13 Key Email Marketing KPIs & Metrics to Track Your Performance

When asked about their biggest challenges with email marketing, digital marketers listed the following email marketing metrics:

• Click-through rates
• Open rates
• Conversion rates

Of course, those are important metrics because they can directly reflect on your sales and revenue. However, there are many other email marketing KPIs that you should be aware of when creating a comprehensive email marketing strategy.

In this article, we'll explore 13 key email metrics that will improve your future email campaigns.

13 email marketing KPIs & metrics to track

Bounce rate

A bounce refers to an email message returned to the sender because it was undeliverable to the recipient's email address. 

How do you calculate a bounce rate?

You can calculate your bounce rate by dividing the number of emails bounced by the total number of emails you sent and then multiplying the result by 100.

Let's say you sent 1,000 emails, and 15 of them bounced. In that case, your bounce rate would be:

(15 / 1,000) * 100 = 1.5%

It'd be good to keep your bounce rate under 2%, but for most industries, the acceptable bounce rate is usually between 2% and 5%.

Types of bounces

There are two types of email bounces: 

1. Hard bounces: A hard bounce occurs when the email is permanently rejected because of the invalid, non-existent or blocked email address. This means the email could not be delivered and will not be retried. Reasons for hard bounces include a non-existent domain, a non-existent email address or a blocked email address.
2. Soft bounces: A soft bounce, on the other hand, occurs when the email is temporarily rejected because of a temporary issue with the recipient's mail server or mailbox, such as a full inbox or an email server that is down. Soft bounces may also occur if the email message is too large to be delivered. In these cases, the email may be retried for a certain period before being considered a hard bounce.

Impact of a bounce

Email bounces can negatively impact the sender's email deliverability, and a high bounce rate can result in emails being marked as spam or blacklisted by email service providers (ESPs). Therefore, it is crucial for email marketers to regularly monitor and manage their bounce rates and take necessary actions to improve email deliverability.

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Conversion rate

The conversion rate (CVR) is the percentage of email recipients who take the desired action after opening an email, such as making a purchase, clicking a link or filling out a form. CVR is a crucial metric that helps measure the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign.

How do you calculate CVR?

You can calculate the CVR by dividing the number of recipients who took the desired action by the total number of email recipients and multiplying the result by 100 to get a percentage. Let’s say you sent an email campaign to 1,000 recipients and 100 of them made a purchase – the CVR would be 10% in that case.

What factors can affect CVR?

Several factors can affect CVR in email marketing. A few of them are:

• The email content quality
• The relevance of the offer to the recipient
• The design and layout of the email
• The ease of the conversion process

Personalization and segmentation can also have a significant impact on CVR.

What is a good CVR?

When it comes to email marketing, what makes for a good conversion rate (CVR) can differ depending on the industry and the campaign's specific goals. However, a 2-5% CVR is generally considered average, while a 10% or higher CVR is considered excellent.

How do you improve CVR?

To boost your CVR, concentrate on generating top-notch, pertinent content that speaks directly to the needs and interests of your target audience. Use persuasive language and clear calls-to-action to encourage recipients to take the desired action. Additionally, ensure that the conversion process is simple and straightforward.

Revenue

Email marketing can help businesses generate revenue in several ways, such as driving sales, increasing customer loyalty and encouraging repeat purchases. To achieve this, companies can send targeted and personalized emails with compelling offers and clear call-to-actions (CTAs), encouraging recipients to take action and make a purchase.

How do you track revenue?

You can track revenue from email marketing with an email analytics tool such as SEINō. There are different revenue-related metrics, such as:

• Overall revenue: This metric refers to the total amount of money generated through your email marketing campaigns in a specific period.
• Revenue per session: This metric shows the average revenue generated from each visitor session on your website. You can calculate it by dividing the overall revenue by the total number of individual sessions during that period.
• Revenue per email: You can calculate the average revenue per email by dividing the overall revenue by the number of emails sent during that period.

What is the average Return On Investment (ROI) for email marketing?

The average return on investment (ROI) for email marketing differs depending on the industry, but research indicates that email marketing can generate an ROI of up to 4400%. This translates to a potential return of €44 for every euro invested in email marketing by businesses.

What factors can affect revenue from email marketing?

Several factors can affect revenue from email marketing. A few of them are:

• The email content quality and relevance 
• The segmentation and targeting of your email list
• The timing and frequency of your emails
• The design and layout of your emails
• The overall customer experience

How do you improve revenue from email marketing?

