Breaking Down Trade Show Email Marketing Metrics in HubSpot

Now that you’ve become a master of trade show email efficiency by utilizing pre-written trade show email templates and leveraging HubSpot’s email platform to send them, it’s time to take the next step: analyzing the email results. 

With so many metrics to look at, it can be hard to decipher whether or not the emails you sent were effective or not. 

We’re going to delve into each of the metrics given on HubSpot, explain why you should pay attention to each, how to set future KPIs based on the numbers, and how to take steps to improve the results.

6 Trade Show Email Metrics to Pay Attention To 

When analyzing the emails sent, you’re going to want to take a look at:

1. Open rate 
2. Click through rate
3. Unsubscribes 
4. Top clicked links/ click map
5. A/B test results 
6. Active vs inactive contacts

Below, I’ve briefly described each of the metrics, what they indicate specifically in regards to trade show email, and what steps can be taken to improve the results. 

1. Open Rate

Open rate is the percentage of contacts that clicked to open your email, out of the total number of contacts that the email was sent to. 

The average email open rate for manufacturing companies is 19.82%. 

How to Improve:

• Focus on crafting better subject lines.
• Utilize personalization tokens in the subject line.
• Get creative with preview text.

2. Click Through Rate

Click through rate is the percentage of contacts that clicked one or more links in your email out of the total number of contacts who opened the email. 

The average click through rate for manufacturing companies is 2.18%.

How to improve:

• Test the way links appear as CTAs.
• Focus on language that tells the reader why they should care, and take action to click.
• Make sure that you are not overwhelming your audience with many links to click.

3. Unsubscribes 

This metric is exactly what you think it is: the number of contacts who utilized the “unsubscribe from emails” link on the bottom of the email.

The average unsubscribe rate for manufacturing companies is 0.31%. Clicking to see what contacts unsubscribed from your emails can help give context to the numbers.  

If the unsubscribers are not good fit leads, competitors, or for some other reason not relevant to your company, it is normal to see them on the list. If you’re seeing a lot of good fit leads unsubscribing, it’s time to re-evaluate the strategy.

How to improve:

• Make sure information is helpful/relevant and not spammy.
• Do not send too frequently. 

4. Top Clicked Links and Click Map

These tools show which link garnered the most clicks and where the link was positioned in the email respectively. 

How to improve:

• Mimic successful link placement.
• Mimic resource sends similar to top clicked links.

5. A/B Test Results

This metric is not available for HubSpot Free or Starter users, but is available for Pro or Enterprise. When sending emails, A/B test for items such as subject line, link placement, button type, and so much more.

How to improve:

• Only test one thing per email.
• Apply results to future emails, to send better emails.
  
  

6. Active vs Inactive Contacts

This metric is not available for HubSpot Free or Starter users, but is available for Pro, Enterprise, and those with the Reporting Add-On. This shows the amount of contacts who have engaged with a set number of emails.This is a good indicator for if your emails are going largely ignored by your audience. It can also help inform if you’re sending too frequently.

Check out the video below to learn more about this metric, and how to set it up in HubSpot.

How to improve:

• Tailor emails and subject lines based on industry or pain point to create hyper-relevant touch points for each prospect. 

Where to Find Email Engagement Metrics In HubSpot

If you’re not sure where to find these metrics in HubSpot, check out this video. 

In addition to showing where each metric lives in the portal, I also give a quick tutorial on how to use the reporting tool (for HubSpot Marketing Pro, Enterprise, or Report Add-On users) to easily aggregate this data, and report on patterns.

So, Now What?

You’ve got the metrics you need to begin to formulate KPIs, and set goals for the correspondence for your next show. But, optimizing your email strategy for trade shows only scratches the surface of improving your overall lead capture and nurture efforts.

Trade show marketing strategies work best when combined with a full inbound marketing program to move your buyers through their journey and educate them on your company.

Learn more about how to adopt inbound marketing for your company here, or by clicking the button below and exploring our guide: