When you start a new email marketing campaign, you're probably looking at various metrics. You want to see how many subscribers are opening your emails and the type of content that resonates with them.
\r\nHopefully, you're also tracking your click-through rate (CTR). After all, your CTR is one of the most important email marketing metrics, because it shows you how engaged your audience is. But how do you calculate your CTR, and how do you know if it's low or high? And if your CTR is on the low side, how can you start improving this metric?
\r\nYour CTR measures how many subscribers clicked on any links, buttons or images you included in a particular email. It's the number of subscribers who clicked on at least one link in your email.
\r\nWhat's considered a good CTR varies by your industry. The average CTR across all industries is 2.62%.
Editor's note: Looking for the right email marketing service for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.
\r\n\r\nEvery time you start a new email campaign, you should have a specific goal in mind. This goal could be to drive traffic to your landing pages, boost sales, or get your subscribers to follow you on social media.
\r\nThe point is that every email invites your subscribers to take a specific action. This is known as your call to action (CTA). By tracking your CTR, you can see how well your emails motivate your subscribers to take the action you want them to take.
\r\nYour CTR is a measure of how engaged your email subscribers are. It's also a good indicator of whether you're sending relevant content and offers to your audience.
\r\nYour email CTR is determined by the total number of subscribers who clicked on a link in your email. Here is the formula you'll use to calculate your email CTR:
\r\nTotal number of clicks ÷ Total delivered emails x 100 = CTR
\r\nSo, if you sent an email to 200 subscribers and 25 of them clicked on a link, your CTR is 12.5%.
\r\nIf your email CTR is at least 2.62%, you're on track with the average across all industries. You should always be trying to improve your CTR, though, because the higher that number is, the more engaged your subscribers are.
\r\nFortunately, improving your CTR doesn't have to be complicated. If you're not sure where to start, take these seven steps to improve your email CTR.
\r\nYour email open rate and your CTR go hand in hand, because if you can't get your subscribers to open your emails, they won't click on any of your links. So, improving your open rates is a good place to start.
\r\nOne of the best ways to ensure subscribers open your emails is to modify the sender name and subject line. Instead of using your company name as the sender, why not try using a specific individual's name?
\r\nUsing a personal name may seem like a minor detail, but it can make a big difference. Studies have found that using a personal name can increase open rates by up to 35%.
\r\nYour headline is another significant factor in whether or not customers open your emails. Shorter subject lines could improve your open rates.
\r\nHere are a few other tips to improve your subject lines:
\r\nAn estimated 46% of all emails are opened on a mobile device, and the number of people using desktop computers continues to decline every year.
\r\nSo, if you're wondering why you don't have a higher CTR, you should see if your emails are optimized for mobile devices. If the email design isn't responsive or the text is hard to read, you're likely losing out on clicks.
\r\nOne of the easiest ways to ensure that your emails are optimized for mobile is to use a predesigned template. Email marketing software providers such as ConvertKit and Campaign Monitor offer a wide selection of mobile-responsive templates.
\r\nEven if you use a mobile-responsive template, it's a good idea to preview your email on various devices, which should include both iOS and Android devices, before sending it.
\r\nMost people do not fully read online articles, blog posts and emails. Instead, they scan the text for the most relevant information. So, you want to make sure your emails are easily scannable.
\r\nThe easier your emails are to read, the less likely a subscriber is to get bored and delete the email as soon as they open it. Scannable emails also make it easier for readers to find and follow your CTA.
\r\nThe best way to make your emails scannable is to make your sentences short and include lots of white space. Don't make paragraphs longer than one or two sentences, since large text blocks are hard to read.
\r\nIt can help to include bullet points and lists wherever possible. Also, don't make your email too long, because some subscribers will lose interest.
\r\nAs a business owner, you might have multiple products and services you're trying to promote to your audience. That's why some companies include dozens of links in the emails they send to their subscribers.
\r\nBut too many links can overwhelm your subscribers. Businesses that pared their emails down to a single CTA increased their CTR by 371%. If you give your subscribers too many options, decision fatigue sets in, and they do nothing.
\r\nSo, if you have multiple CTAs within the same email, that's probably contributing to your low CTR. Instead, try to use one CTA that fits in well with the email content. Relevant, personalized content will make all the difference in converting your subscribers into customers.
\r\nAnother simple way to increase your CTR is to use an HTML button instead of a hyperlink for your CTA. However, make sure you're using bulletproof buttons, which are buttons you code into your email. They don't technically count as images, so if some of your subscribers have turned email images off, your button will still show up.
\r\nYou can use email marketing software to create bulletproof buttons that will look great on all devices. If bulletproof buttons don't work for you and you want to stick with hyperlinks, another option is to change your text links to a brighter font color, making them stand out more to your subscribers.
\r\nIf you want to see more results from your email campaigns, you must incorporate personalization. Endless studies have shown that personalized emails have the highest click-through rates.
\r\nPersonalization goes beyond using the subscriber's first name. It's about delivering timely, relevant offers to your audience based on their interests and where they are in the customer journey.
\r\nOne of the best ways to use personalization to increase your CTR is by creating dynamic offers. A dynamic offer is customized to your audience based on their demographics, interests and stage in the customer journey.
\r\nFor instance, let's say you run an e-commerce store that sells clothing. An example of a dynamic offer would be showing women's clothes to your female subscribers and men's clothes to your male subscribers.
