12 email marketing metrics to track & strategies to follow

You’ve done it! Your Shopify store started an email marketing program and has stuck with it.

You’re sending email newsletters at a regular cadence. Maybe you activated a few email automations to respond to a subscriber’s activity, like sending a welcome message when they sign up. 

The question is, how do you know if your program is successful?

The answer: By evaluating it with the most important metrics in email marketing.
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What are email marketing metrics?

Email marketing metrics are the mechanism for evaluating the effectiveness of your email marketing strategy. In business terms, consider them the key performance indicators (KPIs) for your email program. 

Metrics help you measure the tangible results of your email efforts. They’re quantifiable values, like open rates and conversions. And when you incorporate different metrics into your analysis, you can decipher what’s working. 

Essentially, they answer the question: What content do my subscribers respond to?

Any examination of email marketing performance metrics should spark ideas for improvement.
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Commonly tracked email marketing metrics

When we talk about email marketing metrics, there are two perspectives from which to examine your program: 

1. A granular view of individual email newsletters and automations
2. A comprehensive program view of email newsletter plus automation performance 

I’m breaking down which metrics you should examine for both and what to do with the knowledge you gain.

Upon clicking on any message from Seguno that has been delivered — currently running automations included — you’ll find a couple of email marketing metrics at the top of the details page. 

1. Open rate

The open rate is the number of subscribers who open the email divided by the number of subscribers delivered the email. Seguno calculates it into a percentage for you.

This number isn’t as accurate as it once was. Apple introduced the Mail Privacy Protection Policy with its iOS 15 update in fall 2021, allowing Apple Mail users to block tracking of their email opens. Apple registers anyone who enables the privacy feature as opening all emails, regardless of whether they did.

Despite these inflated numbers, I’d still pay attention to open rates.

Healthy open rates mean people are interested in what you’re sharing and are intrigued to check out your message. If you notice rates slipping, it could indicate:

• Email subject lines aren’t captivating enough
• Your content is stale, repetitive, or lacks value, causing subscribers to ignore your emails
• You send too many emails, resulting in declining interest
• You send too few emails, making you unrecognizable and untrustworthy

Any sustained significant drop could signal that your emails aren’t making it to all of your subscribers.

When to ask Seguno for help: Open rates are consistently below 20% or when you see a plummet‍

2. Click rate

If open rates are the first step to engagement, click rates are the critical second step. The click rate is the number of subscribers who click on a link or button within the email, divided by the number of subscribers delivered the email. 

This data provides insights into whether your email content intrigues the subscriber to visit your website. 

High click rates verify your content is relevant, compelling, and valuable. Perhaps Shopify discounts drive the greatest engagement or user-generated content sparks immense interest. 

Low click rates could signify problems such as: 

• Unclear calls to action (CTAs)
• Irrelevant CTAs that your audience doesn’t care about 
• Illogical email designs or buried CTAs 

When to ask Seguno for help: Click rates are consistently below 0.2% to 0.3% for newsletters

Note: Automations typically garner higher click rates; our team’s combined experience working with ecommerce brands points to an average rate of 3% to 4%. 

Within any newsletter or automation in Seguno, view a breakdown of the top clicked links by selecting the hyperlink for the total click number. You can also see the top links over a select time period by viewing the Reports Dashboard. It’s an insightful dive into what content, deals, and products capture attention.

3. Total sales

This data point is relatively straightforward — the total amount of sales generated from an email. Seguno extrapolates the dollar amount plus the corresponding grand number of orders, also known as conversions.

Seguno records a conversion when an email recipient clicks through to your site and places an order within five days. 

Emails with solid open and click rates are great. But if they don’t consistently drive conversions, something is off, especially for sales promo newsletters. 

Is there a disconnect between the email and landing page content? Do you have a clunky site experience? Are there friction points within the transactional process?

The next batch of data is located on the right side of the newsletter or automation performance overview in Seguno, as shown in the screenshot below.

4. Conversion rate 

Conversion rate refers to the percentage of recipients that complete a desired action. Specific to email marketing metrics, Seguno defines the conversion rate as the number of subscribers that make a purchase divided by the number delivered the email. 

Yes, total sales count as one performance angle. But on its own, it doesn’t provide much context. You could have a few sales of high worth — especially if your inventory is primarily high-ticket products — that skews the data, or vice versa.    

The conversion rate is more telling, as it reveals the ratio between the purchasers and the non-purchasers. 

