Understanding performance metrics: email marketing for makers The five rates to watch so you can determine how your emails are performing.
Email marketing is a budget-friendly, effective way to stay in touch with people interested in your business. It allows you to forge relationships with them that ultimately drive new and repeat purchases of your products.
We first covered getting started in email marketing with how to build and grow your email list. Then, we guided you through the essential emails to send, including automated emails and one-off marketing emails. If you’ve been diligently growing your list and sending those emails, you’re now ready for the next step: learning how to evaluate the performance of your emails!
Understanding email performance metrics is vital. These numbers help you gauge how your emails are engaging your audience. With this knowledge, you can make decisions and adjustments to better achieve your business goals—and this article is here to walk you through this part of your email marketing journey.
Before we get into the metrics, we should mention email deliverability. This refers to the likelihood of emails reaching a recipient’s main inbox. Email deliverability is crucial for successful marketing because emails that land in the inbox—instead of the spam folder or promotions tab—have a greater chance of being seen and opened.
If your marketing emails aren’t arriving in subscriber inboxes, the metrics we talk about below won’t be accurate. Email service provider (ESP) MailChimp wrote a helpful article all about email deliverability and how to improve it that we recommend checking out.
The five key email performance metrics to know
There are hundreds of metrics that you can measure in email marketing. These rates are tracked in your ESP account and provide useful insights about how subscribers interact with your emails and shop.
But it can be overwhelming to know where to begin on this front—so we’re highlighting the five foundational metrics to know. Understanding the following rates allows you to make data-driven optimizations to your email marketing strategy.
1. Open Rate
The open rate is the percentage of recipients who open an email. For retail businesses like yours, aim for an open rate of at least 18-25%. If your list is small or your subscribers are very engaged, you might even see open rates north of 50%.
Open rates demonstrate whether your emails are catching your subscribers’ attention in their inboxes and are a measure of basic email marketing engagement. They are affected by factors like subject lines, what time an email is sent, and whether the recipient recognizes the sender’s name.
Since 2021, open rates have become less reliable. That year, Apple enacted changes that allowed Apple Mail users to record email opens even if they didn’t actually open the email. If many of your subscribers use Apple Mail, your open rates might be inflated. While still useful, it’s best to consider open rates alongside other metrics for a more accurate picture of how your emails are performing.
2. Click-Through Rate
The click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of recipients who click on a link in an email after opening it. A healthy click-through rate is 1-5% or between one and five clicks per 100 hundred delivered emails.
CTRs are currently a stronger indicator of subscriber engagement than open rates. By clicking through an email, subscribers are demonstrating interest and (typically) going to your website. CTRs are important because subscribers are more likely to take further action, like making a purchase, after clicking on an email link.
Factors affecting CTRs include the way emails are designed and look, the clarity of calls to action in the emails, and the relevance of the email’s content to the readers.
3. Order Conversion Rate
The order conversion rate is the percentage of recipients who complete an order after receiving an email. Set your sights on an order rate of 1-5%, which equates to between one and five orders for every 100 sent emails.
Order conversion rates can vary quite a bit from business to business. Brands that sell lower-priced items often have higher conversion rates. Shops that sell higher-priced goods or have average order values above $100 often see order conversion rates closer to 1%—or even less in some cases.
4. Unsubscribe Rate
The unsubscribe rate measures the percentage of subscribers who opt out from your list after receiving an email. Ideally, the unsubscribe rate should be less than 0.5%. That’s five unsubscribes per 1,000 emails sent.
Keep in mind that it’s completely normal and expected for people to leave your list over time! Some customers might unsubscribe after they’ve made a purchase or no longer need your products. But if you’re seeing spikes in this rate, or a consistently high rate of unsubscribes, then this is a flag to notice.
5. Spam Complaint Rate
The spam complaint rate is the percent of subscribers who mark your email as spam. Try to keep the spam complaint rate below 0.1%—or one complaint per 1,000 emails.
A higher rate can hurt email deliverability because providers like Gmail will send emails to subscribers’ promotions tabs or spam boxes instead of the main inbox. If your email list is made up of purchased emails, you may see a higher-than-desired spam complaint rate.
Other reasons that contribute to this rate are recipients forgetting they subscribed, irrelevant content, higher-than-expected email volume, and unclear unsubscribe instructions.
Ideas for improving email performance metrics
Now that you’re familiar with these rates and what they mean, this is an excellent time to review your business’s email marketing stats. Just remember to view them in the context of your email marketing goals—both overall and for each individual email—to judge what’s working and what isn’t. A few tips:
- If you’re more interested in email engagement, clicks are the metric to watch.
- Are sales top of mind? Monitor your order conversion rate and work to grow that number.
