Successful email marketing is not just about crafting the perfect email. It is equally important to ensure that the email reaches your campaign's recipients. In other words, it must have good deliverability. But how exactly do you assess and measure the deliverability of your emails? The answer lies in email deliverability metrics. Understanding these metrics can make the difference between an engaging campaign and one that fails to meet its goals.
In this guide, you will learn about 7 email deliverability metrics that you should be keeping track of, how you can calculate them, and the ideal rate you should aim at for each of these metrics.
What are email deliverability metrics?
Email deliverability metrics are certain key performance indicators (KPIs) that help you assess the effectiveness of your email campaigns. These metrics provide you with insights into various stages of the email delivery process.
As the name indicates, email deliverability metrics refer to the deliverability of your email campaigns, i.e., the ability of your emails to reach the inboxes of your intended recipients successfully. Poor deliverability can negatively impact the effectiveness of your email campaigns and even damage your brand's reputation.
To know more about email deliverability and how to improve it, check out this insightful chat by industry experts.
7 email deliverability metrics to monitor
Email deliverability metrics are like vital signs that show the health of your email efforts. Here are the 7 most important email deliverability metrics that you can monitor to understand and optimize your email marketing campaigns. Here's the data formatted into a table:
| Metric | Formula | Ideal Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery Rate | (Emails delivered / Total emails sent) x 100 | >95% |
| Bounce Rate | (Emails bounced / Total emails sent) x 100 | <2% |
| Open Rate | (Emails opened / Emails delivered) x 100 | 15-25% |
| Click-through Rate | (Clicks / Emails delivered) x 100 | 2-5% |
| Spam Complaint Rate | (Spam complaints / Emails delivered) x 100 | <0.1% |
| Unsubscribe Rate | (Unsubscribes / Emails delivered) x 100 | <0.5% |
| Inbox Placement Rate | (Emails in inbox / Emails delivered) x 100 | >80% |
1. Delivery Rate
What it is: The delivery rate is the percentage of emails successfully accepted by the recipients’ mail servers out of the total number of emails sent. These may land either in the recipient’s inbox or the spam folder.
How it's calculated: Divide the number of emails that are delivered by the total number of emails sent. Then, multiply this number by 100 to get the delivery rate. Here’s the formula to calculate it.
Ideal rate: An ideal delivery rate should be around 95% or higher. A rate below this might indicate issues with your email list quality and sender, domain, or IP reputation.
2. Bounce Rate
What it is: The bounce rate is the percentage of emails that were sent but failed to get delivered to the recipients. This failure to deliver could be because of various reasons. Here’s the formula to calculate it.
Bounces can be categorized as hard bounces and soft bounces. Hard bounces are permanent delivery failures due to issues such as invalid email addresses. Soft bounces, on the other hand, are temporary failures that may be resolved before trying to send the email again. Examples of soft bounces include a full mailbox or a temporary server error.
How it's calculated: Divide the number of bounces, i.e., emails that were not delivered to your recipient, by the total number of emails you sent. Then multiply this number by 100 to get the bounce rate. Here’s the formula to calculate it.
Ideal rate: An ideal bounce rate should be below 2%. The same is highlighted in the email sender guidelines by Google and Yahoo.
3. Open Rate
What it is: The open rate is the percentage of delivered emails opened by recipients. This rate indicates how many of your recipients actually saw your emails.
How it's calculated: To calculate the open rate, divide the number of emails that were opened by your recipient by the total number of emails delivered and multiply the outcome by hundred. Here’s the formula to calculate it.
Ideal rate: The ideal open rate varies by industry, but generally, it should be around 15-25%. A higher rate indicates that your subject lines are effective.
4. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
What it is: CTR is the percentage of recipients who clicked on one or more links within an email out of the total emails delivered. This is a metric that measures your audience’s engagement with your emails.
How it's calculated: CTR can be calculated by dividing the number of recipients who clicked on a link in your email by the total number of delivered emails. Here’s the formula to calculate it.
You can also use Mailmodo’s easy-to-use CTR calculator to calculate your CTR instantly.
Ideal rate: The ideal CTR varies by industry but typically ranges between 2-5%. A higher CTR indicates that your content is engaging and relevant to your audience.
5. Spam Complaint Rate
What it is: The spam complaint rate is the percentage of recipients who marked your email as spam out of the total emails delivered. It reflects how often your recipients view your emails as being irrelevant.
How it's calculated: Divide the number of spam complaints on your emails by the total number of emails delivered in the campaign. Multiply this figure by 100 to get the spam complaint rate. Here’s the formula to calculate it.
Ideal rate: An ideal spam complaint rate should be below 0.1%. Higher rates can damage your sender reputation and lead to your emails being blocked.
6. Unsubscribe Rate
What it is: The unsubscribe rate is the percentage of recipients who unsubscribed from your email list after receiving your email. It helps you to understand how many people may have low interest and satisfaction in your emails and choose to stop receiving them.
How it's calculated: Divide the number of unsubscribe requests that you have received by the number of emails that were delivered. Multiply this outcome by hundred to get the unsubscribe rate. Here’s the formula to calculate it.
You can also calculate your unsubscribe rate instantly with Mailmodo’s unsubscribe rate calculator.
Ideal rate: An ideal unsubscribe rate is generally below 0.5%. Higher rates may indicate that your content is irrelevant or and is not welcome by your audience.
7. Inbox Placement Rate
What it is: The inbox placement rate is the percentage of emails that successfully land in the recipient's inbox instead of the spam folder. This indicates that your recipients have a better chance of opening your emails.
How it's calculated: This metric is calculated by dividing the number of emails that reach the recipient's inboxes by the number of delivered emails. The outcome is then multiplied by 100 to get the inbox placement rate. Here’s the formula to calculate it.
Ideal rate: An ideal inbox placement rate should be around 80% or higher. Lower rates may indicate issues with email content, sender reputation, IP reputation, or domain reputation.
Conclusion
Understanding email deliverability metrics is crucial to ensure that your campaigns reach their full potential. These are important to help you identify issues and make data-driven decisions to build a stronger email marketing strategy that truly connects with your audience. With a combination of effective content, the right audience, and great deliverability, you can ensure a successful campaign that truly resonates with your recipients.
If you found our guide helpful and want tested tips to improve your email campaigns, check out our resource on boosting email performance.
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