What Should An Email Performance Report Template Include
Based on the email reports created by marketers in Whatagraph, the most effective email campaign report templates follow a clear structure: context → performance → trends → breakdowns → insights → next actions.
This structure helps marketing teams move from raw metrics to clear, data-driven decisions, without spending hours building reports from scratch.
1. Reporting Context (Date Range, Comparisons, Goals)
Before analyzing any metrics, establish context.
Include:
- Reporting period (for example, monthly reporting)
- Comparison period (previous month or previous email campaign)
- Time elapsed versus goals
- High-level performance goals tied to engagement or revenue
Why it matters:
Stakeholders don’t want standalone numbers. They want to know whether performance is improving or declining. Context turns an email report into a true performance report.
2. Core Email Marketing KPIs (The Snapshot View)
This section gives stakeholders a quick, high-level view of email marketing performance.
Key metrics to include:
- Emails sent
- Open rate
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Conversion rate
- Bounce rate
- Unsubscribe rate
- Total clicks and unique clicks
- Subscriber or list growth
What these numbers tell you:
These KPIs show whether your email campaigns are reaching inboxes, engaging recipients, and driving action.
What to do with them:
Use these metrics to flag issues early—such as declining engagement or deliverability problems—before drilling into individual campaign performance.
3. Engagement and Deliverability Analysis
The best email marketing report templates go beyond surface-level key performance indicators.
Include:
- Hard and soft bounce rates
- Deliverability indicators
- Open and click trends over time
- Engagement changes by campaign or audience segment
What this tells you:
High bounce rates or falling open rates often point to list quality issues, deliverability challenges, or ineffective subject lines.
What to do next:
- Clean and segment your email list
- Adjust sending frequency
- Test subject lines and preview text
- Improve targeting by audience segments
4. Email Campaign Performance Breakdowns
This is where insights start replacing assumptions.
Include a campaign report table with:
- Campaign name
- Emails sent
- Opens and open rate
- Clicks and CTR
- Conversion rate
- Unsubscribe rate
- Bounce rate
Why this matters:
Campaign-level breakdowns reveal which email campaigns actually drive results and which ones need optimization.
Optimization angle:
Compare subject lines, CTAs, timing, and formats across campaigns to improve future performance.
5. Funnel Visualization (From Send to Conversion)
High-performing email analytics report templates visualize the journey, not just the outcomes.
Include an email funnel showing:
- Emails sent
- Opens
- Clicks
- Conversions
- Total conversion rate
What this tells you:
Funnels make it easy to spot drop-offs—whether they happen at the inbox, content, or conversion stage.
What to do if performance drops:
- Low opens → test subject lines and send times
- Low CTR → refine CTAs and email copy
- Low conversion rate → align email messaging with landing pages
6. Trend Analysis (Performance Over Time)
Static metrics don’t tell a story. Trends do.
Include time-based graphs for:
- Emails sent versus opens
- Opens versus clicks
- Click-through trends
- Subscriber growth over time
Why it matters:
Trend analysis helps marketing managers identify seasonality, campaign fatigue, and performance shifts tied to specific email campaigns.
7. Ecommerce-Specific Metrics (If Applicable)
For ecommerce brands, email marketing reports should directly connect to revenue.
Include:
- Email-attributed revenue
- Transactions
- Ecommerce conversion rate
- Average order value (AOV)
- Refunds
- Revenue per email campaign
Advanced breakdowns:
- Top-performing email campaigns by revenue
- Top products and product categories driven by email
- Email performance compared to other marketing channels
What this tells you:
This section proves return on investment and shows how email marketing supports overall marketing efforts.
Check out: eCommerce report template
8. Data Source Transparency
Professional email marketing reports clearly show where data comes from.
Include data sources such as:
- Email platforms like Mailchimp, HubSpot, or Klaviyo
- Google Analytics for conversions and ecommerce data
- CRM or marketing platform data when relevant
Why it matters:
Transparent data sources build trust with stakeholders and reduce confusion during reviews.
9. Actionable Insights and Recommendations (Non-Negotiable)
The best digital marketing reporting templates always include interpretation.
Include:
- A concise performance summary
- Key wins and risks
- Two to four concrete, data-backed recommendations
Examples:
- Optimize subject lines to improve open rate
- Improve CTAs to lift CTR
- Segment audiences to reduce unsubscribe rate
- Scale campaigns that drive conversions
This is where an email report becomes truly valuable.
