# Metrics Explained

Understand opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, and more.

SendBeam records a set of standard email engagement events for every email you send.
Understanding exactly what each metric measures — and where its limitations lie — helps you
interpret your reports accurately and avoid drawing the wrong conclusions from the numbers.

## Opens and machine opens

An **open** is recorded when a subscriber's email client loads the invisible
tracking pixel that SendBeam adds at the bottom of each email. Opens are counted once per
email: a subscriber opening the same email three times counts as one opened email. The
**Opened** figure on a campaign is therefore the number of recipients who opened
it.

### Machine opens

Security scanners, link checkers and Apple Mail's privacy protection fetch email content —
including tracking pixels — on behalf of the user, regardless of whether the email is actually
read. SendBeam treats an open as a **machine open** when it comes from a known
scanner or bot, or when it happens within seconds of the send — faster than a person could
open it. Machine opens are recorded but excluded from every open count and rate.

- Open rates are still an approximation: some real readers block images, and some automated fetches slip through.
- Click data is much less affected, making clicks the more reliable engagement signal.
- For audiences with heavy Apple Mail usage, treat click rate as your primary engagement KPI rather than open rate.

> The Reports page labels its open rate "machine opens excluded" so you know the filter is applied. The same filter applies to campaign pages and the email log.
> 

## Clicks

SendBeam tracks link clicks by rewriting every link in your email to pass through a short
redirect on `sendbeam.io`. When a subscriber clicks a link, the redirect logs the
event and immediately forwards them to the original destination.

- Clicks are counted once per email, so the **Clicked** figure is the number of recipients who clicked any link.
- A click also counts as an open, since the email must have been read.
- Clicks that look automated (security scanners following every link) are excluded in the same way as machine opens.

> Merge tags are resolved before links are rewritten, so a link built from a custom field (for example a personalised landing page) is tracked like any other.
> 

## Bounces

A bounce occurs when an email cannot be delivered to the recipient's inbox. SendBeam receives
bounce notifications from the receiving mail servers automatically and distinguishes two types.

### Hard bounces

A hard bounce means permanent delivery failure — typically because the email address does not
exist, the domain is invalid, or the receiving mail server has blocked the address outright.
SendBeam sets the contact's status to **Bounced** and no campaign will send to
them again. Continuing to send to invalid addresses damages your sender reputation with inbox
providers, so leave them bounced or delete them.

### Soft bounces

A soft bounce is a temporary failure — the inbox is full, the receiving server is down, or the
message was too large. A soft bounce counts as a bounce in the email's status and in the
campaign's bounce figure, but it does not change the contact's status, so they are included in
future sends as normal.

> A bounce rate above 2% is considered high by most inbox providers, and SendBeam pauses a workspace's sending if its bounce or complaint rate crosses the pause level in the [Acceptable Use Policy](https://sendbeam.io/legal/acceptable-use). If your bounce rate spikes after importing a new list, stop and clean the list before continuing.
> 

## Unsubscribes

Every email SendBeam sends carries a one-click unsubscribe link. If your content includes the
`{{unsubscribe_url}}` merge tag the link goes where you put it;
otherwise SendBeam appends a plain "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom. Emails also carry the
`List-Unsubscribe` headers that let Gmail, Outlook and others show their own
unsubscribe button. When a subscriber unsubscribes, the following happens automatically:

1. The unsubscribe is counted against the campaign it came from.
2. The contact's status is changed to **Unsubscribed**. Status is workspace-wide, so this covers every list they belong to.
3. Campaigns no longer include the contact, whichever audience is chosen.
4. The subscriber sees a confirmation page.

Every unsubscribe link is signed for its recipient. A link without a valid signature — one
that has been altered, or copied from an email sent before links were signed — shows an
"invalid link" page instead of unsubscribing anyone.

A spam complaint has the same effect, with the status set to **Complained**, and
is included in the campaign's unsubscribed count. Contacts can also be unsubscribed by hand by
editing their status on the contact page.

## Rate formulas and benchmarks

SendBeam calculates its rates against the number of emails *sent*:

- **Delivered %** = (Delivered ÷ Sent) × 100
- **Open rate** = (Opened ÷ Sent) × 100, machine opens excluded
- **Click rate** = (Clicked ÷ Sent) × 100
- **Bounce rate** = (Bounced ÷ Sent) × 100
- **Unsubscribe rate** = (Unsubscribed ÷ Sent) × 100

Because the denominator is sent rather than delivered, open and click rates come out slightly
lower than tools that divide by delivered. Keep that in mind when comparing against published
benchmarks.

### Industry benchmarks

The following ranges are broad averages across industries. Your numbers may vary significantly
based on your audience, sending frequency, and content type.

| Metric | Below average | Average | Good |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Delivered | < 95% | 95–98% | > 98% |
| Open rate | < 15% | 20–30% | > 35% |
| Click rate | < 1% | 2–4% | > 5% |
| Unsubscribe rate | > 0.5% | 0.1–0.3% | < 0.1% |
| Bounce rate | > 2% | 0.5–1% | < 0.5% |

> The most reliable benchmark is your own historical average. Focus on improving your metrics relative to your previous campaigns rather than chasing industry numbers that may not reflect your audience or niche.
>

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Source: https://sendbeam.io/docs/analytics/metrics