red flag that your content is not relevant or appealing to your audience. Monitoring this metric can help you adjust your content strategy and maintain a healthy, engaged email list.

6. Engagement Over Time

Analyzing how subscribers engage with your emails over time can provide valuable insights into the long-term effectiveness of your campaigns. Look for patterns in how engagement metrics like opens, clicks, and conversions change over the course of a subscriber’s lifecycle. This can help you identify when to re-engage subscribers or alter your content strategy to maintain interest.

7. Revenue Per Email

For businesses, ultimately, the goal of email marketing is to drive revenue. The revenue per email metric divides the total revenue generated from an email campaign by the number of emails sent. This metric helps you understand the direct financial impact of your email campaigns and can be a powerful tool for demonstrating ROI to stakeholders.

8. Campaign ROI

Similar to revenue per email, campaign ROI measures the overall profitability of your email marketing efforts. It takes into account the total revenue generated from a campaign and subtracts the costs associated with creating and sending the emails. A positive ROI indicates that your email marketing is an effective use of resources.

9. Website Traffic from Email

Monitoring the amount of traffic your website receives from email campaigns is crucial for understanding how email drives engagement with your broader digital presence. This metric can be tracked using web analytics tools and provides insights into how effectively your emails are encouraging recipients to visit your website and engage with your content or products.

While opens and clicks are important indicators of initial engagement, they only tell part of the story. By broadening your focus to include a more comprehensive set of metrics, you can gain a deeper understanding of your email marketing performance. This holistic approach enables you to make more informed decisions, optimize your campaigns for better results, and ultimately drive more significant business outcomes through your email marketing efforts.