Email campaign performance metrics. There are approximately 47,000 of them at this point. Every platform shows you different numbers. Most of them are vanity metrics. (Skip to email marketing ROI if you just want the bottom line.) The rest are that make you feel productive while telling you almost nothing useful.
Here's the thing. You only need to track about 10 metrics. Maybe fewer. The rest is noise. (For context on what "good" looks like, see our email marketing benchmarks by industry.)
We've audited probably 200+ email accounts over the past few years. The ones generating real revenue? They focus obsessively on a handful of numbers. Everyone else is drowning in dashboards and wondering why their "high engagement" isn't translating to sales.
Weird how that works.
For how these compare across industries, see our email marketing benchmarks.
The Hierarchy of Email Metrics
Not all metrics are created equal. Some tell you if people noticed you. Others tell you if they cared. A few actually tell you if you made money.
Think of it like a funnel (I know, I know, but bear with me):
Awareness metrics: Did they see it? Engagement metrics: Did they interact? Conversion metrics: Did they do the thing you wanted? Revenue metrics: Did it make money?
Most people obsess over the top two and ignore the bottom two. That's backwards. Revenue is the goal. Everything else is just... information.
Let's go through the ones that matter.
1. Open Rate
The famous one. The percentage of people who opened your email.
Here's my hot take: open rates are becoming less useful every year. Apple's Mail Privacy Protection, released in 2021, pre-loads images. This makes it look like people opened emails when they didn't. Depending on your list composition, 30-50% of your "opens" might be phantom opens.
Fun.
Still worth tracking for trend analysis. If your open rate tanks from 25% to 15%, something's wrong. But stop celebrating individual open rates like they mean anything concrete.
Benchmarks (accounting for MPP inflation):
- Ecommerce: 15-25% real opens
- B2B: 18-28% real opens
- SaaS: 20-30% real opens
If you're seeing 40%+ across your whole list, a lot of that is Apple privacy pre-loading.
What Open Rate Actually Tells You
Two things:
- Subject line effectiveness: Did your subject line make them curious enough to click?
- Sender reputation: Do they trust emails from you enough to open them?
That's it. High open rate doesn't mean good content. It means good subject line and good sender reputation. You can have great opens and terrible conversion. Happens all the time.
2. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The percentage of delivered emails where someone clicked a link. This is more useful than open rate because it requires actual action, not just glancing at a subject line.
CTR tells you if your email content did its job. Did it make someone want to learn more, shop, read, or whatever your goal was?
Benchmarks:
- Promotional emails: 1-3%
- Newsletter content: 2-4%
- Transactional/triggered: 4-8%
- Automated flows: 3-6%
Those might seem low. They are. Email is a high-volume, low-conversion channel. That's fine. Low percentages on a big list still equals a lot of clicks.
CTR vs. CTOR
Some platforms show Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR). That's clicks divided by opens, not clicks divided by delivered.
CTOR is useful for evaluating email content specifically. If someone opened, did the content get them to click? A 10-15% CTOR is solid.
CTR is better for evaluating overall campaign performance including the subject line. CTOR removes subject line from the equation.
Use both. But if you're only tracking one, CTR gives you the fuller picture.
3. Conversion Rate
Now we're talking. Conversion rate measures what percentage of email recipients did the thing you actually wanted. Usually buying. Could be signing up, booking a call, downloading something, whatever.
This is where email gets real. Clicks are nice. Revenue is the point.
Benchmarks:
- Standard promotional: 0.5-2%
- Abandoned cart: 3-8%
- Welcome flow: 1-4%
- Win-back: 0.5-1.5%
Abandoned cart crushes everything else because those people already demonstrated purchase intent. They literally had items in their cart. Low-hanging fruit.
If your abandoned cart emails aren't converting at 3%+, something's broken. We've seen well-optimized abandoned cart flows hit 8-12% conversion. That's real money being left on the table if yours is underperforming.
The Attribution Problem
Here's where things get messy. How do you attribute a conversion to an email?
Most platforms use last-click attribution. Someone clicks your email, buys within X days, email gets credit. Simple but imperfect.
Better platforms offer attribution windows. 24-hour click, 5-day open, that kind of thing. You can decide what counts.