\r\nYour subscribers aren't all interested in the same thing, so you shouldn't be sending them the exact same offers. Segmenting your audience allows you to send information that's relevant to them.
\r\nIf you're new to email marketing, it might feel pretty overwhelming at first. To make it easier, you could pick one point outlined in this article and set up an A/B split test for that element of your email campaign.
\r\nYour email marketing service should make it easy to split-test the following:
\r\nA good place to start is to split-test two different CTAs to see which one performs better. You could also test different buttons to see if a particular color works better with your audience.
\r\nThere are many ways to improve your email CTR, and in all likelihood, you'll have to spend a lot of time testing and tracking your results. But over time, this will give you a better understanding of your audience so you can create emails and offers that create more value for them.
\n","docType":"article","guid":"articles_385fc6280846bbfa9ac8f3e540abb6b6","lastModified":"2021-02-11T16:00:00.000Z","published":"2021-02-11T16:00:00.000Z","structuredData":null,"subtitle":"Click-through rate is a critical metric by which a small business can measure its email marketing success.","template":"long_form","title":"What Is CTR in Email?","type":"article","author":{"avatar":"https://staging.business.com/images/author/601/da7919c658aed608b4567/100-100","bio":"Jamie Johnson is a Kansas City-based freelance writer who writes about finance and business. She has also written for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Fox Business and Business Insider. Jamie has written about a variety of B2B topics like finance, business funding options and accounting. She also writes about how businesses can grow through effective social media and email marketing strategies.","name":"Jamie Johnson","image":null,"slug":null,"social":{"facebook":"","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiejohnsonwrites/","twitter":null,"website":"https://www.jamiejohnsonwrites.com/"},"status":"enabled","title":null,"type":"Contributing Writer","user":{"imagePath":"https://staging.business.com/images/undefined","profile":{"company":"","jobTitle":"","website":""}}},"breadcrumbs":null,"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing"},"sub":{"name":"Marketing Strategy","slug":"marketing-strategy"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Understanding metrics like click-through rate (CTR) can improve your ability to create email marketing campaigns that reach your target audience.","title":"What Is CTR in Email Marketing? - business.com"},"parsedContent":{"json":[{"component":"p","children":["When you start a new ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/guide-to-email-marketing/"},"children":["email marketing campaign"]},", you're probably looking at various metrics. You want to see how many subscribers are opening your emails and the type of content that resonates with them."]},{"component":"p","children":["Hopefully, you're also tracking your click-through rate (CTR). After all, your CTR is one of the most important ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/important-kpis-content-marketing/"},"children":["email marketing metrics"]},", because it shows you how engaged your audience is. But how do you calculate your CTR, and how do you know if it's low or high? And if your CTR is on the low side, how can you start improving this metric?"]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"what-is-email-click-through-rate-ctr"},"children":["What is email click-through rate (CTR)?"]},{"component":"p","children":["Your ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/mobile-marketing-analytics-to-measure-success/"},"children":["CTR measures how many subscribers clicked"]}," on any links, buttons or images you included in a particular email. It's the number of subscribers who clicked on at least one link in your email."]},{"component":"p","children":["What's considered a good CTR varies by your industry. The ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/","target":"_blank","rel":"noopener"},"children":["average CTR across all industries is 2.62%"]},".",{"component":"br"},{"component":"br"}]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"strong","children":[{"component":"span","props":{"data-sheets-value":"{\"1\":2,\"2\":\"Editor's note: Looking for the right [category name] for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.\"}","data-sheets-userformat":"{\"2\":513,\"3\":{\"1\":0},\"12\":0}"},"children":["Editor's note: Looking for the right email marketing service for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs."]}]}]},{"component":"RfqWidget","props":{"className":"bz-form-widget","id":"bz-form-widget-0","widgetCategoryId":"10123"},"children":[" "]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"why-is-ctr-important"},"children":["Why is CTR important?"]},{"component":"p","children":["Every time you start a new email campaign, you should have a specific goal in mind. This goal could be to ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/how-to-develop-a-landing-page/"},"children":["drive traffic to your landing pages"]},", boost sales, or get your subscribers to follow you on social media."]},{"component":"p","children":["The point is that every email invites your subscribers to take a specific action. This is known as ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/sales-funnel-complete-guide/"},"children":["your call to action"]}," (CTA). By tracking your CTR, you can see how well your emails motivate your subscribers to take the action you want them to take."]},{"component":"p","children":["Your CTR is a measure of how engaged your email subscribers are. It's also a good indicator of whether you're sending relevant content and offers to your audience."]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"how-do-you-calculate-your-email-ctr"},"children":["How do you calculate your email CTR?"]},{"component":"p","children":["Your email CTR is determined by the total number of subscribers who clicked on a link in your email. Here is the formula you'll use to calculate your email CTR:"]},{"component":"p","children":[{"component":"strong","children":["Total number of clicks ÷ Total delivered emails x 100 = CTR"]}]},{"component":"p","children":["So, if you sent an email to 200 subscribers and 25 of them clicked on a link, your CTR is 12.5%."]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"how-to-improve-your-email-ctr"},"children":["How to improve your email CTR"]},{"component":"p","children":["If your email CTR is at least 2.62%, you're on track with the average across all industries. You should always be trying to improve your CTR, though, because the higher that number is, the more engaged your subscribers are."]