Email delivery statistics explained

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After an email is sent, you can view the Delivery Statistics page by clicking Review.  Here is an explanation of the basic information in that report.

Statistics

StatisticDescriptionRecipient OpensThe number (and percentage) of people who received the message who actually opened it.Recipient Click-ThroughsThe number (and percentage) of people who received the message and clicked at least one link in the message (for example, clicked a link to a donation form) -- even if they did not complete the action.Note: A person who clicks two or more links in the message is only counted once.Since some email clients display messages without requiring an open “action”, the number of Recipient Opens is automatically increased by one in the following situations:When a recipient clicks on a link in the message (without performing an actual “open” action).When the recipient requests the images in a message (without actually performing an “open” action).Recipient ActionsThe number (and percentage) of people who received the message and actually completed an action on the message (such as, made a donation, took an Action Alert, or submitted a Survey).Note: A person who completes more than one action is only counted once.The action, or target purpose, of an email can include:Taking an Advocacy Action AlertMaking an online donation to an Online Giving/Donation campaignPurchasing an eCommerce productRegistering as a constituent on your siteRegistering for a TeamRaiser eventRegistering for an Event that requires an RSVPPurchasing a ticket for an EventCompleting a SurveyForwarded OpensThe number of people who received a forwarded version of the message who opened it.You may see additional forwarded opens if recipients:Open their message a second time and their email client does not support cookies.Open their message in another email client.Forward their message to some other address and open it there.Note: There is no way to count the number of forwards unless some action has been taken on the email.Forwarded Click-ThroughsThe number of people receiving a forwarded version of the message who clicked at least one link in the message (even if they did not complete the action).Note: A person who clicks two or more links in the message is counted as a single click-through.  There is no way to count the number of forwards unless some action has been taken on the email.You may see additional forwarded click-throughs if:A recipient clicks the same link in another browser.A recipient’s browser does not store cookies.A recipient forwards the email and clicks it there.Forwarded ActionsThe number of people who received a forwarded version of the message and actually completed at least one action on the message (such as, made a donation, took an Action Alert, or submitted a Survey).Note: There is no way to count the number of forwards unless some action has been taken on the email.Total Recipients Forwarding via WebsiteThe number of times the forward page (Tell-a-Friend) has been used to forward the messageNote: If a recipient forwards to 3 different email addresses at the same time, it only counts as a single instance of forwarding; on the other hand, if the same recipient sends to another friend the following day, it will count as another instance of forwardingTotal RecipientsTotal number of people who received the message.Note: this should equal the Actual Usable Audience under the Audience Calculations section (see below).Total OpensTotal number of people who received either the original message, or a forwarded version of the message, and opened it.   Recipient Opens    Recipient Click-Throughs+ Recipient Forwarded Opens-------------------------------------------   Total OpensTotal Click-ThroughsTotal number of people who received either the original message, or a forwarded version of the message, who clicked at least one link in the message (for example, clicked a link to a donation form) even if they did not complete the action.Important: Here again, a person who clicks two or more links in the message is counted as a single click-through.Hard BouncesThe number of email messages that were returned as undeliverable because of an invalid email address.Soft BouncesThe number of email messages that were returned because of a temporary condition (such as a full mailbox, the email server was temporarily unavailable, and so on).Unsubscribes (Opt-Outs)The number of recipients who un-subscribed from email from the site by clicking a link in the email message.Total Messages Forwarded via WebsiteThe total number of email addresses that this message has been forwarded to; this statistic counts all forwards (using Tell-a-Friend) even if to the same address.

Audience Calculations

StatisticDescriptionInitial Group CountThe total number of usable email addresses in all of the Target Groups.  This should equal the sum of the Total count, not the sum of the Usable count.Target Group OverlapsThe total number of duplicate email addresses in all of the Target Groups and the Do Not Email groups.  They are not filtered out by the filters.Total Filtered OutThe total number of email addresses that filtered out by the Filters (see below).  This should equal the total of the Filters.Actual Usable AudienceRemoves the overlaps and filters from the group counts:  Inital Group Count- Target Group Overlaps- Total Filtered Out-------------------------------------  Actual Usable AudienceNote: this should equal the Total Recipients in the Statistics section (see above).

Target Groups

For each group, the total number of email addresses along with the total number of usable email addresses are displayed.  Usable email addresses include valied email addresses tha are not in Bad (Hard Bounce) status.

Note: these counts may differ from the counts when viewing the Group Information depending on the last build of the group.

Do Not Email Groups

For each group, the total number of email addresses along with the total number of usable email addresses are displayed.  Usable email addresses include valied email addresses tha are not in Bad (Hard Bounce) status.

Note: these counts may differ from the counts when viewing the Group Information depending on the last build of the group.

Filters

FilterDescriptionRecipients who do not accept email, have hard-bounced,are deceased orhave inactive contact records. This filter also can include recipients that have some other problem with their contact record such as an invalid email addressThis is a standard filter applied to the audience after the Target Overlaps are removed.  You do not have to filter out your groups via queries; this function will do it for you.Subscribers who have not been solicited.Filters out those audience members who have subscribed to this campaign BUT who have not yet received a message from it.Note: this applies to the entire campaign, not just the previous send of the email.Recipients who have received but not openedFilters out those audience members who have received a message from this campaign BUT who have not yet opened a message from it.Note: this applies to the entire campaign, not just the previous send of the email.Recipients who have opened but have not clicked throughFilters out those audience members who have received and opened a message from this campaign BUT who have not yet clicked through on any link.Note: this applies to the entire campaign, not just the previous send of the email.Recipients who have clicked through but have not completed an actionFilters out those audience members who have received, opened and clicked through on a message from this campaign BUT who have not yet taken action.Note: this applies to the entire campaign, not just the previous send of the email.Recipients who have completed an actionFilters out those audience members who have received, opened, clicked through and taken action based on a message from this campaign.Note: this applies to the entire campaign, not just the previous send of the email.

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Comments

  • Do Unsubscribes also count as Click Throughs?
  • Kent Gilliam
    Kent Gilliam Blackbaud Employee
    Ancient Membership 2500 Comments 100 Likes Name Dropper
    Alex Kwak:
    Do Unsubscribes also count as Click Throughs?

    I have always been told that Unsubscribes do not count as click-throughs. 

  • I see the list of Filters in this post, but it does not specify whether or not all of these filters are applied. I am trying to understand the details for a recent email blast: (4,914) (13,113) 4,599
    Audience Calculations
    Statistics derived from an audience calculation.
    22,626
    Initial Group Count:
    Group Overlaps:
    Total Filtered Out:
    Actual Usable Audience:

  • You can see the groups that were suppressed a little bit further down, in the "Do Not Email Groups" and "Filters Applied" sections. 

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