Reading an e-mail campaign report: sent, opens, clicks, top links and unsubscribes

SEO & Marketing·· 32 views· 3 min read

The short answer: each campaign shows how many e-mails were sent, how many opened, how many clicked, the most clicked links and who unsubscribed, as well as who opened and who clicked. They are there for one thing: making the next campaign better.

What each number tells you

Number What it measures Watch out
Sent How many e-mails went out to the group. It is the base for the other sums.
Opens How many people opened the e-mail. The least reliable number: some services open messages automatically and others block images.
Clicks How many people clicked a link. The most honest sign of interest.
Top links Which button or link got the most clicks. Tells you what caught people inside the e-mail.
Unsubscribed How many left the list with this campaign. A jump in one send is a warning.

A worked example

The E-mail Marketing page shows a panel with example figures: 2,000 sent, 920 opens, 280 clicks and 12 unsubscribes. From those:

Sum Result Reading
Opens ÷ sent 920 ÷ 2,000 = 46% Almost half opened, bearing in mind opens can overstate or miss.
Clicks ÷ sent 280 ÷ 2,000 = 14% The click rate across the whole list.
Clicks ÷ opens 280 ÷ 920 = about 30% Of those who opened, how many found it worth a click.
Unsubscribed ÷ sent 12 ÷ 2,000 = 0.6% Compare with your own previous campaigns, not with other people's.

The figures are only an illustration. What counts is yours, from one campaign to the next.

What to change next

1 Few opens: look again at the subject and the sender. See the subject line of a campaign e-mail.
2 Opened but not clicked: the content does not deliver what the subject promised, or the button is hard to see.
3 Many unsubscribes: too frequent, or the wrong group. See segments.
Want to know what happens after the click? Add UTM links to the buttons and see in Google Analytics which sales or enquiries came from the campaign. The limits of open tracking are explained in tracking pixels in e-mail.

Want to send e-mail campaigns to your customers? Tell us how many e-mails you send a month and we will prepare a proposal.

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SEE ALSO

E-mail campaign segments: sending only to the customers of a city or a product

The subject line of a campaign e-mail: short, honest and saying what is inside

UTM links: finding out which campaign brought each visit

Read receipts and tracking pixels in e-mail: what they tell you and what they do not

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