Here's the second installment of the Legal & Best Practice Hub on Metrics and their meaning. What we're hoping is to gain your feedback and comments.

This week we're looking at Internal Monitoring and the metrics that feature in this area:

1. Average Soft Bounce Rate        

Definition: The number of soft bounces divided by the number of e-mails delivered (as a %).         

Things to take into consideration: A soft bounce indicates a temporary reason (inbox full, server temporarily unavailable etc.) why the e-mail can not go into the inbox. In this instance, it is worth trying the e-mail address at a later date. However, monitor repeat soft bounces and remove after a maximum of three.

2. Average Total Click-through Rate        

Definition: Number of total clicks divided by number of e-mails delivered (as a %).

Things to take into consideration: If comparing results with other campaigns, make sure the click-through rate is measured using the same metrics. It can be click against e-mails sent, e-mails delivered or e-mails opened. Always compare like for like, and know which option has been used.

This metric attempts to answer the question, “How many times did a person click on a link or multiple links within this e-mail?” This may or may not include clicks on unsubscribe links or other links, and you may find it helpful to view click-through reporting by individual link. This metric is a whole number in the form “100,000″ or as an e-mail Click-through Rate percentage in the form “10%”. The denominator is e-mail delivered, and this percentage may exceed 100%. [Source: Internet Advertising Bureau]"

3. Average Unique Click-through Rate        

Definition: Number of individuals who have clicked through divided by number of e-mails delivered (as a %).        

Things to take into consideration: This is a measure of the emails overall effectiveness because it looks at emails that generated a click.  If the campaign is an acquisition campaign then this is a more valuable measure than total click rate.

4. Average Unique Open Rate        

Definition: Unique opens divided by number of e-mails delivered (as a %).        

Things to take into consideration: Due to the high number of false negatives (emails that did not show as opened because the images were switched off) and false positive(emails that were opened in the preview pane but were not viewed by the recipient) this is not an accurate measure of how many emails were opened.  It is however an excellent directional indicator of the effectiveness of your subject line among other things.  Make sure reporting is consistent. For example, if comparing different sources, ensure it is not confused with opens from sent or total opens (which will include when the same person opens an e-mail more than once).

5. Click to Conversion Rate        

Definition: Number of clicks divided by the number of conversions or intended actions e.g. clicks converting to sign-ups for a newsletter or a successful download on an offer.        

Things to take into consideration: This is the key metric when measuring success. It is important that you are clear from the start that the objective is defined. Also remember not to use this metric in isolation. The uplift in actions that come directly to the site, via telephone or visit to a shop show room need also to be recognised as a benefit of the email campaign.

6. Click to Open Rate        

Definition: Number of clicks divided by the number of opens.  It is generally calculated as either Unique Click-through over Unique e-mail Opens, or Total e-mail Click-through over Total e-mail Opens. [Source: Internet Advertising Bureau]         

Things to take into consideration: This metric attempts to answer the question, "Of the Unique e-mail Opens, how many individuals took an action?"

7. Click to Purchase        

Definition: Data Users can correlate directly the clicks from the e-mail resulting in transactional behaviour. From this a clear calculation of the Return on Investment (ROI) from a programme or campaign can be made. It is considered to be best practice to always pre-define measurement and success criteria and to track conversions accordingly. This can either be achieved directly using tracking technologies embedded with the e-mail, or via a data match back process post campaign. [Source: DMA Best Practice Guidelines]  

Things to take into consideration: From this a clear calculation of the Return on Investment (ROI) from a programme or campaign can be made. It is considered to be best practice to always pre-define measurement and success criteria and to track conversions accordingly. This can either be achieved directly using tracking technologies embedded with the e-mail, or via a data match back process post campaign.

This is a valuable measure but it is important not to only attribute this value to the email. Email is not 100% trackable. Remember consumers do not always react in the way we want them to. Some will pick up the phone, come to the site direct or interact with your brand in a different way to through the email.  Remember to add additional value when looking at the true benefits. "

8. Click-through Metrics        

Definition:

• Total Click Rate (Total Clicks/Total Delivered)

• Unique Click Rate (Unique Clicks/Total Delivered)

• Click to Open Rate (Unique Clicks/ Total Opened)"        

Things to take into consideration: It is important to define what metric you are using and be consistent. These measures do have a value particularly in terms of relevance to the audience targeted, but must be used in context. It is important not to use these measures in isolation to judge success, the results in relation to end results are what should do this.

9. Click-through Tracking        

Definition: When a hotlink is included in an e-mail, a click-through occurs when a recipient clicks on the link. Click-through tracking refers to the data collected about each link clicked, such as how many people clicked it, how many clicks resulted in desired actions such as sales, forwards or subscriptions. [Source: Marketing Sherpa]         

So that's part 2. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Jonathan Burston

CACI & Legal and Best Practice Hub

---