To enhance revenue from email marketing, you can implement various tactics. These include:

• Segmenting your email list and sending personalized or targeted emails
• Crafting subject lines and offers that are convincing and appealing
• Optimizing the design and layout of your emails to improve engagement
• Experimenting with different email formats and content
• Integrating your email marketing with your CRM or e-commerce platform

Furthermore, closely monitoring and analyzing your email analytics can help you identify areas for improvement and optimize your email campaigns for improved revenue generation.

Session duration

A session is the time a recipient spends interacting with your email content. It starts when a recipient opens an email and ends when they close or navigate away from the email.

How do you calculate the average session duration?

To calculate the average session duration in email marketing, divide the total time spent engaging with your email content (across all recipients) by the total number of sessions. This metric gives you an idea of how engaged your email recipients are with your content.

What factors can affect session duration?

Several factors can affect session duration in email marketing. A few of them are:

• The relevance and quality of the email content
• The design and layout of the email
• The call-to-action (CTA) and its placement
• The timing and frequency of your emails

What is a good average session duration?

The typical length of an email marketing session can vary depending on the targeted audience and email type. For a good average duration, aim for between 30 seconds to 1 minute.

How do you improve session duration?

To improve session duration in email marketing, you can try several tactics:

• Sending targeted and personalized emails
• Optimizing your email design and layout
• Using clear and compelling CTAs
• Testing different email formats and content
• Monitoring and analyzing your email analytics

You can also enhance the relevance and quality of your email content to better engage and retain recipients.

Open rate

The open rate refers to the percentage of email recipients who opened your email. To calculate it, divide the number of unique opens by the number of sent emails and then multiply the result by 100 to get the percentage.

What is a good open rate?

The email open rate can vary by industry, but a 20-25% rate is generally considered good. In 2022, 60% of marketers said their campaigns had an open rate of more than 20%. However, the rate can differ depending on the audience and email type.

What factors affect the open rate?

Several factors affect open rates, such as: 

• The subject line
• Sender name and email address
• The time and day the email is sent
• The content of the email
• The type of email (promotional, informational, etc.)
• The relevance of the email to the recipient

How do you improve the open rate?

To increase the number of people who open your emails, there are a few things you can try: 

• Make your subject lines more interesting and relevant
• Segment your email list to send them more personalized content
• Choose the best times and days to send your emails
• Use a sender name and email address that people will recognize
• Make sure your email design looks good on mobile devices

Sent all

The metric Sent All refers to the total number of emails sent to the entire email list or segment, regardless of whether the recipient has received the email. This number includes duplicates, bounces and unsubscribes.

Sent unique

The metric Sent Unique refers to the number of unique recipients who have received the email, excluding duplicates, bounces and unsubscribes.

Why is it important to track Sent All and Sent Unique?

Tracking Sent All and Sent Unique metrics can help you evaluate your email marketing campaigns’ effectiveness. By comparing the two, you can determine the percentage of emails that bounced, were marked as spam or were unsubscribed. Additionally, this approach can help you measure your email list’s engagement and track the growth of your subscribers.

Which metric is more important?

Both metrics are crucial for different reasons. Sent All accurately counts the total number of emails sent, while Sent Unique measures the actual reach of your email campaign. The ratio between the two can indicate the effectiveness of your email list and the quality of your subscribers.

How do you improve the Sent Unique metric?

To boost your Sent Unique metric, concentrate on enhancing the quality of your email list. This entails:

• Routinely purging inactive or invalid email addresses
• Segmenting your list to cater to specific groups of subscribers
• Providing valuable content to your audience

Moreover, evaluate optimizing your email subject lines and sending frequency to heighten engagement and avoid your emails being flagged as spam.

Average order value

You can calculate the average order value (AOV) generated per order by dividing the total revenue by the number of orders received. The AOV helps to measure the effectiveness of email campaigns in terms of generating revenue. By increasing the AOV, businesses can maximize the revenue generated from each email campaign.

How do you increase AOV?

To increase AOV, consider offering upsells or cross-sells in emails. For example, recommend related products or offer bundle deals. You can also add personalized recommendations based on the contact's purchase history or browsing behavior to encourage them to purchase more items.

What are the best practices for optimizing AOV?

Here are some effective ways to increase the average order value (AOV) in email marketing:

• Provide personalized product recommendations
• Offer free shipping or a discount for larger orders
• Create a sense of urgency with limited-time offers
• Segment your email lists based on behavior and purchase history

Complaint rate

Complaints in email marketing occur when a recipient marks an email as spam or files a complaint with the email service provider (ESP) regarding the email content or frequency. It is essential to take complaints seriously and investigate the issue. If the complaint is valid, apologize to the recipient and take steps to prevent the problem from recurring in the future.

