Measuring the Success of Your Email Nurturing Campaigns: Key Metrics to Track

Email nurturing campaigns are a powerful tool for building strong relationships with your subscribers and driving conversions. But how do you know if your campaigns are truly effective? In this second article in the series, we explore the benefits and tactics used to measure success in your nurturing campaigns. By tracking key metrics, you can gain insights into how your email nurturing campaigns are performing, and use that information to optimize your strategy over time.

So, what are the key metrics you should be tracking when it comes to email nurturing campaigns? Let's take a closer look.

Open Rates

Open rates refer to the percentage of subscribers who open your emails. This metric is important because it gives you a sense of how engaging your subject lines and preview text are. If your open rates are low, it may be a sign that you need to work on crafting more compelling subject lines or improving your targeting.

The target open rates you should aim for depends on a number of factors, including the age of the recipient list, frequency of sending, and brand engagement. Mailchimp suggests an average open rate of 21.33% across all industries whilst Campaign Monitor's assessment is very similar at 21.5%. Mailer Lite has a slightly more optimistic view from their data as they estimate an average open rate of 37.65%.

Ultimately, your open rate should be monitored over time with the trends identified and assessed as appropriate.

Click-Through Rates (CTRs)

CTRs refer to the percentage of subscribers who click on a link within your email. This metric is important because it shows you how effective your calls-to-action are, and how engaged your subscribers are with your content. If your CTRs are low, it may be a sign that your messaging or targeting needs improvement.

Again, referring back to the statistics available from the major email sender platforms gives an indication of what CTR can be expected:

• Mailchimp - 2.62%
• Mailer Lite - 3.36%
• Campaign Monitor - 2.3%

Conversion Rates

Conversion rates refer to the percentage of subscribers who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form, after clicking on a link within your email. This metric is important because it shows you how effective your email nurturing campaigns are at driving actual business results. If your conversion rates are low, it may be a sign that you need to optimize your landing pages or adjust your messaging.

Bounce Rates

Bounce rates refer to the percentage of emails that were undeliverable, either because the email address was invalid or because the email was rejected by the recipient's email server. This metric is important because it can affect your sender reputation and deliverability rates. If your bounce rates are high, it may be a sign that you need to clean up your email list or adjust your targeting.

• HubSpot reported the average email bounce rate is around 0.5% to 1%, with the majority of bounces being hard bounces.
• Mailchimp reported an average hard bounce rate of 0.40% across all industries.
• Validity suggested that the global average hard bounce rate for email campaigns is 2021 0.77%.
• EmailToolTester found that the average hard bounce rate for small businesses is 1.74%, while for larger businesses it is 0.68%.
• Campaign Monitor reported that the average hard bounce rate for B2B emails is 0.53%, while for B2C emails it was 0.39%.

Unsubscribe Rates

Unsubscribe rates refer to the percentage of subscribers who opt out of receiving your emails. This metric is important because it shows you how engaged your subscribers are with your content, and whether or not your email nurturing campaigns are meeting their needs. If your unsubscribe rates are high, it may be a sign that you need to adjust your messaging, frequency, or targeting.

Email unsubscribe rates can vary widely depending on the industry, the quality of the email list, and the effectiveness of the email campaign. However, there are some general trends and statistics that can provide context.

• According to a study by Campaign Monitor, the average unsubscribe rate across all industries is about 0.17%. This means that for every 1,000 subscribers, 1.7 will unsubscribe from the email list. However, this average can vary widely depending on the industry. For example, the marketing and advertising industry has an average unsubscribe rate of 0.26%, while the government and non-profit sector has an average rate of 0.10%.
• Another study by Mailchimp found similar results, with an average unsubscribe rate of 0.17% across all industries. However, Mailchimp also found that the unsubscribe rate tends to be highest in the first 30 days after a subscriber joins the email list, and then gradually declines over time.
• Finally, a study by GetResponse found that the average unsubscribe rate for newsletters is 0.52%, while the average rate for promotional emails is 0.25%.

Summary

So, how can you use these metrics to measure the success of your email nurturing campaigns? Start by setting goals for each metric based on your business objectives. For example, if your goal is to increase sales, you might focus on tracking conversion rates. If your goal is to build brand awareness, you might focus on tracking open rates.

Once you have your goals in place, track these metrics over time and look for trends or patterns. Are your open rates increasing or decreasing? Are your conversion rates improving? Use this information to identify areas where you can optimize your email nurturing campaigns, such as adjusting your messaging or targeting different segments of your email list.

In conclusion, measuring the success of your email nurturing campaigns is essential for optimizing your strategy and driving business results. By tracking key metrics like open rates, CTRs, conversion rates, bounce rates, and unsubscribe rates, you can gain valuable insights into how your campaigns are performing and make data-driven decisions to improve your results over time.

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