Email marketing can be an extremely effective way to reach customers and generate business for your company. However, to get the most out of your email campaigns, it is important to set clear goals and benchmarks for success.
Why Set Goals for Email Marketing?
Setting specific, measurable goals for your email marketing provides a number of benefits:
- It gives focus and direction to your efforts.
- It allows you to track progress and ROI.
- It helps you optimize and improve your campaigns.
- It keeps your team aligned and motivated.
Without clear objectives, it can be tempting to send emails without a strategy and then wonder why results are disappointing. Goals give your email marketing purpose.
Types of Email Marketing Goals
There are several types of goals you may want to set for your email campaigns. Common options include:
- Open rate – The percentage of subscribers who open your emails. Industry averages are around 20-25%.
- Click-through rate (CTR) – The percentage of subscribers who click on links within your emails. Benchmarks range from 2-5%.
- Conversion rate – The percentage of subscribers who take a desired action after receiving your email, such as making a purchase. This varies greatly by industry.
- Revenue – The total sales, profits, or other monetary return generated from your emails.
- List growth – Growing your email subscriber list over time through lead generation.
- Engagement – Getting subscribers to interact with your emails through clicks, shares, surveys, etc.
Best Practices for Setting Email Goals
To set effective goals for your email marketing, keep these tips in mind:
- Focus on 1-2 Primary Goals. Don’t try to optimize for too many metrics at once.
- Set Specific, Measurable Targets. Goals should have concrete numbers like “25% open rate”.
- Set Realistic Goals. Don’t set yourself up for failure with unrealistic objectives.
- Consider Industry Benchmarks. Use average metrics for your niche to guide goal setting.
- Track Trends and optimize. Review past performance and adjust goals accordingly.
- Have Long and Short-Term Goals. Balance immediate and future objectives.
- Align Goals with Broader Strategy. Email goals should support overall business goals.
Common Email Marketing Goals and Benchmarks
Here are some examples of typical email marketing goals and realistic targets to aim for:
| Goal | Benchmark to Target |
|---|---|
| Open Rate | 25% |
| Click-Through Rate | 5% |
| Conversion Rate | 5-10% for ecommerce, over 25% for lead gen |
| Revenue Per Email Sent | $0.10 for retail, $2.00+ for B2B |
| List Growth | 10-20% per year |
Keep in mind that benchmarks vary greatly by factors like your industry, subscriber base, email content, and more. Continuously test different goal metrics to see what works for your unique situation.
Examples of Strong Email Goals
To make this more concrete, here are some examples of actionable, well-written email marketing goals:
- Increase email click-through rate from 3% to 5% over the next 3 months.
- Generate $5,000 in revenue per month from promotional email campaigns.
- Obtain 25,000 new newsletter subscribers this year.
- Achieve an open rate of at least 30% for all operational emails sent.
- Reduce unsubscribe rate to less than 2% monthly.
Notice that these goals follow the S.M.A.R.T. framework: they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals will maximize your chances of email marketing success.
Goal Setting Best Practices
Here are some final tips for setting effective goals for your email marketing and other marketing campaigns:
- Involve your team in goal-setting to improve commitment.
- Set goals during strategic planning to integrate with broader objectives.
- Document goals for visibility and accountability.
- Regularly monitor progress and adjust as needed.
- Celebrate when you meet or exceed goals!
Conclusion
Setting clear email marketing goals is critical for executing successful campaigns and demonstrating ROI. Focus on 1-2 key metrics like open rate, CTR, or revenue. Use industry benchmarks to guide realistic target setting. Craft S.M.A.R.T. goals that align to your overall business objectives. Monitor progress, optimize efforts, and adjust goals as needed. With deliberate email goal setting and measurement, you can transform email into a high-performance marketing channel.