},{"component":"p","children":["Fortunately, improving your CTR doesn't have to be complicated. If you're not sure where to start, take these seven steps to improve your email CTR."]},{"component":"h3","children":["1. Improve your open rates."]},{"component":"p","children":["Your ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/improve-email-open-rate/"},"children":["email open rate"]}," and your CTR go hand in hand, because if you can't get your subscribers to open your emails, they won't click on any of your links. So, improving your open rates is a good place to start."]},{"component":"p","children":["One of the best ways to ensure subscribers open your emails is to modify the sender name and subject line. Instead of using your company name as the sender, why not try using a specific individual's name?"]},{"component":"p","children":["Using a personal name may seem like a minor detail, but it can make a big difference. Studies have found that ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://www.pinpointe.com/blog/best-email-send-from-address-name-or-company","target":"_blank","rel":"noopener"},"children":["using a personal name can increase open rates by up to 35%"]},"."]},{"component":"p","children":["Your headline is another significant factor in whether or not customers open your emails. Shorter subject lines could improve your open rates. "]},{"component":"p","children":["Here are a few other tips to ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/email-subject-lines/"},"children":["improve your subject lines"]},":"]},{"component":"ul","children":[{"component":"li","children":["Personalize the subject line with the subscriber's first name."]},{"component":"li","children":["Don't ask questions. Subject lines that end with a question mark have lower open rates."]},{"component":"li","children":["Don't use emojis in the subject line; this could be off-putting to many people."]}]},{"component":"h3","children":["2. Optimize your emails for mobile."]},{"component":"p","children":["An estimated ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-stats","target":"_blank","rel":"noopener"},"children":["46% of all emails are opened on a mobile device"]},", and the number of people using desktop computers continues to decline every year."]},{"component":"p","children":["So, if you're wondering why you don't have a higher CTR, you should see if your emails are ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/how-to-optimize-mobile-experience/"},"children":["optimized for mobile devices"]},". If the email design isn't responsive or the text is hard to read, you're likely losing out on clicks."]},{"component":"p","children":["One of the easiest ways to ensure that your emails are optimized for mobile is to use a predesigned template. Email marketing software providers such as ConvertKit and Campaign Monitor offer a wide selection of mobile-responsive templates."]},{"component":"p","children":["Even if you use a mobile-responsive template, it's a good idea to preview your email on various devices, which should include both iOS and Android devices, before sending it."]},{"component":"h3","children":["3. Make your emails scannable."]},{"component":"p","children":["Most people do not fully read online articles, blog posts and emails. Instead, they scan the text for the most relevant information. So, you want to make sure your emails are easily scannable."]},{"component":"p","children":["The ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/how-to-write-email-marketing-campaign/"},"children":["easier your emails are to read"]},", the less likely a subscriber is to get bored and delete the email as soon as they open it. Scannable emails also make it easier for readers to find and follow your CTA."]},{"component":"p","children":["The best way to make your emails scannable is to make your sentences short and include lots of white space. Don't make paragraphs longer than one or two sentences, since large text blocks are hard to read."]},{"component":"p","children":["It can help to include bullet points and lists wherever possible. Also, don't make your email too long, because some subscribers will lose interest."]},{"component":"h3","children":["4. Stick with one CTA."]},{"component":"p","children":["As a business owner, you might have multiple products and services you're trying to promote to your audience. That's why some companies include dozens of links in the emails they send to their subscribers."]},{"component":"p","children":["But too many links can overwhelm your subscribers. Businesses that pared their emails down to ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2015/06/10/digital-marketing-stats","target":"_blank","rel":"noopener"},"children":["a single CTA increased their CTR by 371%"]},". If you give your subscribers too many options, decision fatigue sets in, and they do nothing."]},{"component":"p","children":["So, if you have multiple CTAs within the same email, that's probably contributing to your low CTR. Instead, try to use one CTA that fits in well with the email content. Relevant, personalized content will make all the difference in converting your subscribers into customers."]},{"component":"h3","children":["5. Use a button instead of a link for your CTA."]},{"component":"p","children":["Another simple way to increase your CTR is to use an HTML button instead of a hyperlink for your CTA. However, make sure you're using bulletproof buttons, which are buttons you code into your email. They don't technically count as images, so if some of your subscribers have turned email images off, your button will still show up."]},{"component":"p","children":["You can use email marketing software to create bulletproof buttons that will look great on all devices. If bulletproof buttons don't work for you and you want to stick with hyperlinks, another option is to change your text links to a brighter font color, making them stand out more to your subscribers."]},{"component":"h3","children":["6. Personalize your emails."]},{"component":"p","children":["If you want to see more results from your email campaigns, you must incorporate personalization. Endless studies have shown that ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/benefit-of-email-personalization/"},"children":["personalized emails have the highest click-through rates"]},"."]},{"component":"p","children":["Personalization goes beyond using the subscriber's first name. It's about delivering timely, relevant offers to your audience based on their interests and where they are in the customer journey."]},{"component":"p","children":["One of the best ways to use personalization to increase your CTR is by creating dynamic offers. A dynamic offer is customized to your audience based on their demographics, interests and stage in the customer journey."]},{"component":"p","children":["For instance, let's say you run an e-commerce store that sells clothing. An example of a dynamic offer would be showing women's clothes to your female subscribers and men's clothes to your male subscribers."]