You’re a beginner in email campaign tracking. What are the best tools to get you started?

1 Email service provider

The first tool you need to track your email campaigns is an email service provider (ESP). An ESP is a platform that allows you to create, send, and manage your email campaigns. Most ESPs offer built-in tracking features that let you monitor basic metrics such as open rate, click-through rate, bounce rate, and unsubscribe rate. These metrics can give you a general overview of how your email campaigns are performing and how engaged your subscribers are. Some ESPs also offer more advanced features such as segmentation, personalization, automation, and A/B testing, which can help you optimize your email campaigns and increase your conversions.

2 Google Analytics

The second tool you need to track your email campaigns is Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a free web analytics tool that allows you to measure and analyze your website traffic and user behavior. By integrating Google Analytics with your ESP, you can track how your email campaigns drive traffic to your website and how your subscribers behave once they land on your site. You can also track conversions, revenue, and other goals that are relevant to your email marketing objectives. To integrate Google Analytics with your ESP, you need to add UTM parameters to your email links. UTM parameters are tags that you append to your URLs that tell Google Analytics where your traffic comes from and what campaign it belongs to.

3 Email marketing dashboard

The third tool you need to track your email campaigns is an email marketing dashboard. An email marketing dashboard is a tool that allows you to visualize and report your email campaign data in a clear and concise way. A dashboard can help you compare and contrast different email campaigns, identify trends and patterns, and communicate your results and insights to your stakeholders. You can create your own email marketing dashboard using tools such as Google Data Studio, Excel, or Power BI, or you can use a ready-made template from your ESP or a third-party tool. A good email marketing dashboard should include key performance indicators (KPIs) such as open rate, click-through rate, conversion rate, revenue, and ROI, as well as filters and segments that allow you to drill down into your data.

4 Email heat map

The fourth tool you need to track your email campaigns is an email heat map. An email heat map is a tool that shows you how your subscribers interact with your email content and design. A heat map uses colors to indicate the areas of your email that receive the most and the least attention, clicks, and engagement. By using an email heat map, you can learn what elements of your email attract or repel your subscribers, what calls to action are most effective, and how to optimize your email layout and copy. Some ESPs offer email heat map features, or you can use a dedicated tool such as Hotjar, Crazy Egg, or Litmus.

5 Email deliverability tool

The fifth tool you need to track your email campaigns is an email deliverability tool. An email deliverability tool is a tool that helps you ensure that your emails reach your subscribers' inboxes and avoid spam filters. Email deliverability depends on various factors such as your sender reputation, your email authentication, your email content, and your list hygiene. By using an email deliverability tool, you can monitor and improve these factors and avoid common issues such as high bounce rates, low open rates, and spam complaints. Some email deliverability tools include Mail Tester, GlockApps, and Postmark.