Email Marketing Metrics: What to Track and Why It Matters

Email marketing is only as good as the data you collect. Tracking the right email marketing metrics helps you optimize campaigns, improve deliverability, and maximize ROI. 

In this blog, we’ll define the key metrics you need, explain why they matter, and share best practices for measuring and improving performance.

What Are Email Marketing Metrics?

Email marketing metrics are quantitative measures that reveal how subscribers interact with your email campaigns. Standard metrics include open rates, click-through rates, bounces, unsubscribes, and conversions.

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Defining Email Marketing Metrics

Email marketing metrics are quantitative data points that help marketers evaluate the effectiveness of their email campaigns. They show how recipients interact with your emails—whether they open them, click on links, unsubscribe, or take a desired action like purchasing or signing up for a webinar.

These metrics provide critical feedback that helps answer questions like:

• Are my subject lines compelling?
  
  
• Is my audience engaged?
  
  
• Are my emails landing in inboxes or spam folders?
  
  
• Am I generating enough ROI from my campaigns?
  
  

By analyzing these metrics regularly, marketers can optimize email performance, improve targeting, and make smarter decisions that align with broader business objectives.

How Metrics Help Evaluate Campaign Performance And Guide Strategy

Email marketing metrics are more than just numbers on a dashboard, like your campaign’s report card. They help you determine what’s clicking with your audience and what might need some work. Here’s how they guide your strategy and boost your results:

• Spot the hits: Metrics like open rates and click-throughs show you what your audience actually cares about. Did a particular subject line get a lot of opens? That’s a clue that your tone, topic, or emoji hit the mark. You can use those wins to shape your next send.
  
  
• Catch weak spots early: Low click-to-open rates? That’s a sign your content isn’t landing the way you hoped. If people unsubscribe or mark your email as spam, your message might be off, or you are emailing too often. These red flags help you fix what’s broken before it affects your results—or your sender reputation.
  
  
• Spend your time (and money) wisely: Metrics help you see which types of emails are worth the investment. If a specific format or offer drives more clicks or sales, it makes sense to double down on it. That way, you’re focusing your budget and energy on the stuff that works.
  
  
• Prove your impact: Whether you’re reporting to your boss or your client, having solid metrics makes it easier to show the value of your email campaigns. Numbers like conversion rate, list growth, or revenue per email help connect your efforts to tangible business outcomes.
  
  
• Keep improving with every send: Tracking performance over time gives you the insights you need to improve. You’ll learn what days and times work best, which CTAs get the most clicks, and how different segments respond. Minor tweaks add up to significant results.
  
  

In a nutshell: metrics give you the clarity and direction to create better emails, make smarter decisions, and get more out of every campaign.

Crucial Tracking Email Marketing Metrics

Here are a few crucial email marketing metrics that you, as a marketer, should be keeping track of to ensure that your campaigns never go unseen.

Why These Metrics Matter

Each of these metrics offers a different lens on how your audience engages with your emails:

• Open Rate: Reflects how compelling your subject lines and preheaders are.
  
  
• CTR/CTOR: Indicates how well your content drives action.
  
  
• Bounce & Delivery Rates: Shows your list's health and sender reputation.
  
  
• Unsubscribe & Spam Rates: Tell your audience what isn’t resonating.
  
  
• Conversion Rate: Ties directly to ROI—how your emails support your business goals.
  
  
• List Growth & Sharing: Show your brand’s expanding footprint and referral potential.
  
  

You can run more effective, engaging, and profitable email campaigns by consistently tracking and optimizing these metrics.

Top Email Marketing Metrics to Track

To get the most out of your email marketing strategy, you need to measure what truly matters. Tracking the right metrics not only helps you understand how your campaigns are performing but also guides smarter decisions over time. 

Let’s explore the ten most essential email marketing metrics every marketer should monitor—and what you can do to improve them.

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1. Open Rate

What it is: The percentage of successfully delivered emails that were opened.

Why it matters: Open rate is often your first signal of success. It tells you whether your email caught the recipient’s eye in a crowded inbox. While open rates aren’t the be-all and end-all (especially with Apple Mail Privacy changes), they still offer valuable insight into subject line performance and brand recognition.

What affects open rates:

• Subject lines – Are they intriguing, relevant, and personalized?
  
  
• Sender name – Is it recognizable and trustworthy?
  
  
• Send timing – Are your emails arriving when your audience is most likely to check them?
  
