Newsletters can be a key part of growing your publication’s reach and revenue. That’s why it’s important to understand how to measure and interpret your newsletter metrics.
We asked Senior Audience Strategist Pearl Leung from the Indiegraf Experts team to walk us through some key performance indicators (KPIs) that you should be paying attention to and why they matter.
What newsletter metrics should I track and measure?
The most important newsletter metrics or KPIs to track are open rate, click rate, click-to-open rate and unsubscribe rate. This article will talk more in-depth about some of them, but here’s a quick glossary for now:
- Open rate: The percentage of users that open your email out of everyone who received it. It’s a fundamental KPI that indicates how well your subject lines perform and whether your audience is interested in your content. A high open rate suggests that your emails are catching your subscribers’ attention.
- Click rate: The percentage of users that clicked on a link in your email out of everyone who received it. A higher click rate means that your email content is compelling enough to drive action from your readers.
- Click-to-open rate (CTOR): The percentage of users that clicked a link out of everyone who opened it. A high CTOR indicates that once people open your emails, they find the content engaging and worth interacting with.
- Unsubscribe rate: The percentage of users that unsubscribed out of everyone who received the email.
Tracking these email newsletter metrics will give you a comprehensive view of your email campaign’s performance, allowing you to make data-driven decisions to improve your newsletter strategy.
Additionally, these metrics are closely tied to email deliverability. High open rates and low unsubscribe rates positively impact your sender reputation, ensuring that your emails land in your subscribers’ inboxes rather than their spam folders. For a deeper understanding of how to improve your email deliverability, check out our detailed blog post on email deliverability best practices!
How do I track my newsletter engagement?
Tracking newsletter engagement depends on your email service provider (ESP). Some ESPs will allow you to view aggregated data, while others will only allow you to view more granular data about your newsletters.
The data provided by each ESP will also vary slightly. For example, some might give you data on bounce rates and forward rates, while others won’t.
What is a good open rate?
The short answer? It depends. Open rates can vary between industries and what is considered a “good” open rate depends on what you’re trying to accomplish with the newsletter.
According to Mailchimp, the benchmark for the media and publishing industry is around 34 percent. Other sources, such as Campaign Monitor, have a lower benchmark for media industry open rates, at around 24 percent. However, the benchmark for open rates using Indie Email is closer to 45 percent.
The best way to figure out if your open rates are good is to compare them to your own averages. Pearl’s advice is to collect your own benchmarks before making comparisons. That means collecting the average open rates, so you can compare new emails with the historical averages.
How can you improve the open rate?
While network benchmarks are a good north star, open rates are most useful when you benchmark against yourself.
It’s a good sign if the open rate is remaining steady or increasing. If you’re noticing a downward trend, it might be a sign that something is wrong.
More than anything, open rates are only one measure of your newsletter’s success. As your subscribers grow, you may see a slight decrease in open rates as it becomes more difficult to cater to the needs of a broader audience.
You’ll always have a dedicated reader base who will open every email. But for the rest of your subscribers, the main draw will be the subject line. So, make sure you’re experimenting with subject lines if you want to increase open rates.
What is a good click-to-open rate?
According to the Indiegraf network’s benchmarks, the average click-to-open rate is around nine percent. Campaign Monitor says the average click-to-open rate for media and publishing is 12 percent.
However, you might expect a lower click rate if you’re not trying to send readers to your website. For example, if you’re including an entire article in the newsletter, and you’re not directing readers to your website, this metric doesn’t matter as much.
If you’re trying to get readers to subscribe or donate, a click-to-open rate is a good indicator of how engaged your audience is with your newsletter. A high click-to-open rate indicates that your readers are not only opening your emails, but also clicking on links.
If you want to know if readers are clicking on your donation or subscription pages, the click-to-open rate might be a good indicator, though it still won’t tell you exactly what links readers clicked on.
Understanding newsletter metrics: How do I know if my newsletter is succeeding?
Think about the purpose of your newsletter. If you’re running a newsletter targeted to a niche audience, such as a small town or city, you might have a smaller audience cap compared to a more general interest newsletter.
For example, if you’re running a newsletter to target the residents of a specific town or city, growing your email list might not be a priority. Rather, you may want to focus on click rates if you’re trying to generate revenue or increase audience engagement.
It may also be scary to see that some of your readers have unsubscribed to your newsletter. Just remember that some unsubscribes are normal. Publishers in the Indiegraf network have an average unsubscribe rate of 0.17 percent. Like other metrics, it’s important to ensure you’re tracking trends rather than isolated numbers.
If you’re not seeing any improvement in your open rates and click rates, it might be time to do some audience research. An audience survey can help you understand why your subscribers read your newsletter, and the type of content they’re interested in.
“If you’re [trending] downwards over a long period, that’s a sign that you need to either clean your list, or rethink your product, or do a survey to make sure that you’re serving your audience’s needs,” recommends Pearl.
Read more 📖 “Email newsletters 101: A complete guide for independent publishers and journalists” to find out how to craft effective email newsletters that boost audience engagement and revenue growth.
Are you struggling with your newsletter metrics? Don’t worry—Indiegraf is here to help you optimize your strategy and improve your KPIs.
Contact us today to discover how our newsletter services and technology can boost your publication’s reach and revenue. Let’s transform your metrics into meaningful growth together!
