Measuring the Performance of Your Email Campaign

Do you want to implement an email marketing strategy, or has your company already experimented with this communication solution? To succeed with this strategy, it is essential to measure the performance of your email sends. Among the essential steps, calculating KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) allows you to analyze the impact of your email campaign in detail. Discover the main performance indicators, their definition, and calculation methods to successfully measure your performance.

Open Rate

What is the Open Rate?

The open rate is a fundamental KPI in any email marketing strategy. It indicates the percentage of internet users subscribed to your newsletter who have opened your email. This indicator is crucial because it measures the effectiveness of your email’s subject line, as well as the first impression that recipients have of your communication. A high open rate means that your email’s subject line has managed to capture the interest of recipients and has encouraged them to discover more. This reflects not only the relevance and attractiveness of your subject but also the quality of your subscriber list and their engagement with your brand. By optimizing your email subjects to be catchy, clear, and relevant, you can significantly improve your open rate, thereby increasing the chances that your messages are read and that your calls to action are followed.

Calculating the Open Rate

To know the open rate of your emails, you need to perform this simple calculation: number of email opens / number of emails sent x 100.

Click-Through Rate

What is the Click-Through Rate KPI?

The click-through rate is a crucial indicator that measures the percentage of subscribers who have clicked on the links in your email. This KPI is essential for evaluating the engagement of your recipients and the effectiveness of your email campaign. A high click-through rate indicates that the content of your email has succeeded in arousing the curiosity and interest of your subscribers, thus encouraging them to learn more by visiting your website.

To maximize the click-through rate, it is important to structure your emails in a way that attracts attention to the links. This can be achieved by using clear and impactful calls to action, inserting highly visible buttons, and ensuring that the links are placed strategically in the content. In addition, personalizing messages and segmenting your subscriber list to send relevant and targeted emails can significantly increase recipient engagement.

By regularly tracking and analyzing the click-through rate, you can identify which types of content and which calls to action work best for your audience. This analysis will allow you to adjust and optimize your future email campaigns to further increase the interaction and engagement of subscribers with your brand.

Calculating the Click-Through Rate

The calculation is also simple to apply since you need to divide the number of clicks on a link in the email by the total number of emails sent. Then, you multiply this result by 100 to get the click-through rate.

Reactivity Rate

Definition of the Reactivity Rate for Your Emailing

The reactivity rate is a key indicator that combines the open and click-through rates to offer a more precise measure of recipient engagement. Specifically, it represents the percentage of clicks in relation to email opens, thus making it possible to determine not only how many recipients have opened your email, but also how many have been interested enough to click on the links contained in the message.

A high reactivity rate means that not only has your email’s subject line succeeded in capturing the attention of recipients, but also that the content of the email has been relevant and engaging, encouraging readers to interact further. This KPI is particularly useful for evaluating the quality of your calls to action and the relevance of the information provided in your emails.

To improve the reactivity rate, it is essential to:

• Write impactful subjects: Attract the attention of recipients at first glance.
• Personalize content: Adapt your messages to the interests and behaviors of your subscribers.
• Include clear calls to action: Use highly visible and convincing buttons or links.
• Segment your list: Send targeted emails to increase relevance and engagement.
• Optimize email design: Ensure a clear, attractive, and easy-to-navigate layout.

By regularly tracking and analyzing the reactivity rate, you can gain valuable insights into what works well in your email campaigns and what can be improved. This analysis allows you to adjust your content and interaction strategies to maximize the engagement of your audience and, ultimately, achieve your marketing objectives more effectively.

How to Calculate the Reactivity Rate?

You need to divide the number of clicks on a link in the email by the number of email opens and then multiply this result by 100.

Bounce Rate

What is the Bounce Rate in Emailing?

The bounce rate is a crucial indicator that indicates the percentage of undelivered emails. A high bounce rate means that many emails have not reached their recipients, which may be due to various reasons, such as incorrect or inactive addresses.

