by 
Taking the time to understand the key performance indicators (KPIs) that drive your continued email campaign success, and knowing when to adapt, can help you create a sustainable, effective strategy. We’ve broken down a checklist below for your team to consider when determining how to gauge email performance success, and what analytics should dictate when you need to make modifications.
Track your Open Rates
As a benchmark, the average open rate for financial business marketing email is roughly 20%. This can vary for B2C versus B2B applications or specific types of financial businesses, but it’s a good directional benchmark. Open rates are important to knowing if your email efforts are being targeted at the right audience. High open rates mean your subject line is intriguing enough to engage a prospect. Of course, open rate is an indicator of a contact who has some interest, but doesn’t suggest they are ready to take the next step. Open rate is a good comparative metric to use as a guide over time, but it isn’t the top KPI to drive your entire email marketing strategy.
Analyze Clickthrough Rates
The clickthrough rate, or CTR, represents the percentage of recipients who clicked at least one link in your email. It is measured as a percentage of delivered email. A newer variation of this metric, click to open rate or CTOR, has emerged to provide another layer of analysis. Whereas the clickthrough rate measures clicks as a percentage of all delivered email, the click to open rate measures clicks as a percentage of opened email. We consider the CTOR a better measure of engagement because it ties opens and clicks together. However, either rate can be used as an indicator of content engagement.
Determine the Conversion Rates
Now we come to the most important metric to understand. Clicks indicate engagement, but that engagement only matters over time if that recipient takes the next step and actually converts on an intended action. Conversion rates take into account those who took a desired action, such as filling out a lead generation form for a product demo, a request to set up a meeting, or a marketing asset download. Conversion rate is a major KPI for measuring lead generation success. Conversion rate can be measured by integrating your email platform with your website’s analytics dashboard.
Review the Bounce Rates
The above metrics show how much your contacts are engaging with your emails, but bounce rates indicate which contacts should be reviewed for accuracy or other issues. Bounce rate refers to the percentage of emails that weren’t delivered. Sometimes, this metric is out of your control due to higher spam filters set by some companies. Soft bounces happen due to a temporary issue, like a full inbox, or temporary server issue. Hard bounces are more worrisome since the email got rejected, and won’t likely get delivered in the future. Hard bounces can significantly hurt your email reputation score which impacts future deliverability rates. They are also an indicator of potential email address hygiene opportunities. Track your bounce rates to avoid being marked as spam in other emails and also to identify opportunities to refresh your database.
Factor in Sharing and Forwarding Rates
The KPIs of your email campaigns aren’t just about your originally intended audience. Who shares the content, and who else further engages with that content are key metrics to follow. Measuring the number of times the content within an email is shared on another platform, or forwarded to new contacts are vital metrics to track since they represent new lead opportunities. The contacts in your email database are already likely aware of your company, but the people who see shared content, or are forwarded a message, can help grow your target audience. Contacts who share your content are your most valuable audience as they can quickly become brand ambassadors. These connections are part of measuring your KPIs.
Need help evaluating your email marketing performance or creating engaging content to build brand awareness and drive more conversions? Reach out to learn how we can help.
