When attempting to grasp the effectiveness of an email marketing campaign, many metrics must be considered. The open rate, click-through rate, and bounce rate will paint a picture of your campaign’s strengths and weaknesses.
At the tip of the spear, however, is the conversion rate. Knowing your conversion rate and understanding what it means is the easiest way to gauge your marketing success.
Read on for a brief explanation of conversion rates, and what a good one looks like.
What is a conversion rate?
The conversion rate is the percentage of your mailing list that performs a desired action. As for what this desired action is, it could be making a purchase, downloading something, or signing up for a service. In the simplest terms, conversions take place when subscribers do what you want them to do.
In this email from Basecamp, their primary call to action (CTA) is to subscribe to the REWORK Podcast.
Source: Really Good Emails
Conversion rates measure the final steps in the email marketing process, so they’re indispensable when calculating your return on investment (ROI).
While a low open rate means you should take another look at your timing or subject line, a low conversion rate means you need to reassess your entire campaign.
How to measure conversion rates
To calculate your conversion rate, you simply need to divide your number of conversions (in email this will always be a click) by the number of opened emails, then multiply that number by 100. You could measure based on the total number of delivered emails, but that doesn’t specifically measure how an actual email viewer is responding to your email content.
After you’ve completed this formula, you’re probably wondering whether or not your number is positive. As these things tend to go, there’s not a simple answer. A good conversion rate is different for everyone, depending on your brand and the type of email in question.
Does it really matter?
Not only do conversion rates matter, but they’re a clear sign of your entire campaign’s success. Along with ROI, your conversion rate is the king of the metrics.
For that reason, it’s vital that your conversion rate be as high as possible. To achieve this, consider implementing the following actionable tips.
A/B test.
If you’re unsure whether to take one approach to an email or another, there’s good news: you can take both.
With A/B testing, you can remove all the theorizing out of the equation and let your subscribers decide which email they like best. By doing so, you’ll have a clear-cut view of which option will result in the highest conversion rate.
Have consistent messaging.
There needs to be a consistent voice that rings out through your brand’s messaging. If a subscriber clicks on a link in an email that takes them to a landing page, that landing page should match the tone and content of the email that led them there.
Consider what would happen if a subscriber clicked on a link in your email and then ended up on a webpage that had nothing to do with that campaign.
The subscriber would have to sift through the website to find what he or she wants, which would increase the likelihood of them bailing out and you losing a conversion.
What now?
Now that you know what conversion rates are, how to calculate them, and what that final number means, you can start breaking down your metrics into specific situations. A good conversion is dependent on the circumstances that surround your campaign.
Want to know more about important metrics you should monitor? Consider reading our pieces on what the ideal conversion rate is for an opt-in landing page and the difference in conversion rates between double and single opt-ins.