},{"component":"p","children":["Your subscribers aren't all interested in the same thing, so you shouldn't be sending them the exact same offers. ",{"component":"Link","props":{"href":"https://www.business.com/articles/segment-email-list-for-better-engagement/"},"children":["Segmenting your audience"]}," allows you to send information that's relevant to them."]},{"component":"h3","children":["7. Utilize A/B split testing."]},{"component":"p","children":["If you're new to email marketing, it might feel pretty overwhelming at first. To make it easier, you could pick one point outlined in this article and set up an A/B split test for that element of your email campaign."]},{"component":"p","children":["Your email marketing service should make it easy to split-test the following:"]},{"component":"ul","children":[{"component":"li","children":["Email subject line"]},{"component":"li","children":["Email content"]},{"component":"li","children":["Images"]},{"component":"li","children":["CTA text"]},{"component":"li","children":["Buttons vs. hyperlinks"]}]},{"component":"p","children":["A good place to start is to split-test two different CTAs to see which one performs better. You could also test different buttons to see if a particular color works better with your audience."]},{"component":"p","children":["There are many ways to improve your email CTR, and in all likelihood, you'll have to spend a lot of time testing and tracking your results. But over time, this will give you a better understanding of your audience so you can create emails and offers that create more value for them."]}]},"resource":null,"sponsorship":{"sponsorType":"no-sponsor","name":null,"thumbnail":null,"bio":null,"slug":null,"status":null,"social":{"website":null,"linkedin":null,"twitter":null,"facebook":null}},"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/content/602/3ffd65a215e840a8b4567/1500-0-","caption":"dima_sidelnikov / Getty Images","isBlurred":false},"bestPicks":{"title":"The Best Email Marketing Services and Survey Software of 2021","widgetSection":{"__typename":"SectionWidget","widget":{"widgetId":"10123"}},"bestPicksSection":{"__typename":"SectionBestPicks","bestpicks":[{"fullTitle":"Best Overall Email Marketing Service","bullets":["Free trial","Detailed analytics tools","Unlimited emails "],"isFeaturedBestPick":false,"isJumpLink":true,"tabTitle":"Best Overall","review":{"isReview":false,"adsense":false,"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/constant-contact/","review":{"fullReview":"Constant Contact is our pick as the best overall email marketing service – it has everything a small business needs to create effective campaigns, with affordable plans and easy-to-use tools. You can send an unlimited number of emails, and prices are based on the number of subscribers on your contact list. Its email editor is very simple to use, and when we sent emails with Constant Contact, they went to the right inboxes.
\r\nView all of our recommendations for email marketing services on our best picks page.
\r\nEditor's note: Looking for the right email marketing service for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.
\r\n\r\nConstant Contact has two plans, Email and Email Plus, that can fit into the budgets of most small businesses. Additionally, Constant Contact offers a 60-day free trial.
\r\nBoth plans have everything you need to create professional email campaigns. With each plan, you can send unlimited emails. Each plan comes with customizable templates, contact management and list-building tools, pop-up forms, tracking and reporting features, an image library and a mobile app.
\r\nThe difference between the two plans is that Email Plus offers dynamic signup forms, 2GB of file storage, access for up to 10 users, email automation, event marketing, online donations, plus surveys and coupons. Here's more that you should know about Constant Contact's pricing:
\r\nConstant Contact has an array of tools that make it easy to create eye-catching, appealing email marketing campaigns. Here's what we liked about Constant Contact.
\r\nWith Constant Contact's A/B testing feature, you create two different subject lines that are each sent to a portion of your contact list. The software determines the better-performing subject line and automatically sends the winner to the rest of your audience.
\r\nWith Constant Contact's autoresponders, you can create a series of personalized, automated emails that will be sent automatically based on certain triggers. You can automate emails such as welcome messages to new subscribers, and birthday and anniversary emails to existing customers.
\r\nConstant Contact boasts a 97% deliverability rate. The company also offers resources on its website where you can learn about email best practices and phrases that may trigger spam filters.
\r\nWhen you click \"Create Email,\" you have the choice to add your website. If you select that option, Constant Contact scrubs your website to find your brand's colors, logo and social media accounts, then adding them to the email. Next, you pick a template and edit it using the drag-and-drop tools. If you aren't sure how to use the email editor, a video automatically plays when you're in the editor for the first time. When we used Constant Contact's email editor, we created and sent an email in less than 10 minutes. The emails we sent hit the right inboxes, not the \"spam\" or \"promotions\" folder.
\r\nConstant Contact has dozens of templates in its library. Each template is reusable and built for both desktop and mobile. Once you pick a template, you can customize it with your own images as well as your brand's colors and fonts.
\r\nYou can upload your existing contacts with Excel, Outlook and Salesforce. When you upload new contacts, you can use tags to categorize them, such as \"VIP donor\" and \"prospect.\" Constant Contact automatically removes duplicates and unsubscribed contacts for you so you don't have to manually manage your lists.
\r\nOnce you send emails out, you can immediately view reports from the campaign. Statistics include open rates, click rates, the number of emails sent, bounces, successful deliveries, unsubscribes, spam reports, and did not opens. You can also view what links are clicked, social media statistics and poll responses. In this dashboard, you have the option to resend an email.
\r\nWe found a lot of positives to Constant Contract. Among the benefits that stood out most to us include:
\r\nThere were a couple of potential drawbacks to be aware of. Here are some limitations of Constant Contact.
\r\nConstant Contact has a variety of resources to help you. Along with its extensive knowledgebase and videos, it offers chat and phone support. When we reached out, Constant Contact's representative was helpful and not at all pushy, and answered all of our questions.
