What is click-through rate?
The click-through rate (CTR) represents the average number of times someone clicks on your email message’s links against the total amount of mail delivered. You can increase conversions and improve your digital marketing ROI with a good CTR. In digital marketing, the CTR formula is unique clicks divided by unique number of impressions (times 100).
To calculate your click-through rate:
- Total emails delivered = total emails sent – total emails bounced
- (Total number of clicks / total emails delivered) x 100 = CTR%
For example, a 5% conversion rate means for every 100 new subscribers, about 5 of them will use your call-to-action link.
A high CTR probably means your call-to-action is effective, you’re targeting engaged subscribers, and your email marketing campaign is sound.
When measuring CTR, you should consider using a single CTA. If you have different links, depending on your reporting tool, you may not know which one is getting clicks. Generally speaking, the CTR includes recipients who clicked at least one and doesn’t specify which one it is.
Because you can’t click a link without opening the email, open rates are an important metric. Make sure you’re meeting or, ideally, exceeding open rate benchmarks (somewhere around 20%, variable by industry).
What is a good CTR?
A good click-through rate is essential for both profitable ad campaigns and email marketing.
How do ads and email relate? To grow your email lists, you’ll need more traffic to your email opt-in page.
For online advertising, when you get high CTR consistently, you’ll know how much you can spend on user acquisition (also called cost per click or CPC). The average click-through rate is 2.5% to 3%, but benchmarks are different in other ad campaign types and sectors. Google Ads shows an average CTR of ~3.10% for search ads and ~0.45% for display ads.
In email marketing, CTR can sometimes reach 7% because an email list should already be an engaged target audience.
Remember, high click rates don’t always translate into actual conversions. It’s recommended to track CTR along with open rates, value per visit, and other performance metrics.
