Email Marketing Basics: Key figures & Reports

#1 Opening rate

The opening rate indicates how many of the subscribers to which your email was sent actually opened it. There is a difference between total and unique opening rates: the total opening rate counts all opens, including multiple opens, by a single recipient. The unique opening rate, on the other hand, does not take these into account and only counts the first time an email is opened.

In most cases, the opening rate is measured via a so-called tracking pixel in the form of transparent images. However, there is a problem here: not all subscribers download the images in mailings. This is particularly the case on mobile devices, for example to save data volume. Some mail providers even have an image blocker activated by default. If this is the case, the pixel-code will not be loaded and the email will be considered as not opened. It can also be assumed that the opening rate is actually higher than the statistics show.

#2 Click-through rate

The click-through rate tells you how many of your subscribers have clicked on a link in your mailing. The click-through rate (CTR) only counts subscribers who have clicked on a link once - multiple clicks are not counted. The Click-to-Open-Rate (CTOR) is more meaningful. This tells you how many of your recipients who have opened the email click on the links in the newsletter.

The click-through rate is considered the key indicator in email marketing because, unlike the opening rate, it is unadulterated and can provide direct information about the achievement of campaign goals. In particular, the click-to-open rate is a reliable indicator for whether you are delivering what you promise in your subject line and preview.

#3 Delivery and bounce rate

Delivery and bounce rates are closely linked: the delivery rate is the proportion of emails you send that actually end up in your recipients' inboxes. The bounce rate, on the other hand, tells you how many of your newsletters are undeliverable, i.e. do not reach your subscribers' inboxes.

We distinguish between hard and soft bounces. Hard bounces are all emails that cannot be delivered permanently, for example because the email address is invalid or incorrect. Soft bounces cannot be delivered temporarily, for example because the subscriber's mailbox is full. mailworx also divides bounces into spam bounces. Here, the mail cannot be delivered because the subscriber has reported the sender as spam or the provider has classified it as such.

It is essential that you take the bounce rate into account when analysing your campaigns, as it is also monitored by email providers and a persistently high bounce rate can lead to your sender being classified as spam. In the long run, this will have a negative effect on the performance of your emails. You can read here how mailworx helps you to cleanse your distribution lists of bounces.

#4 Unsubscribe rate

There are many reasons why subscribers unsubscribe from your emails. Some of the most common reasons are too many emails, uninteresting content or people only subscribing to your newsletter to take advantage of a specific offer and then unsubscribing.

We know that unsubscribes are not good for marketers. Nevertheless, you are legally obliged to include an unsubscribe button in your mailing.

#5 Conversion rate

Just like any other marketing activity, email marketing has one goal: Generating sales. The conversion rate tells you how many of the subscribers who received your email took the action you specified. These actions could be registering for an event, downloading a whitepaper or buying a product from your online shop.

What to look out for when analysing

The opening rate has a significant impact on the click rate. If people do not open the email, they cannot click on the links - sounds logical, right? If you also have a low opening rate, your click-through rate (at least the CTR) will also be low. This is why the click-to-open rate is so important, because it describes the ratio of clicks to opened emails.

You should also make sure that the open rate is actually higher than the statistics show.

In the eworx Marketing Suite you get the evaluation of the most important key figures at a glance in the dashboard. Also this year we have published a study for you about the email metrics and customers by industry. This is available for you to download for free.