Email Conversion Rate is a critical metric in digital marketing that measures the percentage of recipients who complete a desired action after receiving your email. Unlike Open Rates (which measure interest) or Click-Through Rates (which measure engagement), the Conversion Rate measures the ultimate effectiveness of your campaign in driving business goals—whether that's a purchase, a whitepaper download, or a webinar registration.
How is it Calculated?
To calculate your email conversion rate accurately, you first need to determine the number of Delivered Emails. This is done by subtracting bounced emails from the total number of emails sent.
The standard formula is:
Conversion Rate (%) = (Number of Conversions / Number of Delivered Emails) × 100
Key Metrics Definitions
Delivered Emails: Total Sent minus Total Bounces. This represents the actual audience size that had the opportunity to see your email.
Open Rate: The percentage of delivered emails that were opened.
CTR (Click-Through Rate): The percentage of delivered emails that resulted in a click on a link.
CTOR (Click-to-Open Rate): The percentage of opened emails that resulted in a click. This indicates the effectiveness of the content specifically for those who viewed it.
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): The total cost of the campaign divided by the number of conversions.
What is a Good Email Conversion Rate?
Benchmarks vary significantly by industry, but generally, a "good" email conversion rate hovers between 1% and 5%.
B2B Industries: Often see slightly lower conversion rates due to longer sales cycles, but higher value per conversion.
E-commerce: May see higher rates, especially for abandoned cart recovery emails or flash sales.
Newsletters: Typically have lower direct conversion rates compared to promotional emails.
3 Tips to Improve Your Conversion Rate
Segment Your List: Sending the same email to everyone rarely works. Segment your audience based on past behavior, demographics, or purchase history to ensure relevance.
Optimize Your CTA: Your Call-to-Action button should be prominent, use action-oriented verbs (e.g., "Get My Free Guide" vs "Submit"), and stand out visually from the rest of the email.
Mobile Optimization: With over 50% of emails being opened on mobile devices, ensure your landing page and email template are fully responsive. If a user clicks but can't navigate the landing page, you lose the conversion.
function calculateEmailMetrics() {
// 1. Get input values
var sent = parseFloat(document.getElementById('ecr_sent').value);
var bounced = parseFloat(document.getElementById('ecr_bounced').value);
var opened = parseFloat(document.getElementById('ecr_opened').value);
var clicks = parseFloat(document.getElementById('ecr_clicks').value);
var conversions = parseFloat(document.getElementById('ecr_conversions').value);
var cost = parseFloat(document.getElementById('ecr_cost').value);
// Default to 0 if inputs are empty/NaN
if (isNaN(sent)) sent = 0;
if (isNaN(bounced)) bounced = 0;
if (isNaN(opened)) opened = 0;
if (isNaN(clicks)) clicks = 0;
if (isNaN(conversions)) conversions = 0;
if (isNaN(cost)) cost = 0;
// 2. Validation
if (sent = sent) {
alert("Bounced emails cannot equal or exceed sent emails.");
return;
}
// 3. Perform Calculations
var delivered = sent – bounced;
// Delivery Rate
var deliveryRate = (delivered / sent) * 100;
// Open Rate (Opens / Delivered)
var openRate = (opened / delivered) * 100;
// Click-Through Rate (Clicks / Delivered)
var ctr = (clicks / delivered) * 100;
// Click-to-Open Rate (Clicks / Opens) – avoid divide by zero
var ctor = 0;
if (opened > 0) {
ctor = (clicks / opened) * 100;
}
// Conversion Rate (Conversions / Delivered)
var conversionRate = (conversions / delivered) * 100;
// Cost Per Acquisition (Cost / Conversions)
var cpa = 0;
var cpaDisplay = "N/A";
if (conversions > 0) {
cpa = cost / conversions;
cpaDisplay = "$" + cpa.toFixed(2);
} else if (cost > 0) {
cpaDisplay = "No Conv.";
} else {
cpaDisplay = "$0.00";
}
// 4. Update UI
document.getElementById('res_conversion_rate').innerText = conversionRate.toFixed(2) + "%";
document.getElementById('res_delivery_rate').innerText = deliveryRate.toFixed(2) + "%";
document.getElementById('res_open_rate').innerText = openRate.toFixed(2) + "%";
document.getElementById('res_ctr').innerText = ctr.toFixed(2) + "%";
document.getElementById('res_ctor').innerText = ctor.toFixed(2) + "%";
document.getElementById('res_cpa').innerText = cpaDisplay;
// Show results
document.getElementById('ecr_results').style.display = "block";
}