- Have reasonable expectations for different kinds of emails. For example, comparing the order conversion rates for an email announcing a sale to one that shares a behind-the-scenes update is less useful than comparing emails with a similar purpose and content.
- Consider the time of year, too. Candle sales are notoriously slower in warmer months, so don’t be surprised if conversions drop in the summer. On the flip side, higher-than-average CTRs and sales conversions are common during the peak of shopping in fall and winter.
- Is your list growing quickly? An influx of subscribers can temporarily lower open rates and order conversion rates.
Lastly, make sure you’re only adding people to your list who have consented to join it. Buying email addresses or lists is never recommended—it’s a sure way to lead to high spam complaints and unsubscribe rates. Your bottom line, and brand reputation, are better served by steadily growing your email list with subscribers who are genuinely interested in your business and products.
Once you review your metrics, there’s a good chance you’ll want to improve some of them. Here are specific actions to take to enhance your rates and boost your email marketing efforts.
If your open rate is low...
- Use a clear and consistent sender name. “Monica from Esprit Candles” or “Esprit Candles” gives more information to subscribers than just “Monica Jones.”
- Focus on compelling subject lines. “Light up your night with new Moon Phase candles!” is infinitely more enticing than “New products available.”
- Test send times. Try sending emails on different days and times to see when your subscribers are most likely to open your emails.
- Segment your list. Periodically “cleaning” your list by removing unengaged subscribers can improve this rate. We’ll dive into this topic in the next part of this series.
If your click-through rate leaves something to be desired…
- Review your email design. Keep things simple with an eye-catching image, just enough text to hook the reader, and one call to action (CTA).
- Make the CTA clear and easy to find. CTAs are phrases like “Shop Now” and “See the New Soaps.” A succinct CTA on a can’t-be-missed button will generate more link clicks than a link buried in a paragraph of text.
- Use social proof. Use the power of product reviews to create a connection with your readers, build trust, and generate curiosity that leads to clicks.
If your order conversion rate is below target…
- Ensure your website looks professional, is functional, and instills trust. Be sure your site’s design, usability, and customer experience are set up to encourage purchases. Eliminate any technical issues, unclear shipping information, or other barriers that could deter shoppers from making a purchase.
- Link directly to the product being promoted. Minimize any extra steps in the purchase process and make it as easy as possible for subscribers to find the product they’re interested in.
- Target the most engaged subscribers. Not everyone on your list is ready to buy, so identifying and focusing on the most active subscribers through list segmentation (more on that in the next part of this series) can improve this rate.
If your unsubscribe rate is high…
- Determine whether this is a pattern. First, check to see if this is a temporary spike or a consistent pattern. If it’s a new development, review how often you’re sending emails. A sudden increase in send frequency may lead subscribers who are less interested in your brand to bow out.
- Review the mix of emails you’re sending. If this rate is consistently higher than you’d like, take a look at the type of emails you’re sending. Are the majority focused solely on sales and promotions? Often, people don’t enjoy only being sold to; this is a chance to develop a stronger relationship with subscribers by sending emails that offer valuable content, information, or an engaging experience.
- Consider your email design. Emails that come across as impersonal or amateurish usually don’t inspire trust with subscribers, which can lead to unsubscribes. Focus on using visuals and copy that appear credible and in line with your brand.
If your spam complaint rate is above industry standards…
- Set up a welcome email series. Have a welcome flow in place that immediately triggers when subscribers are added to your list. This practice will remind them of how they got on your list and what they can expect from your business, reducing the likelihood of spam complaints.
- Make the unsubscribe button easy to find. Minimize spam complaints by placing a highly visible unsubscribe button in every email. Making the unsubscribe process simple and transparent builds trust with your audience.
- Try double opt-in. Requiring subscribers to confirm their interest before being added to your list ensures they truly want to hear from you.
Conclusion
Tracking these figures may feel daunting at first but expanding your knowledge in this area of your business pays off in a very literal sense. On average, email marketing results in a return on investment of $36 for every $1 spent—more than any other type of marketing. Improving your email performance metrics will create real, measurable results in terms of increased revenue and being more strategic in your business.
While this was an introduction to the topic of email performance, there are plenty of resources online too. Your ESP, especially Klaviyo and MailChimp, have numerous articles and tutorials to help you analyze and improve your rates. So be sure to explore what they have to offer!
In the next article of this series, we’ll discuss the power of email list segmentation to improve engagement and conversions, along with ideas for next-level emails to send. With the right strategies and practice, you’ll be well on your way to getting the hang of email marketing and seeing your business thrive.
Interested in more content to help your business succeed? Be sure to check out our Business Guides. You’ll find in-depth articles on topics like selling wholesale to stores, at markets, and on consignment. Plus get helpful ideas for social media posts, taking product photos with natural light, saving time in your business, and more!