Email marketers love metrics. They give us tangible proof that what we’re doing is working (or not).
But here’s the catch: applying the same success metrics to every campaign is like using the same measuring cup for every ingredient in a recipe. Sure, it works sometimes, but other times, you’re going to end up with a mess.
Different campaigns serve different purposes. And as customers move through their journey, their engagement with your emails shifts. If you’re only focused on one metric across every stage, you’re likely misinterpreting success, leaving valuable opportunities on the table.
Let’s take a look at how shifting your metrics based on the customer journey can drive better insights and, ultimately, better results.
Our Example Company
Imagine you run a home window replacement company. With being a major home purchase, your customer journey isn’t a simple “see an email, make a purchase” like a typical e-commerce journey would be. It involves multiple touchpoints both online and offline over a long period of time: initial interest and research, scheduling an appointment with a sales rep, post-appointment decision-making, installation, and post-install engagement.
If you measure all your emails against the same KPI, like revenue per email, you’ll miss critical insights about how and when customers are making decisions. Instead, adjusting your metrics at each stage of the journey can help you optimize your overall strategy.
Here’s what that could look like for each point in our example company’s customer journey:
Welcome Series: Engagement Over Everything
When a new subscriber joins your list, they’re at their most engaged. They signed up for a reason—whether it was to learn more, get a discount, or stay updated. At this stage, your key metric should be engagement: open rates, click rates, and the time it takes for engagement to drop off.
By tracking these metrics, you could easily notice a steep engagement drop after the first two emails, giving you a signal to test your content, timing, or cadence. Then you can look at making the series more compelling or introduce an interactive element. Your goal here isn’t to push a sale but to build a strong foundation of trust in your brand.
Promotional Emails: The Balancing Act of Engagement and Conversions
Once you start sending promotional offers, your metric focus should shift. While engagement is still important, it’s no longer the end goal: conversion to scheduling an appointment is. The key is balance, optimizing for high engagement while also tracking how many recipients schedule an appointment or take that next step toward scheduling an appointment.
If your emails are getting high engagement but low conversions, the offer or CTA might need tweaking. If engagement is dropping, your messaging might not be resonating. This is the stage where testing subject lines, incentives, and email design could make a significant impact on your overall performance.
Abandoned Appointment Requests or Cancellations: Conversion is King
If someone visited the page to schedule a consultation but didn’t follow through or cancelled their appointment without rescheduling, the only metric that matters is win-back conversion rate. At this point, engagement alone won’t cut it. You’re trying to salvage a lost opportunity so the focus should be on win-back messaging, urgency, and addressing potential objections that may have caused them to bounce/cancel in the first place.
Pre-Appointment: Engagement and Cancellation Rates Matter
Before a scheduled consultation date, the focus is twofold: keeping the customer engaged and minimizing cancellations. Your key metrics here? Email engagement and cancellation rate.
Look at whether your emails are reinforcing the value of the appointment. Are you providing enough information to set expectations? Are you sending reminders at the right cadence? Small tweaks here could mean the difference between a kept appointment and a no-show.
Post-Appointment: Closing the Sale
After a consultation, it’s decision time. This is where your primary metric should shift to sales conversion. Did the customer move forward with the purchase at the appointment? If not, how many touchpoints did it take to get them there, if at all? Your emails should focus on reinforcing key benefits, addressing objections, and providing the final push to take action.
Pre-Install: Keeping the Excitement Alive
Once the customer has made their purchase, there’s often a waiting period before installation. The worst thing you can do here is go silent. Keeping the customer engaged and reassured is key, so your primary metric should be engagement.
Are customers opening your emails about what to expect during installation? Are they clicking on links to FAQs? Maintaining a high engagement rate at this stage can prevent post-purchase anxiety and improve overall satisfaction.
Post-Install: Building Advocacy
The job isn’t done once the windows are installed. Now, your focus should be on keeping customers engaged and turning them into brand advocates.
Your key metrics here should be continued email engagement and potential referral conversions. Are customers engaging with post-installation emails? Are they leaving reviews or referring friends? Are you offering incentives for referrals? Are you providing content that helps them enjoy their new purchase even more?
Upsell: The Right Time for Conversions Again
Finally, if a customer replaced some—but not all—of their windows, there’s an opportunity for an upsell. Here, appointment conversions become the key metric again. Your emails should focus on showcasing the benefits of completing their project and making it easy for them to take the next step.
In Closing
Success in email marketing isn’t about chasing one golden metric. It’s about knowing which metric matters most at each stage of the customer journey. In our non-ecommerce example, a welcome email should never be judged by revenue, just as a post-purchase email shouldn’t be evaluated on open rates alone.
Take a step back and look at your customer journey. Where are the key decision points? What behaviors indicate success at each stage?
By evolving your performance metrics along the way, you’ll gain a clearer understanding
Photo by Jonas Kakaroto on Unsplash