"},"url":"https://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp","docType":"service","title":"Constant Contact","thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rev/prod/ce/1317-constant-contact-box.jpg"},"pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":true,"primary":true,"selected":"affiliate-widget","widgetId":"10123","widget":{"id":"10123","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=310&aff_id=1000&source=best-email-marketing-services&aff_sub4=revenue|QT&aff_sub3=deal|Endurance&url_id=1","name":"QT Program"}}}},{"fullTitle":"Best Low Cost Email Marketing Service","bullets":["Free plan with 250 emails/month","Unlimited subscribers","Build your own emails"],"isFeaturedBestPick":false,"isJumpLink":true,"tabTitle":"Best Low Cost","review":{"isReview":false,"adsense":false,"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/benchmark-email/","review":{"fullReview":"When looking for an email marketing service, it's important to find one that offers all the tools and features you need at a price point that makes sense for your business. Benchmark is our best pick for a low-cost email marketing service because it has a wide range of plans to suit the budget of any small business. Benchmark also boasts key automation features to make your email campaigns more efficient and effective, as well as responsive templates and an easy-to-use email editor.
\r\nEditor's note: Looking for the right email marketing service for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.
\r\n\r\nA standout benefit of Benchmark is the selection of service plans it offers. The plans are based on the number of subscribers your business has. All plans include a simple drag-and-drop email editor, responsive templates, signup forms, basic drip campaigns, RSS email campaigns, email delivery management, Google Analytics tracking, list management and segmentation, list hygiene, reports, surveys and polls, unlimited video storage, and 10MB of free image gallery storage. All plans also offer multiple integrations, including ones with social media, e-commerce, email templates and existing contact lists.
\r\nHere is a breakdown of Benchmark's pricing and terms:
\r\nAdd-ons are available with any plan. For instance, the list verification add-on ensures you have the highest-quality subscribers and deliverability. This feature is an extra $3 per month for every 1,000 subscribers.
\r\nFor an extra $5 a month, you can upgrade from basic storage to unlimited storage for image hosting. You also have the option, for $28.95 per month, to add a dedicated IP, which gives you more control of your sending reputation and delivery to inboxes.
\r\nTo see how your email campaigns will look on any device on every browser, you can add inbox checkers for an extra $14 per month for 100 tests. Benchmark doesn't offer a free trial, but you can try out its free version before upgrading to a paid account.
\r\nBenchmark has a vast set of features and tools that anyone can use to create successful and attractive email campaigns.
\r\nYou can compare campaigns to determine which one performs the best. For instance, you can test two different subject lines and send the highest performer to the remaining subscribers. A/B testing is also available for delivery times; Benchmark will determine when your subscribers are most likely to open your email campaigns.
\r\nBenchmark has an extensive list of attractive and customizable templates for different industries, holidays and email types. Once you pick a template, it's simple to customize it with your brand's colors, photos and logo.
\r\nBenchmark offers different features that make it simple for any marketer to create an eye-catching email. The drag-and-drop editor allows you to create emails from a layout or template, so you can deliver a professional and attractive newsletter even if you lack graphic design experience. All you have to do is drag and drop feature blocks and images into place.
\r\nThe tools to create automatic responses, surveys and polls are also very user-friendly. Each takes you through the process step by step. You can edit your images by adding effects, stickers or a message over your photo. Even if you're new to mass-email software, you can easily create successful email campaigns.
\r\nThe code editor is for individuals who want to do their own coding. You can write your own HTML or copy and paste from another source. With the plain text editor, you also have the option to create text-only emails with no images or formatting options. If you're good at HTML, you can build your own email from scratch or edit the HTML of a template. You can use the dual view to see the design of the email while you're still editing it.
\r\nBefore you send out your email, you can preview it in Firefox, Internet Explorer and Chrome. Along with web-based previews and Window and Mac OS inboxes, you can see how it will appear on mobile devices.
\r\nBenchmark works with more than 300 other applications, including WordPress, Facebook, Google, Shopify, Slack, Etsy and Salesforce. With the WordPress plugin, you can build an email list directly on your WordPress website and send email versions of your blog posts. With Facebook, you can put Benchmark's email signup form on your business's page to allow visitors to subscribe to your emails without leaving Facebook.
\r\nAlong with attractive emails and effective drip campaigns, building your list of contacts is critical to successful email campaigns. To get users to subscribe, you can put Benchmark's popup and embeddable email signup forms on your website, blog or social networks.
\r\nThe list management tool allows you to segment, import and integrate your contact lists. You can segment your lists by demographics, likes and dislikes, or geolocation to send the most appropriate content to each customer.
\r\nYou can add contacts to your list one at a time by copying and pasting in email addresses, or in bulk by importing XLS, CSV and TXT files. Benchmark integrates with a lot of third-party applications, which makes it easy to upload your existing lists from other services. When you input contacts, you can also enter a lot of information about each one – including their address, phone number and important dates like their birthday – to build comprehensive customer profiles. This information is particularly handy for drip campaigns.
\r\nWith contact list automation, you can automatically send emails based on each contact's information, like a birthday discount or other event-based email. You can also automate actions based on customers' opens and clicks in email campaigns.
\r\nBenchmark's Marketing Automation Pro gives you the ability to send out automated email series triggered by website and email engagement. With this tool, you can easily design a customer journey and not worry about sending follow-up emails.
\r\nMarketing Automation Pro works by allowing you to pick a trigger, such as when a customer subscribes and is added to your contact list. Then Benchmark sends the email you chose – in this case, a welcome email. It will then follow up at the optimal time, usually a couple days later.
