Understanding mailing stats

Basic Stats

To understand the basic health of a mailing list, look at messages sent, delivered and failed.

Sent – the full number of email addresses that the mailing was sent to.

Delivered – the total number of emails that successfully delivered to the final recipient.

Failed – the mailing is unable to be delivered to the end recipient.

The information from these stats has less to do with the content of the publication and more to do with the health of the mailing list. If there is a large discrepancy between the number of emails sent and the number delivered, or there are a high number of fails, it may be time to do a deep clean of the email list.

A healthy mailing list should not contain people that have unsubscribed or whose email servers are bouncing messages back. Introduce protocols into mailings to ensure addresses that fail regularly do not continue to be sent mail.

Readership stats

Readership stats are an important measure of how compelling a mailing is to readers.

Opens – The number of recipients that received and opened the email.

Unique opens – The number of unique recipients that received and opened the email.

Clicks – The number of clicks on links within the email.

It is important to look at both opens and unique opens for each mailing – this helps determine whether there are a limited number of readers that are opening and interacting with the publication multiple times, or whether most readers are just opening once.

Mailings should contain information that is clearly relevant to readers. If there isn’t compelling, relevant information to send, wait to send the mailing. The more often recipients get a message that doesn’t apply to or interest them, the less likely they will be to engage with future mailings.

Showcase the information in a way that is compelling to readers – targeted messaging plays a major part in getting recipients to open an e-mail.

Rates and percentages

Open and click rates are an easy way to view trends over time, regardless of fluctuations in mailing numbers.

Open Rate – the total number of opens divided by the number delivered.

Click Rate – the total number of clicks divided by the number delivered.

Clicks per unique open – the total number of clicks divided by the number of unique opens.

Utilize these metrics to establish a baseline and compare mailings over time. Publications with a high open rate but a low click rate may contain information that seems interesting to readers, but does not compel a click. Alternatively, emails with a low open rate but a high click rate may be suffering from poor subject lines or unclear initial messaging.

Clicks per unique opens gives an average idea of what percentage of individual readers are clicking on a link within the email. This filters out people who open the publication multiple times to give a slightly clearer view.

Why does it matter?

Ultimately, the purpose of any email is to get recipients to open, read and engage in the messaging, regardless of the industry. By examining the health of the distribution list, readership stats and rates over time, email marketing specialists can ensure that when the company speaks, their voice is heard.