Reporting: How Are You Using It, Or Are You?

If you are currently using any reputable email service provider like VerticalResponse, you definitely have access to basic reports about how your email marketing campaigns are doing. The real question is, what are you doing with that information? I've put together some ranges for the stats you probably view and some ideas you could be doing with that information to make your email campaigns even better.

Open Rate

Customers who tend to have great relationships with their customers can get open rates as high as 40%, which is great. Others that have gathered their lists over several years and potentially lost some customers could be in the 14-18% range. 

Idea: Get rid of the dead weight. If you've been sending someone email for years and they've never opened your email or clicked a link, then maybe email just isn't the way you should be contacting them. Why not try calling them or dropping them a postcard to see if that wakes them up? THEN you can try to develop an online relationship with them at a later date. You'll be mailing to more active people in the long run.

Idea: Download your list of NON-RESPONDERS, these are people who have neither clicked on a link nor opened your email.  Then, a week or so after you've sent a campaign, send them the same email, but switch up the subject line to something more catchy to see if you can get more people opening.

Click Rate

Click rates usually fall in the 1-3% range.  However, if they've got an amazing story to tell or great deal to give, then we see it skyrocket to the 8-10% range. Anything over that you're off the charts. Again it all depends on that relationship you have with your customers. 

Idea: Test including more links in your email. We tested linking our article headlines and squeezed some more clicks out of people. Make sure all of your images are linked as well. 

Bounce Rate

We've seen our customers average bounce rates usually come in under .5%. However, lists mailed less frequently can have bounce rates in the 5%-7% range. A list that is mailed for the first time can have up to a 50% bounce rate depending on how "new" it is.

Idea: Download your list of bounces. If you have their postal addresses, send them a postcard asking them to update their email address. Then direct them to an opt-in form where you capture their new address. You may have to sweeten the deal with an offer on their next purchase or something free like a gift card. It's worth it for you not to lose that customer.

Unsubscribe Rate

A regularly mailed list has an average unsubscribe rate around the .2-.5% range. A less frequently mailed email list can creep up to the 2-5% range. 

Idea: Keep in more frequent touch with your recipients. Instead of once every 3 months why not make the time and increase it to once per month. A customer of yours may be on their way out the door, you don't want that.

Any ideas of your own that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear them.

Comments

[Shailendra]

It is really interesting to know and find different perspective on report. It will be value addition for me as an agency to provide suggestion to improve campaign result.

Good article.

[Frances Conklin]

Good to know customary percentages to expect on opens, clicks,etc. Your suggestions for improvement are helpful as well.

[Ford Church]

Is there any research about sending too many emails? I am sure this depends on a lot of variables, but I was curious if there were any metrics out there.

[Yan]

can you do RSVP by clicking a link in the event flier email?

[Wanda Wade]

I manually make my email master list. How can I tell which receiver has opened my email. I can only see percentages now.

Right now I only have about 70 on my list. Not real big yet, but trying.

[Jason Stewart]

What's the differentiation between your B2B vs. your B2C customers?

[Lisa DiGioia-Nutini]

Is there a way to see bounce reports? (or to stop the bounces from being deleted automatically?)Too many of my customers are removed from the list because of bounces that were not due to bad addresses and then they report to me that they don't get my mail, though sometimes it is months later and by then they have already misse dspecial events, etc.