The truth is email's influence is often invisible. Someone gets your email, doesn't click, but goes to your site directly later and buys. Email doesn't get credit even though it probably influenced the purchase.
Don't get too religious about attribution. Look at trends over time. Are conversion rates improving? Is email revenue growing? That matters more than perfectly accurate per-campaign attribution.
4. Revenue Per Email
Here's my favorite metric that nobody talks about enough. Revenue per email sent.
Simple calculation: total revenue attributed to email divided by total emails sent.
This tells you the actual value of your email program in pure dollar terms. Not percentages. Dollars.
Benchmarks:
- Ecommerce (healthy program): $0.04-0.12 per email
- B2B SaaS: $0.01-0.05 per email
- Really good ecommerce: $0.15-0.30 per email
If you're below $0.03 per email, you're either sending way too much or your list quality is rough. If you're above $0.15, you're doing something right.
Nice.
Why This Metric Matters
Revenue per email is the great equalizer. It accounts for:
- List size
- Send frequency
- Conversion rate
- Average order value
- Everything
Two companies could have identical open and click rates but wildly different revenue per email if one has better targeting, better offers, or higher-value products.
It also helps you answer questions like "should I send more emails?" If revenue per email is high and consistent, yes, probably. If it drops every time you increase frequency, you're hitting diminishing returns.
5. List Growth Rate
Your list is always shrinking. People unsubscribe. Emails bounce. Addresses go stale. If you're not growing faster than you're losing, you're dying slowly.
List growth rate = (new subscribers - unsubscribes - bounces) / total list size
Benchmarks:
- Healthy: 2-5% monthly net growth
- Stagnant: 0-2% monthly net growth
- Trouble: Negative growth
Growing at 3% monthly means doubling your list roughly every 2 years. That's solid. Growing at 10%+ monthly is aggressive but achievable with the right lead generation in place.
A lot of established businesses have negative list growth and don't realize it. They look at total subscriber count and see it staying flat. But flat means you're acquiring at exactly the rate you're losing. That's a red flag, not stability.
6. Bounce Rate
The percentage of emails that didn't deliver. Two types:
Hard bounces: Permanent failures. Email doesn't exist, domain is dead, etc. These should be removed from your list immediately.
Soft bounces: Temporary failures. Mailbox full, server down, file too large. Usually resolve themselves.
Benchmarks:
- Healthy list: Under 2% total bounce rate
- Concerning: 2-5% bounce rate
- Clean your list immediately: 5%+ bounce rate
High bounce rates destroy your sender reputation. ESPs (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) see you sending to dead addresses and think "this sender doesn't maintain their list." Then they start filtering your emails to spam for everyone, including valid addresses.
If you haven't cleaned your list in 6+ months, do it now. Remove anyone who hasn't opened in 90+ days. Yes, your list will shrink. That's fine. A smaller, engaged list beats a big, dead one.
7. Unsubscribe Rate
The percentage of recipients who opted out after receiving an email.
Benchmarks:
- Normal: 0.1-0.3%
- Concerning: 0.3-0.5%
- Something's wrong: 0.5%+
Here's an unpopular opinion: unsubscribes aren't always bad.
If someone unsubscribes because your content isn't relevant to them, that's fine. They were going to stop engaging anyway. Now they're off your list, which actually helps your metrics and deliverability.
What's bad is high unsubscribe rates on campaigns that should be relevant. If your welcome flow has a 0.8% unsubscribe rate, you're setting wrong expectations somewhere. If your regular newsletter has 0.5%+ unsubscribes, your content isn't matching your audience.
Unsubscribe vs. Spam Complaint
Some people hit "report spam" instead of unsubscribing. This is much worse than an unsubscribe. Spam complaints tank your sender reputation faster than almost anything else.
Watch your spam complaint rate. Should be under 0.1%. If it's higher, you have a problem with expectations, frequency, or list quality.
8. Email Deliverability Rate
The percentage of emails that reached the inbox (not spam, not bounced, actually in the inbox where people will see them).
This is different from delivery rate. Delivery rate just means the email reached the server. Deliverability means it reached the inbox.
Benchmarks:
- Good: 95%+ inbox placement
- Concerning: 85-95% inbox placement
- You're probably in spam: Under 85%
The problem is you can't measure this directly from your email platform. You need separate tools like GlockApps or Inbox Monster that test inbox placement across different providers.
