Email Analytics [Research]: 8 Email Marketing Metrics You Should Track

By esantiago@hubspot.com (Erica Santiago)

Download Now: Email Marketing Planning Template

Part of my marketing job is to send emails and track their progress, so I know a lot about the most crucial elements of optimizing an email, common marketing email mistakes, and what inspirational email marketing looks like.

But at the end of the day, it doesn‘t matter how optimized my emails are if I can’t properly track my email analytics or if I’m unsure what metrics need my attention.

Fortunately, my experience sending email marketing materials, such as newsletters, has given me a wealth of knowledge I’m happy to pass on to other marketers and business owners.

Let’s explore eight crucial metrics and KPIs you should be tracking to assess the effectiveness of your email efforts.

1. Clickthrough Rate

Clickthrough rate (CTR) is likely the first answer you’ll get when you ask an email marketer what metrics they track.

In fact, I surveyed 190 marketers and found that the majority (33%) rank clickthrough rate among the top two metrics they track when sending and reporting marketing emails.

Your clickthrough rate is the percentage of email recipients who clicked on one or more links in a given email.

The formula I and other marketers use to calculate this metric is dividing total or unique clicks by the number of delivered emails. I then multiply that answer by 100.

Here’s how the formula looks:

(Total clicks OR unique clicks ÷ Number of delivered emails) * 100

For example, let’s say I sent out 10,000 delivered emails that amassed a total of 500 clicks. I would divide the 500 total clicks by the 10,000 delivered emails and multiply the answer by 100, yielding a 5% clickthrough rate.

The math would look like this:

500 total clicks ÷ 10,000 delivered emails * 100 = 5% clickthrough rate

Pro Tip: Using total or unique clicks in the calculation above works, as long as you consistently use the same approach.

I like to call CTR the “day-to-day” email marketing metric because it lets you quickly calculate performance for every email you send. From there, you can track how your CTR changes over time.

CTR is also frequently used for determining the results of A/B tests, as these tests are often designed to find new ways to get more clicks in your emails.

How valuable is a clickthrough rate?

In my experience, CTR is a crucial metric for all email marketers to track, as it gives direct insight into how many people on an email list are engaging with the content and interested in learning more about a brand or offer.

Read this blog post to know what a “good” clickthrough rate is, according to industry benchmarks. HubSpot customers can click here to learn how to set up click tracking in your emails using HubSpot quickly.