  

Benchmarks to aim for:

• B2B: 15–25%
  
  
• B2C: 20–30%
  
  

Quick Tips to Improve:

• Personalize subject lines with names or locations.
  
  
• Experiment with emojis, urgency, and curiosity-based language.
  
  
• A/B test different days and times to learn when your audience is most responsive.
  
  

2. Click-Through Rate (CTR)

What it is: The percentage of recipients who clicked on a link in your email.

Why it matters: CTR shows whether your message inspired action. It’s a solid indicator of how compelling your offer is and how clearly your call-to-action (CTA) communicates value.

Ways to improve CTR:

• Place your primary CTA near the top (“above the fold”) for visibility.
  
  
• Use well-designed buttons that stand out—avoid burying links in plain text.
  
  
• Optimize for mobile: ensure your CTA is thumb-friendly and easy to tap.
  
  

3. Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR)

What it is: The percentage of people who clicked on a link after opening your email.

Why it matters: CTOR gives a clearer view of your content’s effectiveness. It filters out the noise of overall delivery and open issues, showing you how well the email engaged those who actually read it.

Formula:
CTOR = (Clicks ÷ Opens) × 100

Best practices:

• Aim for 10–20% CTOR.
  
  
• Use visual hierarchy to guide the eye toward the CTA.
  
  
• Break up dense content with bullet points and white space to improve readability.
  
  

4. Bounce Rate

What it is: The percentage of emails that couldn’t be delivered to recipients’ inboxes.

Types of bounces:

• Hard bounce – Permanent failure (invalid or non-existent email address).
  
  
• Soft bounce – Temporary failure (e.g., full inbox or server issue).
  
  

Why it matters: High bounce rates damage your sender reputation and can lead to emails being flagged as spam.

How to reduce bounce rates:

• Use double opt-in to confirm subscribers’ email addresses.
  
  
• Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive or fake addresses.
  
  
• Avoid generic addresses like info@ or sales@ when possible.
  
  

5. Unsubscribe Rate

What it is: The percentage of recipients who opt out of your email list after receiving a message.

Why it matters: Unsubscribes are a natural part of email marketing—but sudden spikes can signal problems with relevance, frequency, or expectations.

How to keep your unsubscribe rate in check:

• Set clear expectations during sign-up (what content and how often).
  
  
• Offer a preference center where users can control frequency or topic interests.
  
  
• Make sure your content stays relevant, helpful, and in line with your audience’s needs.
  
  

6. Conversion Rate

What it is: The percentage of recipients who completed a desired action (purchase, registration, download, etc.).

Why it matters: This is where marketing meets ROI. Conversion rate connects your email engagement to real business outcomes.

Ways to improve conversion rates:

• A/B test different versions of your landing page.
  
  
• Reduce the number of steps in your conversion funnel—simpler flows convert better.
  
  
• Use compelling copy, trust signals (like reviews or badges), and urgency to move users to action.
  
  

7. List Growth Rate

What it is: The rate at which your subscriber list is growing, accounting for both new subscribers and unsubscribes.

Formula:
List Growth = (New Subscribers − Unsubscribes) ÷ Total List × 100

Why it matters: Your email list is a valuable asset—but it naturally decays over time. A healthy growth rate ensures a steady stream of new potential customers.

List growth strategies:

• Offer high-value lead magnets (guides, templates, webinars).
  
  
• Use exit-intent popups to capture users before they leave your site.
  
  
• Promote your email list via social media contests and collaborations.
  
  

8. Email Sharing/Forwarding Rate

What it is: The percentage of recipients who share your email with others or forward it.

Why it matters: It’s a measure of how valuable and share-worthy your content is—critical for word-of-mouth growth and expanding reach beyond your list.

Tips to boost sharing:

• Include clear “Share on social” and “Forward to a friend” buttons.
  
  
• Create content that feels worth sharing—think helpful tips, exclusive offers, or compelling stories.
  
  
• Run referral programs with incentives for bringing in new subscribers.
  
  

9. Spam Complaint Rate

What it is: The percentage of recipients who mark your email as spam.

Why it matters: High spam complaints are a major red flag for inbox providers—and can tank your deliverability.

Common reasons for complaints:

• Misleading subject lines or bait-and-switch tactics.
  
  
• Lack of a visible unsubscribe link.
  
  
• Sending emails to cold, purchased, or outdated lists.
  