The issues behind declining total sales are often behind declining conversion rates, too.      

‍When to ask Seguno for help: Conversion rates are consistently below 0.2% for newsletters 
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5. Average order value (AOV)

The average order value (AOV) refers to the average dollar amount a typical customer spends. Seguno calculates it by dividing sales revenue by orders placed. 

At a high level, knowing the AOV plus typical conversion rate helps you determine the audience size you need to reach to meet sales goals. 

Tracking AOV over time may uncover the following: 

• Sales growth, or lack thereof 
• Purchasing trends 
• Inadequate pricing 

If you’re discontent with what you see, examine strategies for increasing your AOV.
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6. Delivery rate

Delivery rate is the number of emails successfully accepted by inbox providers divided by the number of emails sent. In Seguno, we show the number and percentage. 

Your delivery rate should be high. Otherwise, you harm your chances of subscribers seeing your emails. It’s important to note that a healthy delivery rate doesn’t guarantee inbox placement; rather, it indicates the rate of your emails passing through without bouncing. 

Anything lower than 95%, and it’s time to determine if there are stale or outright invalid addresses. Don’t wait too long to rectify the issue, or you could cause severe damage to your program’s email deliverability.  
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Learn from one Seguno merchant's email deliverability issues caused by inconsistent sending — and how they fixed it.

7. Unsubscribe rate

The unsubscribe rate is the number of subscribers who opt out of your email marketing list divided by the number of subscribers delivered the email. 

If you notice the unsubscribe rate inching up, it could mean: 

• Your email marketing is becoming less pertinent to subscriber interests
• You’re annoying some subscribers by sending emails too frequently
• Your list growth strategy doesn’t target the right audience 

Opt-outs are a regular part of email marketing. It’s OK to see the less-engaged folks — those not interested in your brand — unsubscribe. 

On average, an unsubscribe rate of less than 0.5% is acceptable.
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8. Complaint rate

The complaint rate equals the number of recipients who mark the email as “spam” divided by the number of subscribers delivered the email. 

We care greatly about this email marketing metric, so it should regularly be on your radar. Google, Outlook, Yahoo, and all other email service providers take this very seriously. We do NOT want people to flag you as spam. 

Racking up high complaint rates puts your email sender reputation at risk, which can impact email placement: the inbox, spam folder, or blocked entirely. 

Escalating complaint rates can signal: 

• Low-quality content or content that doesn’t match audience expectations 
• Disinterest in your brand
• Perceptions that your communications — due to content or frequency — are spam 

A 0% complaint rate is desirable. 

‍When to ask Seguno for help: If your spam complaint exceeds 0.2%, stop and get help immediately

9. Bounce rate

The bounce rate is the number of emails that did not reach the inbox divided by the number of subscribers delivered the email. It represents invalid emails (hard bounces) or email addresses with full inboxes (soft bounces).

High bounce rates can ultimately tarnish email deliverability. They often indicate an outdated email list that requires a cleaning. 

Like unsubscribes, we expect some emails to bounce. We don’t want to see a lot because service providers may think you’re spamming people. 
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Open a Seguno support case if your metrics exceed these thresholds for more than 3 consecutive sends:
Delivery Rate: <95%
Unsubscribe rate: >0.5%
Complaint rate: >0.5%
Open rate: <15%

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10. List growth

If your email list isn’t expanding, neither is your email marketing program. 

I mentioned that unsubscribes are a natural part of email marketing. But when the number outweighs the new subscribers, your content isn’t resonating. Maybe you’re sending too frequently without enough variety. You’ll only understand possible reasons once you begin poking into other metrics. 

Here’s the formula for calculating list growth percentage:

List growth = ((monthly new subscribers - monthly unsubscribes) / total subscribers) x 100

Finding the data in Seguno starts by clicking on the “current subscribers” report within the main dashboard. Choose your date range and pluck out the tallies for new and lost subscribers. 

Learn tips for increasing your subscriber base with our free course, How to Grow Your Email Marketing List.

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11. Lifetime sales attributed to emails

You want to get the most bang for your buck with any marketing endeavor. Email marketing should ultimately generate sales. 

Find total sales attributed to Seguno email marketing near the top of the app dashboard or when clicking on the Reports tab. It's separated into three metrics:

1. Sales from newsletters 
2. Sales from automations
3. Sales from newsletters plus automations
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With Seguno’s Reports Dashboard, manipulate the date range to view performance over specific periods. Insert custom dates or pick from default options, such as the last 90 days, BFCM from a specific year, and quarter to date.