How do you reduce complaints?

To minimize complaints, you can:

• Prioritize delivering valuable and relevant content
• Use a recognizable sender name
• Include an easily accessible unsubscribe link
• Identify an appropriate frequency for email distribution

How do you monitor complaints?

To keep track of complaints, regularly check your ESP spam complaint rate metric and monitor your unsubscribe and email deliverability rate. All of these metrics are available in your SEINō dashboard as well.

What are the consequences of a high complaint rate?

A high complaint rate can have several negative consequences, including: 

• Reduced email deliverability
• Increased chances of being marked as spam
• Potential penalties or suspension from your ESP

Email deliverability

Email deliverability measures how successfully emails are received by recipients, rather than landing in spam or junk folders or not arriving at all. If your emails don't make it to the inbox, your contacts won't see them, rendering your campaign ineffective.

How do you improve email deliverability?

You can improve email deliverability by:

• Cleaning your email lists regularly 
• Sending relevant and personalized emails
• Using a reliable email service provider (ESP)
• Optimizing emails for mobile devices

Make sure to test your emails by sending them to yourself or a test group. It's important to comply with anti-spam guidelines and check the content, images, links and formatting. You can use tools such as Litmus and Mailosaur to test emails on various devices, operating systems and email clients.

What are the key factors that affect email deliverability?

Several factors can impact email deliverability, including:

• The quality of your email lists
• The relevance and personalization of your content
• The reputation of your sender domain and IP address
• The consistency of your sending frequency
• Adherence to anti-spam guidelines

It's essential to keep these factors in mind when crafting and sending emails to ensure maximum effectiveness and reach.

How do you prevent emails from being marked as spam?

To avoid having your emails flagged as spam, you need to follow anti-spam guidelines. This includes: 

• Sending emails only to those who have subscribed to your list
• Using a clear sender and subject line
• Providing an opt-out option

You can also monitor spam complaints from your recipients and use their feedback to enhance your emails.

Click-through rate

The click-through rate is the percentage of email recipients who click on a link in your email. 

You can calculate your CTR by dividing the total number of clicks by the number of emails delivered and then multiplying the results by 100 to get a percentage.

Suppose you sent out an email campaign to 2,000 recipients, and 120 of them clicked on the links you provided. In this case, your CTR would be:

(120 / 2,000) * 100 = 6%

What is the difference between clicks unique, clicks all and clicks to open?

Different types of clicks can measure the engagement of email recipients. These include clicks unique, clicks all and click-to-open rate (CTOR).

1. Clicks unique: This metric counts the number of individual recipients who clicked on a link in your email. If one recipient clicks on a link multiple times, it will still only count as one click unique.
2. Clicks all: Unlike clicks unique, this metric counts the total number of clicks on a link in your email, including multiple clicks by the same recipient. If one recipient clicks on a link multiple times, it will count as multiple clicks.
3. Click-to-open rate (CTOR): This metric measures the engagement of recipients who actually opened your email. To calculate it, divide the number of clicks on a link in your email by the number of opens.

Clicks unique counts individual recipients who clicked on a link, clicks all counts all clicks regardless of whether they are by the same recipient and clicks to open measures engagement relative to the number of opens. All three metrics provide a different perspective on how email recipients engage with your content.

What is a good click-through rate?

The email click-through rate depends on many factors, such as industry and type of email campaign, but a 2-3% click rate is generally considered good, depending on the source of the statistic.

For example, the average click-through rate in marketing emails for the US was 2.68% in 2022.

What factors affect click-through rates?

Many factors can affect click-through rates. A few of them are:

• The relevance of the email content to the recipient
• The clarity and placement of the call-to-action (CTA)
• The ease of use and functionality of the CTA
• The design and layout of the email
• The type of email (promotional, informational, etc.)
• The timing of the email

How do you improve click-through rates?

You can try several tactics to increase your emails’ click-through rates:

• Using clear and compelling CTAs
• Segmenting your email list to send targeted and personalized content
• Optimizing your email design for mobile devices
• Testing different email formats and content
• Using A/B testing to optimize your emails for better engagement
• Incorporating interactive elements, such as polls, quizzes and surveys
• Generating a sense of urgency and scarcity by including limited-time offers

List growth rate

The list growth rate shows the pace at which your subscriber list expands over time.

