This chapter will explain how to find and interpret all of the valuable data that can be found within LBGIE’s™ reports. With these reports, you will be able to see the number of subscribers who opened and read your messages, and the total, new, and repeat subscribers who clicked on the messages’ links. You will also find the number of people who unsubscribed after viewing a message, the number of times a message was passed along, how many message bounces occurred, as well as the addresses from which the messages were returned. LBGIE™ also provides reports that will help you to identify and target your most loyal customers by displaying the number of times subscribers have clicked on your message links, and by compiling and displaying subscribers’ profiling attribute values.
If, while viewing one of the message or subscriber reports, you notice that its column headings appear as links, it means that the report's data can be sorted by column. To do this, click the column heading at the top of the column by which you would like to sort the data. By default, data will be sorted by date. If, however, you are viewing the "Message Delivery" report and would like to see messages in order of the number of Pass-Alongs that were sent, click the heading at the top of the "Pass-Alongs" column. This would sort by the number of pass-alongs, from lowest to highest. Click the link a second time to sort in descending order. Similarly, you could sort by any of the report's fields by clicking its associated header, provided the header text appears as a link.
The Message Activity page is designed to provide an overview of all activity generated by messages sent within a given time period. It allows you to see, at a glance, the number of emails delivered, read, opened and clicked for each message. You will also be able to track the number of subscribers who clicked each message, and how many clicks came from new or repeat clickers.
Figure 6‑1
This shows you the Subject of the message sent. If you click on the subject, a new window will open to show you URL tracking information for this message. For more information on what is contained in this tracking report, see URL Tracking Reports earlier in this chapter.
This is the date and time the message was sent.
This is the number of emails that were actually delivered to subscribers. This number is calculated by taking the number of subscribers at the time the message was sent, minus the number of emails that were returned as "undeliverable."
These two columns show the number (#) and percentage (%) of recipients who removed themselves from the list by clicking the message's removal link. If one or more subscribers removed themselves, the number will appear as a link. Click this link to view the email addresses of the unsubscribers.
Figure 6‑2
Here you can see the number and percentage of recipients who viewed the message. A message is considered “opened” when the recipient double-clicks the message, views the message in the preview pane, or by any other method an email program has of marking a message as having been opened.
Once the message has been "open" (see above) for five or more seconds, LBGIE™ will then mark it as "Read." These columns show the number and percentage of delivered messages that fit these criteria.
Note: The number of messages opened and read will only be tracked for HTML-based messages.
This column shows you the number of times any of the message's links were clicked. This is simply a tally of clicks, without regard to which link was clicked or how many times an individual recipient clicked a link.
"Total" represents the total number of unique recipients who clicked any of the message's links.
"Repeat" shows the number of recipients who clicked a link in both this message and in any previous message.
"New" is the number for whom this is the first time ever clicking on a link in a message sent from this list.
This is the percentage of all unique recipients who clicked one of the message's tracking links.
When you open the Message Activity page it will, by default, show you all message activity for the current month. To view your message activity for another month and/or year, select the desired time period from the drop-down boxes and click the "Refresh" button.
To see all message activity, including any test messages sent to yourself or your review group, select the check box below the drop-down boxes before clicking the "Refresh" button.
Click the "View Graph" button to see a graphical representation of the number of people who unsubscribed, the number of clicks and pass-alongs, and how many subscribers opened or read your message. The graph will look similar to figure 6-3:
Figure 6‑3
The Message Delivery page is designed to provide an overview of all delivery data for messages sent within a given time period. It allows you to see, at a glance, the number sent, delivered, bounced and passed along. It also provides quick links to more detailed information about bad email addresses and pass-alongs.
Figure 6‑4
This shows you the Subject of the message sent.
This is the date and time the message was sent.
This column shows you the how many copies of the message that were sent. It is based on the number of subscribers at the time the message was sent.
Here you can view the size, in kilobytes, of the message and any attachments.
This is the number of emails that were actually delivered to subscribers. This number is calculated by taking the number of subscribers at the time the message was sent, minus the number of emails that could not be delivered.
This is the percentage of emails that were actually delivered to subscribers.
This is the number of emails that could not be delivered. A message may be returned if the recipient's mailbox is too full, a server is down, or if the email address is no longer valid.