\r\nBenchmark allows you to create multiple automated journeys for your customers. You can use one of its marketing automation templates or create your own. Its featured templates include welcome messages for new subscribers, promotions that target follow-ups based on opens or clicks, and feedback requests.
\r\nOnce you send your email, you can immediately view a report that shows the total numbers of recipients, opens, clicks, bounces and unsubscribes. The report graphs the data in a way that's easy to understand. This dashboard shows your campaign's link performance, displaying the URLs clicked and a click map. You can also view opens by geolocation of customers.
\r\nAs one of our best picks, Benchmark offers considerable benefits. These are some we found especially valuable.
\r\nThe only problem we had with Benchmark was that our emails sometimes landed in spam folders. However, we sent emails from a personal Gmail account, which are less credible than emails sent from a company or business domain. When you select a personal email as the \"from\" address, Benchmark warns you that using a personal or general ISP email address like Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook hurts delivery rates.
\r\nWe were pleased with Benchmark's customer support. The representatives were prompt and courteous when we spoke over live chat, answering all our questions. You can contact Benchmark by phone, live chat or email.
"},"url":"http://www.benchmarkemail.com","docType":"service","title":"Benchmark Email","thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5e57ce1f5a215e18688b4585/benchmark_logo.png"},"pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":true,"primary":true,"selected":"affiliate","widgetId":null,"widget":null,"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=294&aff_id=1000&source=best-email-marketing-services&aff_sub4=revenue|Affiliate&aff_sub3=deal|Benchmark&url_id=1","name":"Benchmarkemail"}}}},{"fullTitle":"Best Free Email Marketing Software","bullets":["Popular \"Forever Free\" plan","12,000 monthly emails","Customizable templates "],"isFeaturedBestPick":false,"isJumpLink":true,"tabTitle":"Best Free","review":{"isReview":false,"adsense":false,"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/mailchimp/","review":{"fullReview":"Mailchimp is our pick for the best free email marketing service. When you're looking for an email marketing service, it's important to find one that has a range of tools that make creating successful and professional email marketing campaigns simple and easy. You want a service with an easy-to-use email editor, the capability to create segmented lists and drip campaigns, which are pre-written messages sent to customers in a series of emails. Other key features to look for include contact management tools, detailed reports and analytics, A/B split-testing tools, spam filters that ensure your email lands in customer inboxes, and automated workflows. The best email marketing services offer a free plan or at least a free trial so you can test out the platform first before spending valuable marketing dollars. Mailchimp checks all of these boxes.
\r\n\r\n
Editor's note: Looking for the right email marketing service for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.
\r\n\r\nMailchimp offers multiple plans that can fit into the budget of nearly any business. Each plan includes multiuser accounts, Mailchimp's extensive knowledgebase, marketing automation, target and segmented lists, as well as analysis and testing features. Besides creating and sending email campaigns, users can create landing pages, pop-up forms, Google Remarketing Ads, and Facebook and Instagram ads with any plan.
\r\nHere is a breakdown of Mailchimp's plans and what they offer:
\r\nHere are some of Mailchimp's best features.
\r\nWith A/B testing, you can determine what subject lines are the most effective, what name should be in your \"From\" field, and if different times affect the click rate. Mailchimp's A/B testing lets you determine the size of your sample group and build three different versions. It sends the winning email to the remainder of your contact list.
\r\nEven with the Forever Free plan, you get a good set of metrics. The Reports dashboard informs you who opened your email, what links they clicked, what emails bounced and who unsubscribed. The reports also document successful deliveries, the number of forwards, clicks per unique opens and spam complaints. Mailchimp tracks subscribers with the most opens and the social performance of your campaigns; the numbers and reports are outlined in graphs, which makes understanding the data simple.
\r\nWith Mailchimp's marketing automation tools, your emails get to the right people at the right time. You can target campaigns to contacts based on behaviors and preferences. When you create automated campaigns, you can pick from pre-designed workflows or build your own with custom rules. Mailchimp's automations include a welcome series, a happy birthday email and notifications for new blog updates. Others are available based on subscriber activity, e-commerce workflows and more.
\r\nWith Mailchimp, you can create Google, Facebook or Instagram ads. You can also create mobile-friendly landing pages. Mailchimp has two versatile landing page templates that you then modify to create and publish landing pages.
\r\nMailchimp's email editor is simple. To get started, you can begin with a basic layout, themed template or code your own email. Its responsive templates and designs are created for all devices, including desktop and mobile. With the email editor, you can personalize the \"To\" field with each contact's first name, last name, or both. You then set how the sender will be listed and what the subject line will be with your email. When it comes to the design of your email, drag-and-drop tools make it simple to customize every aspect of the template: text, dividers, images, videos, social shares and social follows. You can also add frequently used pictures, such as logos, to your image gallery so it's easy to quickly find and insert pictures. Before sending your email, Mailchimp scans it for any errors that could cause it to land in a spam folder. You also have the option to share your campaign on both Facebook and Twitter.
\r\nMailchimp integrates with several applications, including hundreds of e-commerce apps like Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, PrestaShop and BigCommerce. By integrating Mailchimp with your e-commerce store, you can capture order information, create targeted campaigns, automate follow-ups and send personalized notifications.
