As a marketing expert, you understand that a plan entails more than simply writing beautiful emails and outstanding text. After all, how do you know your content is fantastic if you’re not tracking campaign success?

That is why it is critical to monitor your email marketing key performance indicators (KPIs).

Email marketing KPIs are statistics that show how well a certain email or campaign is doing. These numbers are often encountered in email analytics reports.

The standard KPIs stated above are critical to grasp, but the other KPIs are sometimes overlooked—but still play an important role. Consider include the following KPIs in your regular reports if they aren’t already. They can and will assist you in obtaining more specific information.

1. The pace of email delivery
   This seems to fit in the “most frequent” category. However, many marketers disregard this figure or choose to focus on opens versus delivery. Knowing who opens your message is important, but so is knowing that it reaches the proper mailbox.

The total number of emails sent to the recipient’s inbox is your email delivery rate. This figure is calculated by dividing the total number of emails sent (minus those that bounced) by the total number of emails attempted.

This might be shown as email deliverability rate, delivery rate, or even your mailing score depending on the email marketing platform your team is utilizing.

Emails that perform well are often crafted with the reader in mind, such as this example from Gantri:

From the subject line, this addresses a topic of interest: “New colors are here!”

Readers may then look at some of the new hues, click through to see additional selections, or read the most recent blog article. Because this communication is for the reader, it is less likely to be flagged as spam or destroyed before being opened.

2. Expansion of the list
   The total list growth rate is the next often neglected email marketing KPI. Your list growth rate refers to the rise in your email list over a certain time period (a month, a quarter, or even a year) and indicates whether or not you’re gaining new subscribers.

If you see your overall list growth has slowed or become negative, it’s time to rethink your approach. Some suggestions include:

Encourage sign-ups via email or social media outlets.
Offering incentives to individuals on the fence about joining
Allowing consumers many ways to sign up for your newsletter and email campaigns

3. Device-specific openings
   We’ve previously discussed how important it is to track your opens and deliverability, but another overlooked email marketing KPI is openings by device.

While some marketers may feel that an open is an open and that the gadget makes no difference, this couldn’t be farther from the reality.

As more individuals choose to view their emails on their smartphones (and other mobile devices), firms who design emails for desktop exclusively will see lower engagement.

You should be aware that mobile devices account for 54% of all email opens. So, if you’re still designing email using obsolete standards, you’re going to see fewer total opens, click-throughs, and conversions.

Having said that, you should begin closely tracking the devices your audience uses to open your communications. Then you may tailor your material to their specific need. Remember that what works on a PC may not necessarily function on an iPhone screen.

If you don’t know which devices your subscribers are using, or if your analytics report doesn’t contain openings by device, make sure you’re developing responsive emails that open properly regardless of whatever screens your subscribers are reading them on.

4. The number of spam complaints
   One of the worst sensations is having your emails labelled as spam. Not only are you possibly losing a subscriber, but they have also reported spam to their email service provider (ESP). As a result, other ESPs may classify your mails as spam, further restricting your reach.

This is why keeping track of your spam complaint rate is critical. If your subscribers are labeling your communications as spam before opening them, you know your marketing plan is failing.

Consider the following example from Bed Bath & Beyond. The email subject line was used to filter this message.

Subject Line: RE: Please check your inbox for your NEW coupon

For numerous reasons, the subject line seems spammy:

“RE” is an abbreviation meaning “in reference to” or “in relation to.” Why are readers meant to open the mail if the title gives them nothing to refer to?
Please click – Data breaches are all too common. As a result, if you urge individuals to open a certain message, they may be reluctant (new coupon or not).

Use these strategies to avoid spam:

Check to see whether your subscribers have given you permission to message them.
Send only relevant stuff and avoid misleading subject lines.
Avoid phrases like “urgent,” “winning,” “free,” “ad,” “money,” or “act immediately.”

Finish up

Creating an excellent email or series is simply the first step in your email marketing plan. Knowing your audience, what they want, and sticking to your standards are all critical components of a successful email marketing campaign. However, the only way to fully know how effectively your efforts are paying off is to track both regular email marketing KPIs and ignored KPIs.

Along with traditional email marketing KPIs like open and click-through rates, you should additionally keep an eye on the following:

List expansion based on email delivery rate
Spam complaint rate by device