Email Marketing Term
What is Engagement Rate?
A composite metric measuring how actively subscribers interact with your emails through opens, clicks, and other actions.
Engagement rate combines multiple metrics to give a holistic view of email performance. While there's no universal formula, it typically factors in:
- Open rate - Click-through rate - Click-to-open rate - Reply rate - Forward/share rate - Conversion rate
ISPs use engagement signals for inbox placement. Consistently low engagement tells them recipients don't value your emails, hurting deliverability.
Tracking engagement over time matters more than single-campaign metrics. An engaged subscriber who opens every email is more valuable than ten who never engage.
Examples
- High engagement: Opens, clicks, replies, purchases
- Low engagement: No opens in 90+ days
- Engagement decay: Gradual decline in opens over time
Tips for Engagement Rate
- ✓Segment by engagement level
- ✓Send more to highly engaged, less to unengaged
- ✓Re-engage dormant subscribers or remove them
- ✓Track engagement trends, not just single metrics
Related Terms
Open Rate
The percentage of email recipients who open a specific email campaign.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The percentage of email recipients who click on one or more links in an email.
Email Deliverability
The ability to successfully deliver emails to recipients' inboxes rather than spam folders.
List Hygiene
The practice of regularly cleaning your email list by removing invalid, inactive, or unengaged subscribers.
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