  

How to avoid being flagged as spam:

• Be transparent about who you are and why you're reaching out.
  
  
• Use permission-based marketing—only email those who opted in.
  
  
• Keep your unsubscribe process quick and painless.
  
  

10. Delivery Rate

What it is: The percentage of emails that were successfully delivered to inboxes.

Why it matters: Without strong delivery rates, even the best-crafted email won’t have a chance to perform. It’s a foundational metric tied closely to list hygiene and sender reputation.

Ways to ensure strong deliverability:

• Implement email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
  
  
• Regularly remove inactive or bouncing addresses from your list.
  
  
• Avoid using spammy words and excessive images or links in your email body.
  
  

Bonus Metrics to Consider

While core metrics like open rates and click-through rates provide a solid foundation for analyzing email performance, there are a few additional metrics that can give you a more complete picture—especially if you're looking to dig deeper into strategy or tie results back to revenue.

Here are three bonus metrics that smart marketers keep an eye on:

Revenue Per Email (RPE)

Why it matters:
If you’re running an ecommerce business or monetizing your emails through sales, Revenue Per Email (RPE) is a powerful way to measure true financial performance. It tells you how much money each email you send is generating on average—helping you evaluate not just clicks or conversions, but actual business value.

How to use it:

• Compare RPE across different types of campaigns (e.g., product launches vs. weekly newsletters).
  
  
• Segment by audience group to identify high-value customers.
  
  
• Use it to justify ROI when presenting results to stakeholders or leadership.
  
  

Formula:
RPE = Total Revenue Generated ÷ Total Emails Sent

Device & Location Data

Why it matters:
Knowing where and how people read your emails can dramatically improve both design and timing decisions.

• Are most of your subscribers opening on mobile? Then you’ll want to prioritize responsive design and fast-loading content.
  
  
• Are your users clustered in specific regions or time zones? That can influence the best times to schedule sends for maximum visibility.
  
  

How to use it:

• Optimize email layout and button placement for mobile devices if you see heavy mobile traffic.
  
  
• A/B test send times based on subscriber location to find the “sweet spot” for engagement.
  
  
• Adjust content style or language slightly based on geographic or cultural factors.
  
  

Engagement Over Time

Why it matters:
This metric tracks how subscriber interaction evolves—are users staying active, or tuning out over time? It's particularly useful for understanding the customer lifecycle and identifying points where engagement drops off.

What to watch for:

• When do people typically stop opening or clicking your emails after subscribing?
  
  
• How many emails does it take before a new subscriber makes a purchase or takes a desired action?
  
  
• Which types of campaigns re-engage dormant users most effectively?
  
  

How to use it:

• Build behavior-based drip sequences that target users based on their past interactions.
  
  
• Set up re-engagement campaigns before contacts go completely cold.
  
  
• Analyze long-term trends to improve your email cadence and lifecycle marketing strategy.
  
  

How to Choose the Right Metrics for Your Campaign Goals

Not every email campaign is created with the same objective, so it makes sense that not every metric will carry the same weight. Tracking everything without context can overwhelm your analysis and lead to poor decisions. To get meaningful insights, start by aligning your metrics with your campaign goals—and ultimately, your broader business objectives.

Let’s take a closer look at how this works across different types of campaigns:

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Newsletters

Newsletters are all about staying visible and building long-term engagement with your audience. The goal here isn’t always an immediate sale—it’s about keeping your brand top of mind and building trust over time.

Key metrics to focus on:

• Open Rate – This tells you how well your subject lines are performing and whether your emails are catching attention in a busy inbox.
  
  
• Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR) – This metric helps you understand how compelling your content is once someone actually opens the email.
  
  
• Sharing/Forwarding Rate – If your readers are forwarding your emails, that’s a strong indicator that your content is resonating and providing value.
  
  

If these numbers start to dip, it could be time to experiment with a new layout, introduce more personalized content, or simplify your message.

Promotional Campaigns

Promotional emails are usually focused on conversions—getting people to take a specific action, such as buying a product or signing up for a limited-time offer.

Key metrics to focus on:

• Click-Through Rate (CTR) – This shows whether the email content is convincing enough to drive interest and traffic to your website.
  
  
• Conversion Rate – The most important metric for these campaigns. Are people actually completing the action you want them to take?
  
  
• Revenue per Email (RPE) – This gives you a clear sense of how much revenue your email campaigns are generating, and whether they’re profitable.
  
