What Ratio Constitutes a Good Email Campaign?

Typically, a campaign can be measured using the following indicators:

• Delivered Emails vs. Uploaded Emails
• Openers vs. Delivered
• Clickers vs. Delivered
• Reactiveness (Clickers vs. Openers)
• Reading Time (how much time the recipient spent reading your email)

The success of a campaign primarily depends on the quality of the data.
As the saying goes, "Garbage in, garbage out."
First, you need direct email addresses, although company emails can also be effective for reaching small businesses with fewer than 10 employees.

Remember to comply with GDPR or the data privacy laws of the recipient's country, not the sender's.

Even with 100% direct emails, delivery rates can vary for several reasons. Some reasons for pre-send rejection include:
- Email addresses from unsubscribed users.
- Incorrect email format.
- Invalid or non-working email domains.
- Unrecognized characters in the email address (e.g., é, ô, ë).

Post-send rejection reasons could be:
- Incorrect email address.
- Your domain is blacklisted.

If your unsubscribe or bounce rates are too high, your email service might refuse to send your campaign.

A good delivery rate for a list with 100% direct emails ranges between 85% and 95%.
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Understanding this ratio is straightforward: it shows how many recipients have opened the email out of the total sent. However, this ratio can be deceptive as it masks various factors.

Some of key reasons an email might not be opened include:

- Your email is marked as spam and may not even appear in the recipient's spam folder.
- The target list is poorly chosen or your list is too wide (usually a lack of good targeting) A well-targeted message to contacts relevant to your business has a higher chance of garnering interest.
- The name of the company that sent the message
- The frequency with which emails are sent to the recipient
- The subject line lacks appeal. Use A/B testing to find the most effective subject line. It's crucial for the success of your campaign, so invest time crafting it. Keep it short, focused, and clear.
- The email preview categorizes your email as spam.
- Lack of personalization or improper personalization makes the recipient dismiss it as spam.

Keep in mind that opening an email takes the recipient's time. Make it worth their while by focusing on their interests and challenges, not just what's new in your market.

Note: Some e-mailing services report a higher percentage of openers than the actual number of identified openers. This discrepancy is due to the inability to track all openers, leading to the use of statistical approaches to estimate the real percentage. Don't be surprised if you later find fewer records than expected when working with these lists.

Openers vs Delivered rate 
 

Openers vs Delivered Rate	is considered as
> 30 %	Excellent
20 - 30 %	Good
10 - 20 %	In average
< 10 %	Bad

• Personalization: Use the recipient's name or tailor content based on their preferences.
• ​Compelling Subject Lines: Create attention-grabbing subject lines to increase open rates
• Mobile Optimization: Make sure emails are mobile-friendly, as many users check emails on their phones.
• A/B Testing: Experiment with different email elements (subject lines, content, CTA) to see what resonates.
• Segment Audience: Target different groups with content tailored to their specific needs.

This ratio indicates the percentage of delivered emails that have generated at least one click on the links within the email.
To get a positive result, your email template must contain at least one link.

Clickers vs Delivered
 

Openers vs Delivered Rate	is considered as
> 10 %	Excellent
5- 10 %	very Good
2 - 5%	In Average
< 2 %	Bad

You can also observe the total clicks relative to the number of opens. The total clicks account for all clicks made (multiple clicks are possible on a single message). This is especially interesting when you have multiple links on the same page. It's also an indicator of interest in the subject matter. The more a person clicks on different links, the more they are presumed to be interested in the content.

How to improve your click rate?

• Relevant Content: Ensure the email content is valuable and relevant to the audience.
• Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Use straightforward and enticing CTAs to guide user behavior.
• Mobile Optimization: Make sure emails are mobile-friendly, as many users check emails on their phones.
• A/B Testing: Experiment with different email elements (subject lines, content, CTA) to see what resonates.
• Timing: Send emails when your audience is most likely to engage.
• Visual Elements: Use images and layouts that are visually appealing but don't distract from the CTA.
• Analyze and Adjust: Regularly review performance metrics and adjust your strategies accordingly.
• Segment Audience: Target different groups with content tailored to their specific needs.

The reactiveness mesures the percentage of recipient who have opened the email who click on a link.
This percentage is calculated by dividing the volume of unique click to the volume of openers.

Clickers vs Openers
 

Clickers vs Openers Rate	is considered as
> 40 %	Excellent
20- 40 %	very Good
10 - 20%	In Average
< 10 %	Bad

Reading time is also an indicator of interest. If the reading time is very low, it means your recipient has deemed your message uninteresting. Of course, reading time depends on the email's content and its informative value.

Reading time
 

Reading time	is considered as
>10 s	Excellent
3- 10 s	In Average
< 3 s	Bad

 

The following indicators are also interesting

• Bounce Rate: Percentage of undelivered emails. 
• Unsubscribe Rate: Number of people who unsubscribed from your list after receiving the email.
• Complaint Rate: Number of people who marked the email as spam.
• Share/Forward Rate: Number of times the email has been shared or forwarded.

The following indicators are not related to the quality of the email campaign but to the effectiveness of your website and sales team:

• Leads converted to quotes
• Leads converted to sales
• Sales converted from quotes
• ROI: Return on Investment, calculated based on objectives (sales generated, leads acquired, etc.).

A part from the Email List Quality: A clean, targeted list improves deliverability and engagement.
The other factors that can influence the effectiveness of an email campaign include:

• Frequency: Sending too many or too few emails can impact open and click rates.
• Social Proof: Including testimonials or reviews can boost credibility.
• Retargeting: Follow-up emails can capture those who didn't engage the first time.
• Seasonality: Timing around holidays or events can affect engagement.
• Compliance: Adhering to regulations like GDPR or CAN-SPAM affects deliverability and trust.
• Technical Aspects: Email load time, spam score, and HTML design can impact user experience.
• Multi-Channel Strategy: Coordinating with other marketing channels can reinforce the message.
• FOMO: Using urgency and scarcity can incentivize action.
• Metrics and Reporting: Continual monitoring allows for real-time adjustments to strategy.
• Time and day of sending

Each of these elements can impact the success of an email campaign.