Email marketing is one of the most measurable marketing channels available. With countless metrics to track and dashboards providing instant feedback, it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers. But overanalysing certain data points can lead you down the wrong path. 

Our white label digital marketing team dives into the email metrics you’re probably giving too much weight to, how they can be misleading, and what you should focus on instead.

Open Rates: The most misleading metric of all time

At one point, open rates were the holy grail of email marketing. A 40% open rate was celebrated as a sure sign of success, and anything above that was the stuff of marketing legend. However, times have changed, and open rates are no longer the reliable metric they once were.

The impact of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection

Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), introduced in 2021, has fundamentally altered how open rates are tracked. MPP preloads email content—including the tracking pixel—whether the recipient actually opens the email or not. This means that marketers often see inflated open rates, as these “opens” are artificially generated.

Other email providers are beginning to follow suit, making open rates increasingly unreliable across the board. This shift means that even if your email platform shows a great open rate metric, you can’t be sure how many of those were genuine opens.

Why open rates don’t equal success

Even before MPP, open rates only told part of the story. An email with a high open rate but no clicks, conversions, or engagement is a missed opportunity. An email with a low open rate but high conversion rates is far more valuable. Open rates alone fail to measure the true impact of your campaign.

Instead of fixating on open rates, ask yourself:

• Did the email drive the desired action?
• How many clicks, purchases, or sign-ups did it generate?
• Are recipients engaging with the content or forwarding it to others?

Unsubscribe rates

Unsubscribe rates are another metric that marketers tend to overanalyse. Seeing a spike in unsubscribes can feel like a blow to your ego – and your email list. But before you panic, let’s reframe this metric.

Why obsessing over unsubscribes can be harmful

It’s tempting to view unsubscribes as a sign that your campaign or content is failing. But obsessing over this metric can lead to poor marketing decisions, like trying to please everyone or sending generic emails that lack personality. When you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.

The benefits of unsubscribes

Unsubscribes aren’t all bad. In fact, they can help you maintain a cleaner, more engaged list. People who unsubscribe are telling you they’re no longer interested, which means they’re unlikely to ever convert. By allowing them to leave, you can focus your efforts on subscribers who genuinely want to hear from you.

Another hidden benefit? Fewer subscribers mean lower costs. Most email platforms charge based on the size of your list, so unsubscribes can save you money in the long run.

Rather than worrying about unsubscribes, ask these questions:

• Are the remaining subscribers more engaged?
• Is your email list filled with people who genuinely want to receive your emails?
• Are you saving money by reducing dead weight on your list?

The one metric you SHOULD obsess over

While many marketers obsess over open rates and unsubscribes, there’s one metric that deserves far more attention: Conversion Rate Per Email Open.

Why this metric matters

Conversion Rate Per Email Open (CRO) is the percentage of recipients who opened your email and then took a specific action, such as clicking a link, making a purchase, or signing up for an event. 

Unlike open rates or click rates alone, CRO ties the act of opening an email to a meaningful result, making it a high-impact metric that directly reflects your campaign’s success.

If email A has a 30% open rate and a 2% click-through rate, leading to 100 sales and email B has a 15% open rate and a 10% click-through rate, leading to 300 sales, email B has a lower open rate, but its CRO and total sales are far superior.

Subscriber lifetime value: Another high-impact metric

Another overlooked metric is Subscriber Lifetime Value (SLV). This measures the total revenue generated by a subscriber over the course of their relationship with your brand. By tracking SLV, you can identify high-value subscribers and tailor your campaigns to maximise their engagement and spending.

Align metrics with business goals

The key to effective email marketing is prioritising metrics that align with your overall business objectives. Ask yourself:

• What is the goal of this campaign? (Sales, sign-ups, awareness?)
• Which metric best reflects progress towards that goal?
• How can I use the data to optimise future campaigns?

Allow our white label digital marketing team to help you track important metrics for your clients. Take a look at what our white label email marketing services include.