\r\nMailchimp Pro is an add-on with advanced features. It costs $199 per month (sorry, Pro cannot be used with the Forever Free plan) and for that monthly fee, you get more list segmentation options, additional list fields and TimeWarp. With the regular Mailchimp, you are allowed 30 list fields; Pro users, however, have access to 50 more fields. These extra fields let you personalize and target your campaign content. TimeWarp schedules delivery of email campaigns based on subscribers' time zone. Another thing that's unique about Mailchimp Pro versus the other plans is greater flexibility with A/B split testing. For instance, you can preview your email and see exactly what it will look like in different email clients and on different devices. While regular Mailchimp plans come with A/B testing, the Pro add-on includes a more robust version that lets you test multiple variables to see how various changes affect different aspects of your campaigns. Finally, Mailchimp Pro provides better analytics, including comparative reports, compliance insights, delivery insights and stop delivery.
\r\nThere are a number of benefits to using Mailchimp, including:
\r\nThere are a couple of items to be aware of with Mailchimp. Here's what you need to know before signing up:
\r\nMailchimp offers online resources and a contact form available on its website. And while live chat isn't available with free accounts, when we reached out to Mailchimp through email, we received a response the next day. The representative answered all our questions and wasn't pushy. When you sign up with the free plan, you have access to email support for the first 30 days. After that, if you need one-on-one help, you can always browse through Mailchimp's guides and tutorials. And if you decide you want more features with your emails, Mailchimp's paid plans are very reasonable and still easy to use.
"},"url":"https://mailchimp.com/","docType":"service","title":"Mailchimp","thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5e57cfb59c658ad22c8b4588/mailchimp_logo.png"},"pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10123","widget":{"id":"10123","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"https://mailchimp.com/","name":""}}}},{"fullTitle":"Best Email Marketing Service for Larger Businesses","bullets":["Pay for what you use","Unlimited contacts","Contact segmentation"],"isFeaturedBestPick":false,"isJumpLink":true,"tabTitle":"Best for Larger Businesses","review":{"isReview":false,"adsense":false,"canonical":"https://staging.business.com/reviews/sendinblue/","review":{"fullReview":"When you're looking for an email marketing service for a large business, it's important to find one that has the tools to make creating professional email marketing campaigns simple and easy. You want a service with an easy-to-use email editor and the capability to create segmented lists as well as drip campaigns.
\r\nSendinblue is our pick for the best email marketing service for larger businesses, because its multiple pricing plans make it easy for enterprise companies to get great email marketing at reasonable prices. It also offers automation features to make your email marketing more efficient, round-the-clock support and GDPR compliance.
\r\nView all our recommendations for email marketing services on our best picks page.
\r\n\r\n
Editor's note: Looking for the right email marketing service for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.
\r\n\r\nSendinblue offers five different pricing plans, starting with a free plan and going up to enterprise. Here is a detailed breakdown of each plan:
\r\nSendinblue offers an easy-to-use drag-and-drop email editor with predesigned templates and the ability to create your own templates from scratch.
\r\nThe editor makes it easy to add custom touches to every email with dynamic personalization features. This helps boost engagement and create return customers.
\r\nSendinblue allows you to segment your contacts into groups based on criteria such as age, gender, geolocation and behavior to ensure you send the right emails to the right recipients.
\r\nWith A/B testing, you can determine what subject lines are the most effective, what name should be in your \"from\" field, and if different send times affect the click rate. Sendinblue's A/B tests let you determine the size of your sample groups and build multiple variations, and Sendinblue will send the winning email to the remainder of your contact list.
\r\nSendinblue's marketing automation tools ensure your emails get to the right people at the right time. You can target contacts based on behaviors and preferences. When you create automated campaigns, you can pick from predesigned workflows or build your own with custom rules. Some options for automated campaigns are a welcome series for new email subscribers, birthday emails and notifications for blog updates. Others are available based on subscriber activity, e-commerce workflows and more.
\r\nSendinblue offers easy setup with a CRM to help you manage your customer relationships. The CRM centralizes all of your contacts' information, automatically organizes the information for more effective communication, and allows you to set tasks, assign them to members of your team and set deadlines.
\r\nYou can increase efficiency and save time by setting up workflows based on customer information and behavior. By setting triggered emails, you can automatically send signup forms or welcome emails to new customers, or you can go advanced and create custom workflows for each customer.
\r\nSendinblue makes it easy to set up and send transactional emails by providing different setup options, including API, SMTP Relay, e-commerce plugins and marketing automation. You can customize the types of email you want, and monitor your emails' success rate with engagement and deliverability statistics.
\r\nYou can grow your contact list with embedded signup forms in your emails, and foster a more targeted visitor experience by creating dedicated landing pages for each of your unique campaigns.
\r\nSendinblue offers several advantages that made it one of our best picks. These are some aspects that make it particularly useful.
\r\nDespite its many benefits, there are a few potential issues that large businesses should be aware of before moving forward with Sendinblue.
\r\nSendinblue offers multiple help pages, online tutorials and FAQs, and an online submission form and phone number for technical help. When we reached out to the company, we spoke to a friendly and helpful representative who answered our questions and was not pushy in trying to sell us on the software.