We distinguish two types of bounce rates:

• Soft Bounce Rate: This type of bounce occurs when the email address is temporarily unavailable. Causes may include a full inbox, a temporary problem with the recipient’s email server, or temporary restrictions put in place by the email service provider. Soft bounces can often be resolved, and the email can be redelivered once the temporary problem is resolved.
• Hard Bounce Rate: This type of bounce occurs when the email address no longer exists or has never existed. Reasons include typos in the email address, deleted or non-existent email accounts, and blocked or invalid addresses. Unlike soft bounces, hard bounces indicate permanent problems, and the addresses concerned must be immediately removed from your contact list to maintain the quality and reputation of your sending list.

Regardless of the origin of the problem, an email that bounces has not been received by the recipient. A high bounce rate can harm your domain’s reputation and affect the deliverability of your future emails. To reduce the bounce rate, it is essential to:

• Maintain a clean contact list: Regularly remove inactive and invalid addresses from your database.
• Use double opt-in: Confirm the email address of new subscribers by sending them a confirmation email before adding them to your main list.
• Implement email verification: Use verification tools to validate email addresses before adding them to your list.
• Monitor campaign performance: Analyze bounce rates after each campaign to identify and correct recurring problems.

By effectively managing your contact list and carefully monitoring bounce rates, you can improve the deliverability of your emails, maintain a good reputation with email service providers, and maximize the impact of your email campaigns.

Calculating the Bounce Rate

You need to calculate the number of undelivered emails / number of emails sent and multiply the result by 100.

Complaint Rate

The complaint rate is an essential indicator in evaluating the performance of your email campaigns. It measures the percentage of emails reported as spam by recipients. A high complaint rate can have significant negative consequences on your domain’s reputation, which, in turn, can reduce the deliverability of your future emails.

What is the Complaint Rate?

The complaint rate, also known as the spam reporting rate, represents the percentage of recipients who mark your emails as unwanted. A recipient may report an email as spam for several reasons: they do not remember signing up for your list, they are overwhelmed by too many communications, or they feel that the content is irrelevant or of poor quality.

How to Calculate the Complaint Rate?

The complaint rate should be low because if it is high, it means that the email campaign has negative repercussions on recipients.

The formula to know this result is the number of emails reported as spam / total number of emails sent x 100.

Why is a High Complaint Rate Problematic?

Domain Reputation:

Email service providers (such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook) track the complaint rate of email senders. If your complaint rate is high, these services may consider your emails as unwanted, which affects the reputation of your domain.

Reduced Deliverability:

A bad domain reputation often leads to a decrease in the deliverability of your emails. Your future messages are more likely to end up in recipients’ spam folders, even those who wish to receive your emails.

Unsubscribe Rate

What Does It Consist Of?

The unsubscribe rate measures the percentage of subscribers who have unsubscribed after receiving an email. A high unsubscribe rate may indicate problems with the relevance or frequency of your emails.

Several situations can lead to this unsubscription:

• Your emails are not interesting
• You send too many emails
• The recipient is simply no longer interested in your products or services

This calculation is essential to know the relevance of your campaign and measure its impact.

How to Calculate It?

Here is the formula to know: (Number of unsubscribes / number of emails sent) x 100. Your goal is to minimize the result obtained to lower the number of unsubscribes from your newsletter.

Distribution of Opens and Clicks

In addition to the KPIs we have just mentioned, other key figures ensure you know the performance of your email send as best as possible.

Distribution of Opens

Analyze the times of day when your emails are most often opened. This information helps you plan your sends to maximize open rates. For example, if you notice a peak in openings in the morning before 7 a.m. or around noon, schedule your sends for these time slots.

Distribution of Clicks by Location

Examine which links in your emails get the most clicks and where they are placed. This analysis allows you to structure your emails in a way that optimizes recipient engagement. Place the links strategically to maximize clicks.

Measuring the KPIs of your email campaigns is crucial to evaluate and improve the performance of your communication strategy. By analyzing these indicators, you can identify strengths and areas for improvement, adjust your future sends, and maximize the impact of your emails on your audience.