If one or more messages bounce, the number will appear as a link. Click this link to view the bad email addresses, the reasons and times the message was returned, and the number of times the message was returned from each address. This information will pertain only to the current message.
Figure 6‑5
You can then click an individual email address for a detailed report of all delivery activity for that address. This will tell you how many times any messages sent from this list were returned from this address.
This column allows you to monitor the number of times a recipient has used the "Pass-Along" feature to forward the message on to another address. For more information on the "Pass-Along" feature, see Authoring And Sending Email: Author New Message.
If one or more subscribers utilized the Pass-Along feature, the number will appear as a link. Click this link to display the addresses of subscribers who passed the message along, the addresses to where the message was forwarded, and the date and time that the pass-alongs occurred.
Figure 6‑7
When you open the Message Delivery page it will, by default, show you all message activity for the current month. To view your message delivery for another month and/or year, select the desired time period from the drop-down boxes and click the "Refresh" button.
To see all message delivery, including any test messages sent to yourself or your review group, select the check box below the drop-down boxes before clicking the "Refresh" button.
Click the "View Graph" button to see a graphical representation of the number of emails sent, delivered, bounced and passed-along for each message sent within the given time period. This graph will look similar to Figure 6-8:
Figure 6‑8
The Message History page is designed to provide an overview of all messages sent within a given time period. It allows you to see, at a glance, the date, subject and number of emails sent for each. This page also provides quick links to the message body and tracking information.
Figure 5‑1
This is the date and time the message was sent.
This shows you the Subject of the message sent. If you click on the subject, you will be taken to the Author Message page, which will appear with all fields filled in with information for that message.
This column shows you the how many copies of the message that were sent. It is based on the number of subscribers at the time the message was sent.
By selecting an option from the drop-down box in this column, a new window will open in which you can view the following:
This option will display a quick view of the HTML version of the message.
This option will display a quick view of the Plain Text version of the message.
This option will display a quick view of the message's tracking activity if "Use Tracking" was selected when the message was originally sent. For more information on URL Tracking, see Reports: URL Tracking.
When you open the Message History page it will, by default, show you all message history for the current month. To view your message history for another month and/or year, select the desired time period from the drop-down boxes and click the "Refresh" button.
The Subscriber Activities page is designed to provide you with a means of determining which of your subscribers are most loyal when it comes to clicking on your messages’ links.
Figure 6‑9
When the Subscriber Activities page opens it will, by default, show the email addresses of subscribers with the top five click-through rates above zero for the current month. However, this does not necessarily mean that only five addresses will be displayed. It is likely that many subscribers will "tie" for one or more of the top positions. You can modify the display by selecting an option from the drop-down box, then clicking the "Go" button. You may choose to view the top 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, or all click-through rates.
When you open the Subscriber Activity page it will, by default, show you all subscriber activity for the current month. To view your subscriber activity for another month and/or year, select the desired time period from the drop-down boxes and click the "Refresh" button.
You will also see choices in these boxes for "All Months" and "All Years.” Choosing these will display top click-throughs, regardless of when the clicks occurred.
When sending an email to a large list of recipients, it is not uncommon for the message to "bounce back" from one or more addresses. This means that the mail server was unable to deliver the message to the intended recipient, and therefore returns it. This can happen for several reasons, such as the recipient's mailbox is too full, a server is down, or the email address is no longer in use.
The Subscriber Bounces page (Figure 6-10) is designed to help you monitor the number of email addresses on your list to which messages could not be delivered.
Figure 6‑10
This is the email address from which the message was returned. If you click the email address, a new window containing the date and reason for each time a message bounced back from the selected address.
This is the date the subscriber joined the list.
This column shows the number of times messages have been returned from this address.
The Subscriber Additions page (Figure 6-11) is designed to allow you to view details of additions that occurred within a given time period. You will be able see the address and subscription date for each subscriber added.
Figure 6‑11
In this column will be a list of any email addresses that were added to your list during the select time period. You can unsubscribe any of these addresses by clicking on the trashcan icon to its left.
If your account is profiling-enabled, each email address will appear as a link. Click an address to view or modify that individual's profiling information.
This is the date and time that the address was subscribed.
