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How do I review campaign performance in the Sending Tool?

Said Jrad avatar
Written by Said Jrad
Updated this week

THIS ARTICLE IS FOR: ✅ Both

Stage: Live

Owner: CS

Last updated: 2025-12-19


TL;DR

  • Campaign stats should be read together, not in isolation.

  • Focus most on Reply Rate, Positive Reply Rate, and Bounce Rate.

  • Open and click data are secondary (or ignorable) in cold email.

  • Low performance usually means more leads, a better offer, or better targeting—not a technical issue.


When you’d use this / Why it matters

When reviewing a campaign inside the Sending Tool, it’s easy to misinterpret metrics or fix the wrong thing. This guide explains what each stat actually means, what “good” looks like, and what to do if something is off.


Reviewing campaign statistics (Sending Tool)

Open any campaign in the Sending Tool to see the metrics below.


📬 Sent

What it means

The total number of emails sent, not the number of people contacted.

Example:

  • 3,000 leads

  • 3 emails per lead

  • 9,000 emails sent


What’s good

  • Compare this number to how many leads are in the campaign.

  • If it’s low, you may not be using your full sending capacity yet.

👉 Reference your plan limits if needed.


If it’s bad

You may need more volume:

  • Add more leads

  • Scrape a new list

  • Start a new campaign (or add leads to an existing one if no changes are needed)


If it’s good

Great, move on to Open Rate.


📬 Open rate

What it means

The percentage of recipients who opened your email.

⚠️ Important note

We generally do not recommend tracking opens.

Why:

  • Open tracking requires links

  • Links can hurt deliverability and trigger spam filters


What’s good

  • If tracking is enabled: ~50% is strong


If it’s bad

  • Could indicate a deliverability issue

  • Reach out to:

    • Your Account Manager, or

    • Support

The team will investigate inbox placement.

Note: Some audiences (e.g. busy CEOs) naturally open less.


If it’s good

Awesome, move on to Reply Rate.


🔁 Click rate

Ignore this.

Click rate is not a useful metric in cold email, especially since links are discouraged.


💬 Reply rate

What it means

The percentage of people who replied.

  • With open tracking on:
    Calculated from opens

  • Without open tracking:
    Calculated from total emails sent (will look lower)


What’s good / average

  • With open tracking: 2–3%+

  • Without open tracking: 1–2%+


If it’s bad

  • Reach out to your Account Manager or Support

  • The issue could be:

    • Offer clarity

    • Targeting

    • Messaging


If it’s good

Nice, now check Positive Reply Rate.


✅ Positive reply rate

What it means

Of all replies received, how many showed real interest.

  • ListKit automatically tags replies using AI


What’s good

  • 5–10%


If it’s bad

Test changes in this order:

  • A different offer

  • A new script

  • Different targeting


If it’s good

Celebrate 🎉

Then make sure you’re following up quickly and consistently.


❌ Bounce rate

What it means

The percentage of emails that failed to deliver (invalid or rejected addresses).


What’s good

  • Under 5%

ListKit’s triple-verified leads make this easier to maintain.


If it’s bad

  • Share the campaign with:

    • Your Account Manager, or

    • Support

The team will investigate and resolve it.


Expected outcome

You should now be able to:

  • Understand what each campaign metric actually means

  • Identify what’s normal vs. what needs attention

  • Avoid optimizing the wrong variable


Final takeaway

When reviewing campaigns:

  • Don’t obsess over opens or clicks

  • Focus on Replies → Positive Replies → Follow-up execution

  • Most improvements come from offer and targeting, not technical tweaks


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