If you're not testing deliverability, you're flying blind. You could be hitting great engagement numbers but only reaching 70% of your list. The other 30%? Gmail's spam folder.
Factors That Kill Deliverability
In order of importance:
- Spam complaints: Keep under 0.1%
- Bounce rates: Keep under 2%
- Engagement: Low opens and clicks signal to ESPs that people don't want your email
- Authentication: SPF, DKIM, DMARC need to be set up correctly
- Content: Certain words and patterns trigger spam filters
If your deliverability is suffering, work through that list top to bottom. Usually it's a combination of factors, not just one thing.
9. Email Revenue Attribution
What percentage of your total revenue comes from email?
This is more of a strategic metric than a campaign metric, but it's important for understanding email's value to your business.
Benchmarks:
- Ecommerce (basic setup): 15-25%
- Ecommerce (optimized): 25-40%
- Ecommerce (exceptional): 40-60%
- B2B SaaS: 5-15%
If email is driving less than 15% of your ecommerce revenue, you're leaving money on the table. Probably a lot of money.
Some of our clients see 40-50% of revenue attributed to email. That includes flows, campaigns, everything. At those levels, email is arguably the most important marketing channel.
The 30% Goal
For ecommerce, aim for 30% of revenue from email. Split roughly:
- 60-70% from automated flows (welcome, cart abandonment, post-purchase, etc.)
- 30-40% from campaigns (newsletters, promotions, announcements)
If you're not hitting 30%, focus on flows first. They run automatically and compound over time. Campaigns require constant effort for one-time results.
10. Customer Lifetime Value from Email
The most sophisticated metric: what's the lifetime value of a customer acquired via email versus other channels?
This requires connecting your email data to your CRM and purchase data. Not everyone can do this. But if you can, it's powerful.
We've seen cases where email-acquired customers have 2-3x higher LTV than social-acquired customers. They're more engaged, more loyal, more likely to repeat purchase.
This helps justify email investment. If you know an email subscriber is worth $150 over their lifetime versus $60 for a social follower, you can spend more aggressively to grow your list.
Metrics Comparison Table
Quick reference for everything we've covered:
| Metric | What It Tells You | Healthy Benchmark | Danger Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Rate | Subject line + sender reputation | 15-25% | Under 10% |
| CTR | Content + CTA effectiveness | 1-4% | Under 0.5% |
| Conversion Rate | Campaign revenue performance | 1-3% | Under 0.5% |
| Revenue Per Email | Overall program value | $0.04-0.12 | Under $0.02 |
| List Growth Rate | Sustainability of program | 2-5% monthly | Negative |
| Bounce Rate | List quality | Under 2% | Over 5% |
| Unsubscribe Rate | Content/frequency match | 0.1-0.3% | Over 0.5% |
| Deliverability | Inbox placement | 95%+ | Under 85% |
| Email Revenue % | Channel importance | 25-40% | Under 15% |
| Email LTV | Customer quality | Higher than avg | Lower than avg |
What To Actually Do With This
Here's the problem with metrics: most people track them religiously and change nothing.
Metrics are diagnostic tools. They tell you where to investigate. But then you have to actually investigate.
Low open rates? Test subject lines. Still low? Check sender reputation. Still low? Your list might just be disengaged.
Low conversion rates? Check your landing pages. Check your offers. Check that your email audience matches your product's ideal customer.
High unsubscribes? Survey people who leave. Ask why. You'll learn more from one honest answer than from staring at the percentage.
The Monthly Review Ritual
Once a month, spend 30 minutes on email metrics. Look at:
- Revenue attribution vs. last month
- Revenue per email trend
- List growth rate
- Any concerning bounces or unsubscribes
- Top-performing campaigns and why
That's it. 30 minutes. More than that and you're probably procrastinating from actually improving things.
The companies making money from email aren't the ones with the fanciest dashboards. They're the ones who look at numbers, form a hypothesis, test something, and repeat. Boring? Maybe. Effective? Definitely.
Drowning in email data but not sure what it means? At Inbox Connect, we help brands cut through the noise and focus on metrics that drive revenue. Book a free 30-minute audit and we'll show you exactly where your email program is underperforming.