"},"url":"https://www.sendinblue.com/","docType":"service","title":"Sendinblue","thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/rz/5e57cf279c658ad02c8b4579/sendinblue_logo.png"},"pricing":{"isCapped":false,"isFeatured":false,"primary":true,"selected":"widget","widgetId":"10123","widget":{"id":"10123","cta":"Compare Quotes","isExclusive":false},"affiliate":{"cta":"Visit Site","link":"https://www.sendinblue.com/","name":""}}}}]}}},"related":{"relatedArticles":[{"title":"What E-Commerce Retailers Need to Know About COVID-19's Impact on Business","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/corona-virus-impact-on-ecommerce-retailers/","slug":"corona-virus-impact-on-ecommerce-retailers","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5eb/45a825a215e003f8b4572/1500-0-","dek":"What are the affects and influences of the Coronavirus outbreak on eCommerce businesses?","lastModified":"2020-05-07T23:13:00Z","published":"2020-05-07T23:13:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"How to Reduce Abandoned E-Commerce Carts With Email Marketing","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/recover-abandoned-carts/","slug":"recover-abandoned-carts","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5f4/681a89c658a183b8b4567/1500-0-","dek":"Learn how to use email marketing to recover e-commerce cart abandonment and increase sales.","lastModified":"2020-12-01T20:02:00Z","published":"2020-08-28T13:29:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"4 Best Social Media Strategy Tips for E-Commerce Businesses","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/social-media-strategy-tips-ecommerce/","slug":"social-media-strategy-tips-ecommerce","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5ff/8a7f25a215e26698b4567/1500-0-","dek":"Here are the top social media marketing tips e-commerce businesses can work with in 2021.","lastModified":"2021-01-11T21:30:00Z","published":"2021-01-11T21:30:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"Moving to E-Commerce: What You Need to Know","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/moving-to-e-commerce/","slug":"moving-to-e-commerce","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5f3/aa2665a215ecf4a8b4567/1500-0-","dek":"Between social distancing, economic variability and state closures, many businesses are increasingly turning to e-commerce as a way to stay afloat.","lastModified":"2020-08-17T16:27:00Z","published":"2020-08-17T16:27:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"How to Start an E-commerce Business: An Easy Guide to Getting Started","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/e-commerce-business-guide/","slug":"e-commerce-business-guide","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5ff/611695a215e66318b4567/1500-0-","dek":"E-commerce is growing at an unprecedented rate and is one of the most valuable industries now. This guide will inspire and guide you in starting your own e-commerce business.","lastModified":"2021-01-07T18:30:00Z","published":"2021-01-07T18:30:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"4 Reasons to Use E-commerce Personalization","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/use-ecommerce-personalization/","slug":"use-ecommerce-personalization","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5ed/bacb05a215eaf408b4574/1500-0-","dek":"Personalization is crucial to your success if you own an e-commerce business.","lastModified":"2020-06-08T13:00:00Z","published":"2020-06-08T13:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"5 Tips for Finding the Right Manufacturer","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/find-the-right-manufacturer/","slug":"find-the-right-manufacturer","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5dd/d7c4f5a215e316d8b456d/1500-0-","dek":"Learn how to choose a manufacturing partner for your e-commerce business.","lastModified":"2019-11-27T16:00:00Z","published":"2019-11-27T16:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"How to Develop a Solid E-Commerce Marketing Strategy","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/ecommerce-marketing-strategy/","slug":"ecommerce-marketing-strategy","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5fc/559f77b43747d0b8b4567/1500-0-","dek":"E-commerce is becoming a staple of many businesses, so it's important to have a digital marketing strategy that aligns with online selling.","lastModified":"2020-12-02T16:15:00Z","published":"2020-12-02T16:15:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"The 15 Best E-Commerce Marketing Tools","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/best-ecommerce-marketing-tools/","slug":"best-ecommerce-marketing-tools","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5fb/555837b437493458b4567/1500-0-","dek":"E-commerce marketing tools can help drive more traffic to your online store and increase conversions.","lastModified":"2020-11-24T14:51:00Z","published":"2020-11-24T14:51:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"What Is A/B Testing in Email?","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/a-b-testing-email-marketing/","slug":"a-b-testing-email-marketing","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/602/67f875a215e06318b4567/1500-0-","dek":"A/B testing lets you see which iterations of the same content get the most engagement from your target audience. This can help you boost your click-through and conversion rates.","lastModified":"2021-02-12T16:32:00Z","published":"2021-02-12T16:32:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"5 Ways to Generate More Money with Your Online Store","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/generate-more-money-with-online-store/","slug":"generate-more-money-with-online-store","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5fe/952855a215e171b8b4567/1500-0-","dek":"It is more important than ever to find ways to make more money from your e-commerce site.","lastModified":"2020-12-28T16:00:00Z","published":"2020-12-28T16:00:00Z","sponsored":false},{"title":"4 Warning Signs Your E-commerce Idea Is Failed From the Start","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/bad-ecommerce-business-idea-warning-signs/","slug":"bad-ecommerce-business-idea-warning-signs","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5bd/07fcb1039ebe84f8b456d/1500-0-","dek":"If the market doesn't exist for your e-commerce idea, you'll never get it off the ground.","lastModified":"2018-10-24T12:01:00Z","published":"2018-10-24T12:01:00Z","sponsored":false}],"relatedReviews":[],"relatedSponsoredArticles":null}},"pageContext":{"displayModified":"2021-02-11T16:00:00.000Z","template":"long_form","title":"What Is CTR in Email?","meta":{"robots":"index, follow"},"docType":"articles","slug":"email-marketing-click-through-rate","canonical":"https://staging.business.com/articles/email-marketing-click-through-rate/","skipTOC":true}},"staticQueryHashes":[]}