To calculate the list growth rate, you should track the number of new subscribers over a particular period (minus people who unsubscribed during the same period) and divide it by the total number of existing subscribers before you start growing your list. You can then multiply the result by 100 to get a percentage.

How do you grow your list faster?

There are different methods to attract and retain new subscribers. Here are some ideas:

• Optimize sign-up forms
• Test different lead magnets (offer valuable incentives such as e-books, free courses, discounts etc.)
• Create content upgrades that require people to subscribe to your email list
• Host free webinars that require email registration
• Promote your newsletter on social media

Another thing you should be monitoring is your email unsubscribe rate. If it starts growing, it could mean that you've attracted the wrong audience or that your content doesn't resonate with them, and it might be time to change something.

Forwarding rate

The forwarding rate represents the percentage of email recipients who have shared your email with others, reflecting the viral potential of your content.

How do you calculate a forwarding rate?

You can calculate it by counting the number of forwarded emails and dividing it by the total number of emails delivered. Multiply the result by 100 to get a percentage.

Imagine you sent an email campaign to 2,000 recipients, and 100 of them forwarded the email to others. The forwarding rate in this case would be:

 (100 / 2,000) * 100 = 5%

How do you improve a forwarding rate?

The question is: how do you get people to share your email with others? Here are a few tips:

• Create sharable resources such as e-books, guides, whitepapers, infographics etc.
• Create interactive content such as tests and quizzes that users are more likely to share with others
• Organize contests, challenges and giveaways
• Add social media buttons to your email campaigns, allowing people to share them with only one click

Email marketing KPIs & metrics: How can SEINō help

While most email service providers offer limited email marketing metrics, SEINō specializes in email tracking and analytics. Each of the metrics on our list are core data points you can track in SEINō. Plus, you get:

• Campaign benchmarking: While most email analytics tools limit themselves to tracking metrics for one campaign at a time, SEINō allows you to compare and benchmark multiple email marketing campaigns in the same report so you can spot patterns and discover elements that perform the best.
• List growth tracking: SEINō is one of the rare tools that enable you to monitor your subscriber list and see how your customer base is growing.
• A/B testing: SEINō is not limited to email analytics; it also allows you to test and optimize your campaigns. You can do split testing of any element (different subject lines, CTA, design etc.) and use those insights to change and optimize your campaigns in real time.

The best thing is that you don't have to quit the tools you're already using – you can simply integrate your ESPs with SEINō to measure your performance with a new level of accuracy and speed. SEINō integrates with many major ESPs, such as Deployteq, Selligent, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, Braze and others.

Here is what our clients have to say.

Case study #1:

Glanbia is the largest sports supplement seller in the world, selling its products in 13 countries and online. They were struggling to keep track of email campaign metrics and needed a way to precisely measure their revenue.

After switching to SEINō, they can drill down to the transaction and revenue level and get real-time insights into email campaigns. They can also make comprehensive reports with only a few clicks, saving them around 16 hours per week, which they can use to optimize and create new email marketing strategies.

Case study #2:

Temeer Group consists of three fashion brands selling their products in over 150 locations, plus online.

They were struggling to create comprehensive email reports and juggling between Google Analytics and various spreadsheets. SEINō integration with Google Analytics allowed them to eliminate repetitive work and get valuable insights into their customer behavior.

What's more, they can now benchmark and compare different campaigns in one report to discover what elements convert the best.

Conclusion

If you want to improve your email performance but don't know where to start, bear in mind that tracking the right metrics is the first step to improvement. You first need to be aware of what's working and what's not to be able to elevate your campaign performance.

If you're looking for a tool that can help you track all of the above email metrics and optimize your campaigns in real time, SEINō is the tool for you.

Schedule a free demo to see how we can help you.

Email marketing KPIs & metrics: FAQ

What is the KPI for email marketing? The most widely used email marketing KPIs are open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribe rate etc. But it's also essential to track revenue-related metrics such as average order value, revenue per subscriber, subscriber lifetime value and others.

How do you measure email marketing success? The success of your email marketing efforts depends on your goals: whether you want to generate leads, increase engagement or boost sales. You can measure your email marketing success by tracking relevant email metrics, and we suggest doing it with an email analytics tool to improve accuracy and get insights on how to improve your email campaigns.

What is ROI in email marketing? In email marketing, return on investment is calculated by subtracting the total costs associated with your email campaign from the revenue generated and then dividing that number by the total costs to get ROI as a percentage.

What is the most important metric in email marketing? If we had to choose only one email marketing metric, it would be conversion rate, as it directly measures the impact of your email campaigns.