Last week, Amy Doyle Ellwood wrote a Spring Refresh blog post covering important aspects like list cleaning, segment reviews, and other highly valuable aspects that make up the building blocks for successful email marketing. I picked up the item. If you haven't checked it out yet, you can check it out here.
Now that you're in spring cleaning mode, now's a good time to review your email marketing KPIs. Historical performance data often reveals areas of opportunity, such as what to continue/stop doing and hints about audience behavior trends that can help generate new ideas for email content and promotions. . When reviewing his current KPIs, it's also a good time to ask yourself if they are still relevant to your goals and business.
The components that Amy explored will influence the KPIs I'll be looking at today. KPIs are considered essential by most of us when it comes to email marketing. In the spirit of the Refresh theme, take the time to consider whether they are all important to your particular business. More data is better, but unrelated data is distracting. By taking the time to review your past performance and understand the KPIs that really demonstrate the health of your email marketing and its contribution to your business, you'll be set up for even better performance come spring and summer.
1. Open rate – first impressions
Everyone agrees that open rate is one of the fundamental metrics of email marketing. This is the first sign of interest in your email and is often influenced by the text in the subject line or preheader. However, the introduction of features such as email privacy protection and the ever-increasing presence of bots have introduced machine opens and non-human interactions (NHI), diminishing the value of open rates.
ESP and email distribution suites have provided reports to help you understand actual opens and machine opens. This certainly helps, but it doesn't change the fact that open means less than it used to. Although marketers still value open rates as their core KPI, a better strategy is to shift focus to more action-based metrics.
That said, strong subject lines and compelling preheader text go a long way in getting real humans to open your emails, paving the way for action-based metrics to take over.
2. Click-Through Rate (CTR) – Kickoff
CTR is one of the action-based metrics mentioned above and is another key element of email marketing KPIs. The number of recipients who click on links within an email is an important data point regarding campaign performance as it relates to interest and engagement. It's also a leading indicator of changes in your audience's interests and preferences over time, so it can also be used as a data point when considering updates to your email list or segments.
If you feel like your CTR isn't where it should be, revisit the basics like your copy, CTA placement, and CTA wording. A/B testing all of the above will also help you uncover what resonates best with your audience and continue to guide them over time.
3. Conversion rate – GOOOOAAAAL!!
At the end of the day, the biggest measure of email marketing success is conversion rate. Whether you define a conversion as a purchase, signing up for a webinar, subscribing to a newsletter, downloading an ebook, or any other valuable action, this is what we all strive for.
Optimizing your conversion rate requires a little more work, as you need to evaluate the steps from the email link click to the final step in the conversion process, but it's the most valuable action you'll ever take, so it's worth your time. It's worth spending. If necessary, make sure your landing page is optimized, the checkout process is mostly smooth, and your sign-up form has a clear opt-in. A/B testing is your friend here too.
4. Bounce Rate – Wall
Bounce rates, especially hard bounces, have always been a focus of monitoring, but with previously announced changes in Gmail and Yahoo!, it's important to monitor bounce rates for email as it's currently deployed. As the crackdown seems to be increasing, the negative impact of high bounce rates will affect the deliverability of your emails.
Apart from proper list hygiene, validating an email address at the point someone provides it (on a sign-up form as part of a purchase) before the first email is sent Helps discover problems before they occur.
5. List Growth – Refill the Tank
Your email list is the lifeblood of your email marketing efforts. Without a growing list of loyal subscribers, your audience will naturally decline over time, so maintaining a healthy list growth rate ensures you have a good mix of new and familiar viewers. You can now send e-mails.
When it comes to growing your list, focus on both quantity and quality. Implement strategies like offering lead magnets, running contests, and optimizing your website sign-up forms. However, obtaining explicit consent from subscribers is always a priority to ensure compliance with privacy regulations. These regulations may vary depending on both your location and the location of your subscriber/customer, so be sure to check which regulations apply to you.
6. Unsubscribe Rate – A Quiet Farewell
Growing your email list is essential, but monitoring your unsubscribe rate is equally important. A high unsubscribe rate can be a red flag, indicating that your content or frequency may no longer match your subscribers' expectations, either because you've deviated from your original intent or because their interests or expectations have changed. I am.
Personalization and occasional updates to your lists/segments will help keep your content fresh and relevant. It's also helpful to give your subscribers an easy way to manage their preferences, such as email frequency and content topics. Give them the opportunity from time to time to provide feedback on what they'd like to receive from you. This is another great way to keep engagement high and unsubscribes low.
7. Spam Complaint Rate – The Big Farewell
No one wants their email to end up in a spam folder upon delivery, but you definitely don't want your recipients to actively mark your email as spam. Not only can a high spam complaint rate damage a sender's reputation and impact email deliverability, but many ESPs believe that their own As a measure to protect your sending reputation, we stop campaigns mid-send.
To avoid spam complaints, keep everything permission-based and keep your content relevant. Always make it easy to unsubscribe, and revisit your list regularly to segment and target your subscribers with content that aligns with their interests and preferences.
8. Engage over time – keep it sparkling
When it comes to engagement, one-off campaigns are great, but long-term, ongoing engagement is even better. All of the KPIs we've discussed so far will help you understand whether your subscriber engagement is increasing or decreasing over time. Usually viewers fall into three general segments. That is, very involved, sometimes involved, and little or no involvement.
Engagement data, along with relevant data about the contacts in each segment, will help you decide how to best serve these three audiences. Create a loyalty campaign for engaged users, try out some attractive offers to shift recurring segments to engaged segments, and try re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers. please.
By constantly monitoring engagement behaviors that change over time and responding appropriately, you can grow an audience that is impatient for your next email.
9. Email client and device statistics – customized adaptation
In the mobile-first era, it's important to understand how your subscribers are accessing your email. Email client and device statistics provide insight into the email clients (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.) and devices (desktop, mobile, tablet) used by your subscribers. ESP typically also provides data about your operating system and browser.
If you haven't already done so, use this data to optimize the design and rendering of your emails so they look and work seamlessly across different email clients and devices. Litmus is great for seeing how your email will render with all the different variables currently available to your recipients.
10. ROI – Pot of Gold
Last but not least, ROI (return on investment) is the metric that ties everything together by showing the financial return you get from your email marketing efforts. Over time, marketing has changed from being seen as a cost center to now being responsible for revenue generation, so it's important to demonstrate the tangible impact of campaigns on revenue.
To improve the ROI of your email marketing, focus on carefully analyzing the metrics mentioned in this post and take the necessary steps to optimize your email marketing on a regular basis. Each aspect discussed here works together to influence ROI.
In summary
To stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving world of email marketing, you need to understand the metrics that matter most, so keep an eye on these important email marketing KPIs.
Open rate: Make a great first impression.
Click-through rate (CTR): Start engaging your subscribers.
Conversion speed: Measure ultimate success.
Bounce rate: Keep your email list healthy.
List growth rate: Expand your reach responsibly.
Unsubscribe rate: Manage subscriber expectations.
Spam complaint rate: Keep your subscribers happy.
Email engagement over time: Maintain long-term engagement.
Email client and device statistics: Optimize for different audiences.
ROI: Please demonstrate your contribution.
By reviewing these metrics regularly and using them to inform your email marketing strategy, you'll be well-equipped to engage your audience, drive conversions, and achieve great ROI in the long run.
