Analytics are critically important to an email program. You can use them to understand how your content is resonating with your audience, if your targeting is effective, and any deliverability issues you might be experiencing.
Note that Switchboard does not require your email program to meet any open or click rate averages to use the platform, but we will require an onboarding period to warm up your domain, and we may move you to a different IP pool based on your domain reputation and engagement rates. To understand average email engagement rates by industry, check out this report from Constant Contact.
When you finish sending an email, you will see a table with the following metrics in Switchboard:
https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/hfg4nYgWMp1vRzqEveRSdzI6XBBw-m7A9WhifMySQTnC80Q8I_a8C3C7eSJXDEjek5SW_oTyY7KXQrXLqAHEOWfzDkSJQ34sZENvvNSB2dTT1NZ9r6fT4oGc3DMIzWgtmVaQ788Vefap7Y1AeoSTLBQ
“Processed 257 of 257” is the total number of leads you targeted. This does not mean every lead you targeted received your email.
The first percentage you see under Unique Opens is your Open Rate. In the above screenshot, that is 53 unique opens, divided by 188 total emails delivered gives you a 28% open rate. Note that Switchboard filters out machine opens from this statistic.
What does “unique” mean and why do you care? Switchboard shows you the unique opens, meaning it registers only one open per opener, regardless of how many times that person actually opened the email. By providing unique opens/unique open rate, you get a much clearer picture of your email’s success. It’s possible that someone will open an email multiple times – you don’t want each of their subsequent opens to count in this total because it would artificially inflate your engagement rate.
What does this statistic tell you? Open rate is a good way to understand, first and foremost, how your subject line performed. An email with a low open rate can indicate that the subject line you chose did not stand out in the inbox. A prolonged drop in open rates can also indicate that your email is not reaching inboxes in the first place, which can happen if your domain reputation is low..
To understand deliverability issues, refer to our Deliverability 101 page
–
https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/2MQ_MARbKfyR8W7fV-QPWq9h12CDIKht-4158jf0Ln5y__u_eQmNQObTx9p24G82TtVl6WRh1F-3MuHUVjT0gOeb4YsJPzCWU3-1dDg2yhvCWIcLl--R61qbpn0P0TxyIdVU975z8eLEteuic27gYqw
The next metric you will see is your unique click rate. Click rate is measuring how many people click on a link in your email (again, uniquely). Note that this is not “click-to-open rate (CTOR)” which some platforms do provide.
What does this statistic tell you? Click rate is particularly useful in understanding how effective your email content was at engaging your audience and getting them to take action. You don’t just want to get people to open your email; you want them to take the actions you’re asking them to take. Therefore, a high click rate suggests that people found your content compelling enough to take the action recommended. If you see click rates drop, it’s possible your CTA was too challenging for your audience, or your content wasn’t compelling them to take action. Try different topics, email styles, and CTAs to see if that improves your click rate.
Note that Switchboard tracks clicks directly through the links you add to your email. Open data is shared by third parties. So, it’s possible to see click rates that are higher than open rates since we have more trustworthy data about clicks than we do opens.
–
https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/9EEL3KaOL6jh2dt-1Y-6HF0W7KcHxB6C6iLYai1uUccp2wxRqlOq3FKNJBk5cq8KxbcRIA2Xi7T6Tr0BEpv9c27bOI0C_kFUWHTySYuBjF4KUY0bzaQeBujwAdVvQnzT6CAlvpmkGctAIhH0U7LkOb8