Email Marketing Metrics

Email marketing reporting collapsed once Apple Mail Privacy Protection broke the open rate. Most teams kept reporting it anyway, and the number became noise. This infographic separates the email metrics that still tell you something from the ones that used to and don't.

The six that matter: click-through rate, click-to-open rate (when measurable), conversion rate on the primary action, unsubscribe rate, spam complaint rate, and revenue per recipient. Click-through is the cleanest signal that the email earned attention and the copy earned action. Unsubscribes and spam complaints together tell you whether you're sending more than the list can absorb. Revenue per recipient is the only metric that ties email performance to commercial outcome without rewarding list bloat.

The three to demote: open rate (distorted by MPP prefetching), delivery rate (mostly flat for any legitimate sender), and list size (a vanity number that encourages the wrong behavior — adding contacts faster than engaging them).

A healthy B2B email program in 2025 looks like this: a core engaged list smaller than leadership wants, a click-through rate in the 2–4% range on nurture and higher on triggered behavioral emails, unsubscribes under 0.5% per send, and a sending frequency low enough that each email earns its place. The biggest lever for improving every number on the list is the same move: cut the list. Suppress anyone who hasn't clicked in 90 days from broadcast sends, keep them on triggered flows only, and watch deliverability, CTR, and revenue per recipient all rise at the same time.

The writing matters more than the metrics. Subject lines earn the open; the first line earns the second. B2B buyers don't read emails end-to-end — they skim for the ask. Lead with the reason you're writing, make the link obvious, and stop sending when you don't have one.

Stratridge doesn't publish email templates. But the Positioning Audit tells you whether the subject line your site promises matches the one your inbox delivers — the two are usually further apart than the team thinks.