Understanding Metrics

Applies To:   PoliteMail Desktop    PoliteMail Online   □ PoliteMail O365


Version: □ 4.94   □ 4.97   5.0+


The most common type of chart you will see when viewing a Metrics Report in version 5 is the pie chart. Each of these shows various metrics, defined in the glossary below.

If you sent the message using Individual Measurement, you can click on any metric and get a list of recipients who interacted with the message.

  • The outer circle represents the value on the message you are viewing.
  • The inner circle represents this value against your company average.
  • The large center percentage is the metric for the message.
  • The smaller percentage is the metric for the company average. A triangle pointing up (▲) indicates the message performed better than the average, and a triangle pointing down (▼) indicates the email performed below the average.
  • The percentage to the right of the triangle shows the amount of the variance.


If exporting your results report to Excel, you may see more fields than what displays on screen. You can find a more detailed description of each field here.

Metrics Glossary

Sent -Total recipients message was addressed to [count of members in list(s)]

Devices – Unique devices tracked (devices identified via browser agent)

Impressions – Total number of all previews/opens (non-unique, total open count)

Undeliverables – Hard bounces (returned to a mailbox PoliteMail is monitoring). Does not work with Aggregate tracking

Out of Office – Out-of-office replies (returned to a mailbox PoliteMail is monitoring). Does not work with Aggregate tracking

Opt-Out – Opt-out or unsubscribe action taken on this message

Opt-In – Opt-in (to a PoliteMail subscription list)

Words – Word count in message

Images – Image count in message

Time to Read – Time to read entire message content at 200wpm

Desktop – Email accessed via desktop/laptop computer, as identified via browser user agent

Mobile – Email access via a mobile device, as identified via browser user agent

Desktop Avg Read – Average read time on computer

Mobile Avg Read – Average read time on mobile device

Desktop Click Thru – Click thru rate from computer

Mobile Click Thru – Click thru rate from mobile device

Open Rate – An open occurs when the message content (tracking image) is requested from the PoliteMail Server. Opens are a unique count of messages opened at least once, by individual recipient (by unique device in aggregate) out of total number of sends. This includes messages previewed in the reading pane in Outlook. The calculation we use is  Opens / (Sent – Undeliverable)

Multiple OpensCount of individual recipients with more than one open, of more than 3 seconds in duration (less than 3 seconds is a quick preview and not counted) that occurred more than 7 seconds apart from the previous open.  This 7 seconds is configurable using the MultipleOpensWindow app setting.

Didn’t Open – No data recorded, message not opened or images/content not downloaded

Ignored – Individual recipients who opened, but had the message open for less than 3 seconds. (of unique devices in aggregate)

Skimmed – Individual recipients who had the message open for less than 30% of the content length

Read Rate – A read is an individual recipient who had the message open for at least 30% of the content length, calculated by the number of words in the email. It is the sum of all non-ignore or skimmed opens. The calculation we use is Reads / (Sent – Undeliverable)

Engaged Reads – Individual recipients who had the message open for over 50% of the content length. Sums all non-ignore opens by individual recipient. This metric is taken from those who have Opened the email

Multiple Reads – Individual recipients who had more than one read (greater than 30% time open)

Left Open – A read-time of over 150% of the Time to Read is considered left open

Avg Read Time – Average of all Reads in time (excluding ignored and left open). The calculation we use is  Sum Read-Time / Reads

Click Through Rate – A click is an individual recipient (unique devices in aggregate) who clicks at least one link in the email message. The calculation we use is Clicks / (Sent – Undeliverable)

Attention Rate – Of the people who have opened the message, the percentage of viewers who read more than 3 seconds.. Low attention rate indicates issues with the subject line, time and date sent, or from address.  The Audience Attention Rate is the Opens (minus Ignored) divided by Delivered, and the Open Attention Rate is the Opens (minus Ignored) divided by the Opens.

Effective Rate – Effective Rate is the ratio Clicks to Opens, which indicates how effective the call to action was at getting clicks, counting only those you know had an opportunity to see it (opens). It excludes the recipients who ignored the email and measures the recipients who both opened the email and clicked a link. Our calculation is Click Through Rate / Opens

Engagement Rate – Measured from the Open Rate and is individuals who have spent half of that read time with the email open. High readership (average time read vs content length sent) and/or high click through rate can both lead to high engagement

Multiple Clicks – Individual recipients (unique devices in aggregate) who clicked more than one link (or same link more than once)

Didn’t Click – Individual recipients who did not click any links in the email

Total Clicks – Total count of all clicks (non-unique count)

Total Links – Total links included in the email message

Total URLs – Total unique URLs included in the email message

Content Utilization – Ratio of unique URLs clicked to unique URLs included in message. Our calculation is Clicked URLS / Total URLS

Likely Forward – Tracked messages which were opened by 3+ unique devices

Replies – Individuals who replied to the message