We recently wrote about how some email marketing metrics matter more than others. One that shakes out to be at the top of the list of importance? Click through rate.
This tiny yet mighty metric is one of the best indicators of engagement that marketers have when measuring their email campaigns. Since it’s so important, we figured it deserved a post of its own. That’s why today we’ll explain what a click through rate is, how to measure it, and how you can improve it.
What is a click through rate?
A click through rate, or CTR, is a key metric for marketers to measure how many people act on content offers. It’s commonly measured in relation to emails, giving marketers an idea of how many email subscribers or recipients were enticed to click on their offer.
CTRs are expressed as a percentage, usually falling in the single digits (check out benchmarks by industry below). A higher percentage indicates that email recipients were more engaged than if a CTR was lower. By tracking this rate over time, you’ll be able to gauge performance and compare different email marketing strategies.
For example, you can assess:
- Link placement (where clickable elements live within the email)
- Link count (number of links included in the email)
- Media type (what type of content you’re asking recipients to click through to)
- Messaging and content (how you’re framing the offer)
- Visual content (what the clickable element – and its surround copy – looks like)
How to measure your CTR
To get your CTR, you’ll be dividing the number of clicks your email campaign received by the number of times it was successfully delivered to recipients.
Here’s what the math will look like:
Once you have that number, you’ll multiply it by 100 to convert it into a percentage.
Note that the numerator (the number on top that represents how many clicks occurred) can either be unique or overall clicks. Unique clicks only count the action taken in an email one time, no matter how many times that recipient clicked. Overall clicks will count any click through, even if the same recipient clicks multiple times.
Average click through rate
According to Campaign Monitor, the average email click through rate is 2.5%, while MailChimp says the average CTR across industries is 2.62%. Either way, it’s a pretty low number that can send you into a bit of a panic if you’re not expecting it!
Check out the click through rates (and other email marketing metrics) by industry and compare the results you’re seeing with others in your field.
How to improve your CTR
If you’re not satisfied with the click through rates you’re seeing from your campaigns, there are plenty of opportunities for improvement. Here’s a few of our tips for maximizing your efforts:
- Make linked text more specific. Readers aren’t going to be enticed to click on a link that just says, “click here.” That’s because they want to know what they’ll get in return for their action.
Instead of generic phrasing, use descriptive (yet concise) language. For example, “Download the ebook” or “Book a demo.” This also is more inclusive for visually impaired email recipients who rely on read-aloud content.
- Include more opportunities to click. According to HubSpot, 46% of email opens are on mobile devices. That means there’s quite a bit of scrolling taking place when your recipients open your emails. We recommend including one clickable element at every step of the fold to increase the odds of someone clicking.
- Do some A/B testing. If you have a big enough subscriber list, you can send slightly different versions of your campaign to different groups to test out your content. To do this, test only one element at a time. For example, you could try two versions of the subject line, imagery used, layout, call-to-action button design, or other key elements of your email campaign. Then, analyze the data to see which version performed better than the others.
If you think it’s time to bring in the experts, please drop us a line! We excel at delivering email marketing campaigns that drive engagement and are happy to help strategize opportunities to improve your click through rates.