Since the beginning of hubsell we have managed a few thousand campaigns. Our customers have consistently achieved above average results. That is due to their expertise in the market, the knowledge we shared with them, and the versatility of our software.

In this post, I want to share with you the results our customers have achieved and give you an estimate of conversion metrics that you should shoot for.

Here is the structure of the blog post for reference:

Why measuring the metrics in your campaigns matters

Metrics to look out for and how to achieve them

• Open rate
• Bounce rate
• Reply rate
• Reply to demo ratio
• Demo to close ratio

Conclusion

In sales, measuring the effectiveness of cold outreach is paramount. So, you need software that collects and displays your data in a dashboard. A question I get from our customers is “Why is it important to have all those metrics measured?”. Amongst all the possible reasons, here are a few:

• to prove the effectiveness of your cold outreach
• to analyse what works and adjust accordingly
• to predict the path to the periodical goals

Having explained why you should measure your campaigns’ metrics, let’s now dissect each metric and give you goals to shoot for.

The open rate is an impactful metric because a small change can alter your results immensely (a 20% to 40% increase means double the opportunities).

To improve your open rate use dynamic placeholders, avoid spam-like subject lines and summarize the main message content in 60 characters for the subject line.

Recommended open rate: between 40 to 70% of emails sent; anything below is abnormal and should be fixed, anything above is welcomed but is usually an outlier.

Results of our customers: an average of 63% open rate; the highest was 99% and the lowest was 37%.

Avoid a high bounce rate because:

• it impacts your domain health lowering your inboxing rate over time
• every email bounced is a lost opportunity to reach that prospect and can cost you money (some companies charge bounced leads too, not us though)

To achieve a low bounce rate acquire better quality data curated and verified by trained people.

Recommended bounce rate: under 5% of emails sent; anything above is a bad sign and should be fixed as soon as possible.

Results of our customers: an average of 4% bounce rate; the highest was 9% and the lowest was 0.33%.

The number of replies can differ a lot between industries. But the more replies you get, the better. The more compelling and resonating your message is, the higher the likelihood of them replying.

Segmenting your market and personalising your message content will increase your reply rate (especially positive replies).

Recommended reply rate: between 15 to 30% of emails sent; anything below is a problem and should be fixed, anything above is welcomed but usually an outlier; positive replies should range from 0 to 7%.

Results of our customers: an average of 19% reply rate; the highest was 53% and the lowest was 4%; regarding positive replies, the average was 3%.

Another important metric is the reply to demo ratio since it indicates the amount of opportunities you generate. Of course, not all replies result in scheduled demos. However, if you did your targeting correctly and people show interest in your product, then it is hard to mess up the reply to demo ratio metric.

To increase your reply to demo ratio focus on nurturing your MQLs and smoothly leading the SQLs to schedule a demo.

Recommended reply to demo ratio: for every five non-negative replies you schedule one demo; anything worse should be looked at (some industries have lower conversions), anything better is welcomed but usually an outlier.

The demo to close ratio is important to track because it usually reveals your demo giving skills. That ratio is not only influenced by your demo giving skills, but also by the initial targeting and your follow-up expertise.

To improve the demo to close ratio you need to hone your negotiating and following-up skills. You also need to calibrate your aggressiveness to the qualified prospect.

Recommended demo to close ratio: for every four to six demos you close one deal; anything worse should be looked at (some industries have lower conversions), anything better is welcomed but usually an outlier.

Measuring the key metrics in your campaigns can make a huge difference in the potential of cold outreach for your company. In B2B, every small improvement due to optimizing a metric will have a snowballing effect in your bottom line. Here are the key takeaways from this post:

Measuring the metrics of your campaigns is important because it allows you to:

• see the results of your campaigns
• register what works and adjust accordingly
• predict the path to your quarterly goals

Recommended metrics for your campaigns

• open rate – 40 to 70%
• bounce rate – under 5%
• reply rate – 15 to 30%
• reply to demo ratio – every five replies schedule one demo
• demo to close ratio – every four to six demos close one deal