SendX
Email software to send campaigns, build lists, and automate marketing
I would say you must track both the metrics.
There are different email marketing metrics and here are the top 5 you must track to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns.
- Click to Open Rate (CTOR)
- Click through Rate (CTR)
- Open Rate (OR) / Unique Open Rate (UOR)
- Unsubscribe Rates
- Conversion Rate (CR)
Click-through Rates (CTR) and Click to open rates (CTOR) are very critical. Before delving deep into their differences, let us spend a moment to understand each one of them and their significance.
What is Click-Through Rate or CTR?
Click-Through Rate gives you the percentage of subscribers that clicked on the link inside your email copy. It typically shows the engagement rate you had achieved with your audience. For example, if your email copy had a link to download an ebook or redeem a coupon, CTR shows how many of your subscribers have actually clicked on that link.
The industry average of CTR is 2.5%. Various elements like your email copy, subject line, prominent placement of the CTAs influence your Click-through Rates.
Email Open Rates
Simple as it sounds, open rate denotes the percentage of subscribers who have opened your email.
If you would like to know what happened to your email once it reaches a mailbox, open rate would be the metric you will want to track.
Click Rate Vs Open Rate - What is the difference?
Now getting back to your question of what's the big deal? Both CTR and Open Rate sound similar? Both metrics are critical and perform different functions.
| Click Rate | Open Rate |
|---|---|
| Takes into account all the actions that happen inside an inbox. (how many subscribers clicked on your call to action/CTAs?) | Open Rate only gives you an idea of those who opened the email |
| Shows an email’s overall performance | Shows the success of your subject line and how attractive or engaging it was to your subscriber. |
| Factors influencing CTR include - Engaging copy, relevant subject line, attractive templates or design, well-placed CTAs, images, and gifs | Factors influencing Open Rate include - subject line, your email list, day and time of your email campaigns |
The difference between the click rate and the open rate is very thin. But if you study them will eventually understand how incredible they are.
Tracking both will help you answer the most critical questions: Who opened your email? Was it relevant to them? If so, did they click on it? Do they like my products/services? Ensure that you’re using vendors like SendX who give you clear and detailed analytics of your campaign facilitating effective conversion rate optimization.
So irrespective of the differences, do remember to track both your click and open rates along with other key metrics to understand how your email campaigns are performing.
FAQ's
1. What is CTR?
CTR (Click-Through Rate) is a metric that gives you the percentage of subscribers that clicked on the link inside your email copy. It typically shows the engagement rate you have achieved with your audience.
2. What elements influence the CTR?
Various elements like your email copy, subject line, prominent placement of the CTAs influence your Click-through Rates.
3. What is email open rate?
Email open rate denotes the percentage of subscribers who have opened your email.
Email open rate = (Total number of opens / Number of email delivered) X 100