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12. ROI

You can use the lifetime sales numbers — or numbers from whichever timeframe you’d like — to determine your return on investment (ROI). Mind you, this doesn’t account for the time and effort you put into email marketing. But it gives an approximation of profitability.

Here’s how to calculate ROI:  

‍(Total sales from email - cost of email marketing) / cost of email marketing)  

In the example screenshot below, the total conversions revenue for all email activity — newsletters plus automations — was $73,109 over one month. The merchant spent $320 on Seguno Email Marketing during that same month.

Thus: 

($73,109 - $320) / $320 = 227

An ROI of 227x means that for every dollar this account spent on Seguno, they got $227 in return.
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Strategies to analyze email marketing metrics

Now that I’ve covered critical email marketing performance metrics, where do you go from here? 

Dashboards full of metrics can be daunting. Determining where to focus your analysis efforts — and how exactly to go about it— takes strategizing. 

Following is a mix of tips for devising and effectively interpreting an email marketing metrics plan. 
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Determine goals

While it’s essential to have visibility of all email marketing metrics, it’s not necessary to devote equal time to each. Hone in on the performance measures that align with your objectives. 

Is your priority to boost sales revenue? You’ll want to monitor click rates and conversion trends closely. 

Does growing your audience rank highly on the list? Pay attention to the number of subscribers you’re acquiring and losing. 

Of course, goals change over time. Adjust your radar when they do.
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Establish benchmarks for key metrics

Search the internet, and you’ll find many email marketing metrics benchmarks. 

I advise approaching benchmarks with a grain of salt. Each industry and niche has its nuances. The average conversion rate for the fast fashion clothing industry isn’t the same as the average for high-end luxury clothing.

Instead, we decline to provide averages and focus on the warnings that merit attention. 

More important than comparing yourself to others is setting benchmarks for your shop by: 

1. Considering your audience. You need to understand your target market’s behaviors to establish fair expectations. 
2. Review historical data. Set realistic benchmarks based on your email metrics to date. Set the bar higher once you’re regularly hitting them. 
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Analyze metrics performance over time

It’s tempting to watch your analytics like a hawk the minute you send an email newsletter. But it’s better to keep your sanity in check and let email newsletters simmer.

Check back 24 hours after hitting send, but don’t get too hung up on analyzing the performance unless there’s a deliverability issue or red flag that needs immediate attention.

Better yet, zoom out and look at newsletters in batches over a few weeks or months.

With a reporting dashboard like Seguno’s, you can quickly pick up on trends across various metrics. 

Taking a step back also lets you detect and investigate spikes or dips. Glance through the higher-performing and low-performing emails for clues about what worked well and fell flat.
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Pay attention to segmented campaign metrics

If you’re using any form of behavioral targeting to personalize emails with segments, reserve time to evaluate how they perform compared to broader newsletter sends. 

Segmented emails — made for select subscribers with a common characteristic — should net higher engagement. Examine open, click, and conversion rates to ensure that they are. The entire point of segmentation is to speak more directly, through tailored messages, to a portion of subscribers. 

Your analysis should reveal which content resonates with which demographics and point you toward the approaches worth leaning into. 

If you’re disappointed by the numbers, you could have alignment issues with your content. Or, you might find that targeting particular segments to be ineffective. 
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Integrate with Google Analytics

I’m sure you’re already tracking website behavior with Google Analytics. Integrate your email marketing platform for deeper insights. 

Email marketing metrics only tell a portion of the story. Add Google Analytics, and you get a fuller picture of subscriber behavior once they leave the email for your website. 

For example, email analytics show how many subscribers click a website link. But where do they go from there? What other products and pages do they subsequently browse?
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Seguno automatically attaches tracking parameters to all links, making activity easy to detect in third-party analytic platforms.

Regularly analyze email marketing metrics with Seguno 

I recommend carving out time at the beginning of each month to review your email newsletter promotions. 

Dig into Seguno’s reporting dashboard. Take stock of the email marketing metrics relevant to your goals and look for the takeaways to help you advance. Jot your findings in the monthly review worksheet of our Email Marketing Planning Guide. 

Can’t dedicate time once a month? Make it a quarterly commitment. And remember to examine the email marketing performance metrics of your automations, too. 

With a stash of data, the bigger picture comes into focus. You’ll notice trends and the strategies that work. Areas for improvement will become evident, and you’ll be on your way to getting the most out of your email marketing program.