  

If you’re getting lots of clicks but low conversions, there may be a disconnect between your email and your landing page or offer.

Onboarding Series

Onboarding emails are your first opportunity to build a relationship with new subscribers or customers. These messages should guide people through your value proposition and help them get comfortable with your product or service.

Key metrics to focus on:

• Unsubscribe Rate – A high unsubscribe rate early on could mean you’re overwhelming your audience, or not delivering on expectations.
  
  
• Engagement Trends – Look at how people interact with each email in the series. Are they dropping off after the first or second message? Are some emails consistently underperforming?
  
  

If you notice a drop in engagement, it might be worth reviewing the tone, pacing, and content of your onboarding messages to make them more helpful and less sales-focused.

Always Connect Metrics to Business Objectives

Metrics don’t matter in isolation. They only become valuable when they help you make better decisions and drive real outcomes. Ask yourself: what’s the primary goal of this email—or this campaign—and how can I measure success?

• Looking to raise awareness about your brand? Focus on open and share rates to measure visibility and interest.
  
  
• Trying to nurture leads or move prospects down the funnel? Pay close attention to CTR and CTOR to see how well your content encourages action.
  
  
• Focused on revenue growth? Then conversions and revenue per email should be your top priorities.
  
  

In short, let your business goals be the filter through which you interpret your data. The more aligned your metrics are with your strategy, the more actionable your insights will be.

Best Practices for Tracking and Improving Email Marketing Metrics

Getting the most out of your email marketing isn’t just about sending out messages and hoping for the best. It’s about learning from what works—and what doesn’t—so you can consistently grow your audience and drive better results. 

Here are a few tried-and-true tips to help you track your metrics and keep improving over time.

Start with Realistic Goals for Your Industry

Every industry is different, and email performance can vary a lot depending on who you're targeting. Before you decide your emails “aren’t working,” take a step back and compare your results with industry averages. For example, if you're in ecommerce, a 20% open rate might be solid, but if you’re in consulting or SaaS, you might be aiming closer to 30% or higher. Having these benchmarks in place gives you a clear direction and helps you set goals that are actually achievable.

Keep Your List Clean and Up-to-Date

Your email list is only as good as the people on it. If you send messages to people who never open them, or worse, who mark you as spam, it can seriously hurt your email deliverability. A good rule of thumb is to review and clean your list every 3 to 6 months. Remove inactive subscribers or try a re-engagement campaign to win them back. It’s better to have a smaller, more engaged list than a massive one that drags down your performance.

Test, Tweak, and Test Again

Not every email you send is going to be a home run—and that’s okay. The key is to test different parts of your emails to see what really clicks with your audience. Try playing around with subject lines, sending at different times of the day, using different CTAs (calls to action), or even adjusting the layout and design. But remember—only test one thing at a time so you know exactly what’s making the difference. Small tweaks can lead to big wins.

Talk to the Right People the Right Way

Not everyone on your list is the same. Some people are brand-new, others are long-time customers, and some might just be window shopping. That’s why segmenting your audience can make such a big impact. You can send more relevant emails based on things like their interests, behavior, or location. Plus, when people see content that feels personal and tailored to them, they’re way more likely to engage.

Watch for Patterns, Not Just One-Off Wins

It’s easy to get excited about one email that performs really well—or discouraged by one that flops. But the real insights come from looking at your performance over time. Are your open rates gradually dropping? Are certain types of emails consistently outperforming others? Are some segments more responsive than others? These patterns can help you make smarter decisions moving forward instead of reacting to short-term results.

Final tip? Don’t be afraid to experiment. The most successful email marketers are the ones who keep learning, adapting, and staying curious about what their audience wants.

Tools for Tracking Email Marketing Metrics

When it comes to email marketing, tracking the right metrics is half the battle. But the other half is using the right tools to do it. Not all platforms offer the same analytics level, so it's important to choose one that fits your goals and marketing style.

Here is a little breakdown of the best email marketing software currently available on the market to help you keep track of all your important email marketing metrics.

Final Thoughts: Metrics = Momentum

Great email marketing isn’t about blasting your list—it’s about learning what resonates and continually optimizing based on real-world data.

Start with just a few metrics—maybe open rate, CTR, and conversions—and build from there. Use those numbers to test, iterate, and improve every campaign. Over time, the insights will stack up—and so will your results.

Ready to start tracking smarter and marketing better? The data is there. Go get it.

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