When you open the Subscriber Additions page it will, by default, show you all additions for the current month. To view additions for another month and/or year, select the desired time period from the drop-down boxes and click the "Refresh" button.
You will also see choices in these boxes for "All Months" and "All Years.” Choosing these will display all subscriber additions, regardless of when the additions occurred.
The Subscriber Removals page (Figure 6-12) is designed to allow you to view details of removals that occurred within a given time period. You will be able see the removed email addresses, when the addresses were subscribed to and unsubscribed from your list, and the method by which the addresses were removed.
Figure 6‑12
This column displays each email address that was removed from the list during the selected time period.
This is the date and time the email address was originally added to the list.
This is the date and time the email address was removed from the list.
Here you can see the method by which the address was removed from the list.
“SUBSCRIBER” means that the subscriber voluntarily removed him/her self from the list.
“ADMINISTRATOR” means that the address was removed by the list’s administrator through a list import, manually via the Add/Remove Subscribers page, or by clicking the trash can icon that appears on various pages through the LBGIE™ site.
“BOUNCES” means that the address was automatically removed due to excessive message bounce-backs.
When you open the Subscriber Removals page it will, by default, show you all removals for the current month. To view removals for another month and/or year, select the desired time period from the drop-down boxes and click the "Refresh" button.
You will also see choices in these boxes for "All Months" and "All Years.” Choosing these will display all subscriber removal details, regardless of when the removals occurred.
(Profiling Level and Higher Only)
The List Hygiene Report (Figure 6-13) is designed to allow you to view details of the list hygiene performed on your list that occurred within a given time period.
Figure 6‑13
Because domain names are constantly changing due to company mergers and acquisitions, and because people simply misspell addresses, LBGIE has created the List Hygiene system. This new feature converts undeliverable addresses into deliverable addresses by matching invalid domain names with our internal list of misspellings, mergers, acquisitions, etc. [For example, an undeliverable address: yahoo.cm, will be corrected and sent as: yahoo.com.]
This is the original bad email address that bounced back to LBGIE™.
This is the date the subscriber joined the list.
This is the date the subscriber joined the list.
This is the date the hygiene was performed.
The Subscriber Bans page (Figure 6-14) is designed to allow you to view details of address that have been permanently banned from your lists.
Figure 6‑14
This is the banned email address.
This is the date the address was banned.
This is the list name that the address is banned from.
This is the note for the reason the address was banned.
Figure 6‑15
From the column labeled “Report,” click on the “View” icon to the left of the message for which you would like to see a URL Tracking Report. A new page similar to Figure 6-16 will appear:
Figure 6‑16
This is the actual link being tracked.
This is the total number of clicks for this link.
This tells you how many different subscribers clicked on this link.
This shows the percentage of recipients who clicked on this link.
At the bottom of this page, you will also see a brief tracking summary for this message. This summary will display the total number of clicks, number of subscribers who clicked, number of first-time and repeat clickers, and the percentage who clicked on one or more links in the email.
Figure 6‑20
When you open the URL Tracking Report page it will, by default, show you all message activity for the current month. To view URL tracking for another month and/or year, select the desired time period from the drop-down boxes and click the "Refresh" button.
To see all URL tracking, including any test messages sent to yourself or your review group, select the check box below the drop-down boxes before clicking the "Refresh" button.
Note: "Profiling Reports" will only appear in the "Reports" drop-down if you have a profiling-enabled account.
The Profiling Reports page is designed to provide an overview of the number and percentage of subscribers who fit any profiling attributes that you have created for the selected list.
Figure 6‑22
This describes the individual quality or trait being measured. The data following each attribute will display how many subscribers indicated that they possess this quality or "fall into this category." For example, under the header "Fan Profile" in Figure 6-15, the attribute "Madonna" refers to the checkbox in the profiling form for subscribers to check if they are Madonna fans.
This indicates what type of field appears on the profiling form for this attribute. This could be a text box, radio button, number, or check box.
This is the number of subscribers who indicated that they match this profile attribute.
This is the total number of subscribers who have data saved for this attribute.
Here you can see the percentage of all profiled subscribers who indicated that they fall into this category.
This is the total number of list subscribers, profiled or not.
Here you can see the percentage of all list subscribers, profiled or not, who indicated that they fall into this category.