Your email reports are not a boring spreadsheet. They are a playbook.
It’s time to stop treating metrics like metrics and treat them like clues. They tell you what’s working, what’s not, and what to test next.
We’re sharing the metrics that actually matter, what each one tells you, the actions to take, and quick tests you can run today.
The core metrics (and what they actually mean)
Delivery rate
What it is: Percentage of sent emails that were delivered to your recipients.
Why it matters: If delivery is shaky, nothing else matters.
Look for: Sudden drops or long-term decline.
Fixes: Clean your list. Remove hard bounces and disengaged subscribers. Check your sending domain and SPF/DKIM/DMARC. Warm up sending IPs.
Open rate
What it is: The number of opens divided by the number of emails delivered.
Why it matters: It measures curiosity, subject line and sender name performance.
Look for: Low opens, or big swings between campaigns.
Fixes: Rewrite subject lines. Test sender names. Improve preview text. Segment your list so content matches expectations.
Click rate
What it is: Clicks divided by delivered.
Why it matters: It shows if the email content nudges people to act.
Look for: High opens but low clicks. That’s curiosity without conversion.
Fixes: Improve CTA clarity. Move CTAs earlier. Test button vs link. Remove distractions.
Click-to-open rate (CTOR)
What it is: Clicks divided by opens.
Why it matters: It isolates content performance from subject-line performance.
Look for: Low CTOR = content or CTA problem. High CTOR = content resonated.
Fixes: Simplify message. Make CTA irresistible and obvious.
Bounce rate
What it is: Percentage of emails that didn’t deliver.
Why it matters: High bounces harm deliverability and sender reputation.
Look for: Rising hard bounces after a big list import.
Fixes: Validate emails at capture. Remove stale addresses. Use double opt-in for critical lists.
Spam complaints
What it is: People marking your email as spam.
Why it matters: One complaint can damage deliverability.
Look for: Complaints after specific send types or segments.
Fixes: Make unsubscribe easy. Align content with expectations. Reduce send frequency to annoyed segments. Only send to subscribers who have opted to receive emails.
Unsubscribe rate
What it is: People actively leaving your list.
Why it matters: A healthy churn is normal. Big spikes mean mismatch.
Look for: Spikes after a campaign or frequency change.
Fixes: Segment by interest. Offer frequency options. Audit your message relevance.
How to read the story behind the numbers
High open, low click = subject line worked, content didn’t.
Action: Tighten the copy. Make CTA clearer. Strip down the noise. Make sure your content is targeted.Low open, high click-to-open = subject line failed to reach intent.
Action: Test benefit-led subject lines. Try personalisation.High bounce + low deliverability = list hygiene problem.
Action: Pause campaigns. Clean the list. Re-engage with a re-opt-in.High unsubscribes + high complaints = relevance problem or frequency shock.
Action: Segment and reduce frequency. Offer preference options.Good clicks but low conversions = landing page mismatch.
Action: Align email CTA copy with the landing page. Remove extra steps.
Quick experiments to run this week (test-and-learn)
Subject line A/B test
Test two subject lines on a small subset (10-20%). Send winner to the rest.
What to measure: Open rate, then CTOR. Winner should improve both or at least CTOR.
CTA placement test
Send the same content with the CTA above the fold vs below the fold.
What to measure: CTR and conversion. Often earlier CTAs win on low-attention audiences.
Short vs long copy test
Run a long-form email vs a punchy short email.
What to measure: CTOR and conversion. Different audiences prefer different lengths.
Re-engagement winback
Target inactive subscribers with a simple “You still there?” offer or content.
What to measure: Re-engagement rate and downstream lifetime value. Cull those who don’t respond.
What healthy looks like (use trends, not single numbers)
Benchmarks vary by industry, audience, and list quality. Don’t worship single percentages.
Instead:
- Track rolling 90-day averages.
- Watch changes after major list imports or platform changes.
- Compare segment behaviour rather than aggregate noise.
Quick metric-driven checklist
- Clean your list monthly. Remove hard bounces.
- Run subject line tests weekly or biweekly.
- Track CTOR to judge content.
- Segment ruthlessly. One-size-fits-none.
- Use re-engagement flows for inactive users.
- Match email copy to landing page copy.
- Monitor deliverability signals. Fix DNS and authentication if they wobble.
- Report on rolling averages, not single sends.
Bottom line:
Metrics aren’t a scoreboard. They’re a map.
Read them, test with curiosity, and iterate fast.
Small changes to subject lines, CTAs, or form fields compound into WAY bigger results than expensive one-off campaigns.
