How to track and analyze campaign performance metrics in Mailrush

So, you’re running campaigns in Mailrush and want to know if you’re actually getting anywhere—not just blasting emails into the void. This guide’s for marketers, founders, and anyone who’s tired of staring at numbers and guessing what they mean. I’ll walk you through tracking and analyzing your Mailrush campaign metrics so you can spot what’s working, what isn’t, and what to just ignore.

1. Know What You’re Tracking (and Why)

Before you even log in, let’s get clear: not all metrics matter. Mailrush throws a lot of numbers at you—some are worth watching, some aren’t.

The metrics that actually matter:

  • Open Rate: The % of recipients who opened your email. Good for judging subject lines, but unreliable—email clients block tracking pixels a lot.
  • Click Rate: The % of recipients who clicked a link. This is your real engagement number. If this is decent, your content hits home.
  • Reply Rate: The % who actually replied. For cold outreach, this is king.
  • Bounce Rate: The % of emails that didn’t make it to the inbox. High bounce = bad list hygiene.
  • Unsubscribe Rate: If this keeps creeping up, something’s off with your targeting or messaging.
  • Spam Complaints: If you see these, pause and rethink—too many and your deliverability tanks.

What you can mostly ignore:

  • Delivered: Unless it’s way lower than sent, don’t overthink it.
  • Sent: Useful only if you’re troubleshooting delivery issues.

Pro tip: Don’t obsess over vanity metrics. Chasing 50% open rates is pointless if nobody clicks or replies.

2. Getting to Your Metrics in Mailrush

Let’s get practical. Here’s how to actually find your campaign metrics inside Mailrush:

  1. Log in to your Mailrush dashboard.
  2. On the left sidebar, click “Campaigns.”
  3. Select the campaign you want to analyze.
  4. You’ll land on a dashboard with an overview of your metrics:
  5. Opens, clicks, replies, bounces, unsubscribes, and spam complaints.

Mailrush displays these as percentages and raw numbers. Hover over each for more detail, or click through for recipient-level data (who opened, who clicked, etc.).

Heads up: Mailrush’s open and click tracking relies on images and link redirects. Some privacy-focused email clients (like Apple Mail) will mess with open tracking. Don’t panic if your open rates seem off—focus more on clicks and replies.

3. Breaking Down the Key Metrics

Let’s break down what each number actually means—and how to use it.

Open Rate

  • How it’s tracked: Tiny invisible image in your email loads when opened.
  • What’s good: 30–50% for cold email is solid. If you’re much lower, your subject line’s probably boring, or your emails are hitting spam.
  • What to do: If you see a sudden drop, check your sender reputation and list quality.

Click Rate

  • How it’s tracked: Recipients click a tracked link.
  • What’s good: 3–10% is typical. If you’re running cold campaigns, even 2% can be decent.
  • What to do: If your click rate’s weak but opens are high, your content or call-to-action isn’t landing.

Reply Rate

  • How it’s tracked: Recipients reply to your email; Mailrush spots this in your connected inbox.
  • What’s good: 1–5% for cold outreach. Higher if you have a warm list or a killer offer.
  • What to do: Low replies? Tweak your message. Make it conversational, not spammy.

Bounce Rate

  • Hard bounces: The address doesn’t exist.
  • Soft bounces: Temporary issue (like a full inbox).
  • What’s good: Under 2%. If you’re over 5%, clean your list. Seriously.

Unsubscribe & Spam

  • Unsubscribe: Under 1% is fine. Over that, your targeting’s off.
  • Spam complaints: Always aim for zero. Anything above 0.1% is a red flag.

4. Step-by-Step: Analyzing a Campaign

Here’s how to actually dig in:

1. Start with the Big Picture

  • Look at your open, click, and reply rates side-by-side.
  • Any major drop-offs? For example, high opens but low clicks means your content falls flat.

2. Segment Your Results

  • Mailrush lets you drill down by:
  • Time sent (day, hour)
  • Recipient segment (imported tags, company size, etc.)

  • Step in sequence (if you’re sending multi-step campaigns)

  • Why bother? Sometimes your results vary by segment. Maybe your subject line works for CEOs but not for engineers.

3. Check Recipients’ Actions

  • Click “Recipients” in your campaign view.
  • You’ll see who opened, clicked, replied, bounced, unsubscribed, or marked you as spam.
  • Use this to spot patterns. Are all your replies coming from a specific industry? Did one domain block you entirely?

4. Compare Against Past Campaigns

  • Mailrush shows past campaigns in your dashboard.
  • Compare similar campaigns—same audience, offer, or time of year.
  • Don’t chase outliers; look for trends (“Every Tuesday, opens tank.”).

5. Download Reports If You Need To

  • Click “Export” to get CSVs of campaign results.
  • Useful for deeper analysis or sharing with your team (or boss).

Pro tip: Don’t fall down the analysis rabbit hole. Pick one or two things to fix each time.

5. What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)

Let’s get honest: not every metric moves the needle, and not every “best practice” is worth your time.

What actually helps:

  • Testing one thing at a time: Change your subject line, or your CTA—not both. Otherwise, you’ll never know what worked.
  • Cleaning your list: High bounce rates destroy deliverability. Use a tool to clean your email list before you upload to Mailrush.
  • Short, simple emails: Emails that look “personal” get more replies. Long, salesy emails get ignored or marked as spam.
  • Following up: Most replies come from the 2nd or 3rd email in a sequence, not the first.

What doesn’t help:

  • Obsessing over open rates: Thanks to Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection and other blockers, open rates are becoming less reliable every year.
  • Sending more just to “see what happens”: If your metrics are bad, blasting more emails won’t fix it. You’ll just annoy more people.
  • Chasing generic benchmarks: Your audience is unique. Use your past campaigns as your baseline.

6. Automating and Integrating (If You Must)

Some folks want to push Mailrush data into a CRM or analytics platform. You can do this, but only if you actually have a use for it—don’t automate just for the sake of it.

  • Zapier support: Mailrush can connect to other tools via Zapier. For example, you can add a tag in your CRM when someone replies.
  • Webhooks & API: If you’re technical, Mailrush has an API for pulling data.
  • Pro tip: Unless you’re running huge volumes, the built-in dashboard is usually enough. Don’t overcomplicate things.

7. Troubleshooting: When Metrics Look Weird

Sometimes your numbers will look… off. Here’s what to check:

  • Open rate suddenly drops: Check your sending domain’s reputation (try Google Postmaster Tools). Maybe you landed on a blacklist.
  • High bounce rate: Your list is old or bad. Clean it before sending again.
  • No clicks, but replies: Some people reply instead of clicking. That’s fine—look at the whole picture.
  • Spam complaints spike: Stop your campaign. Rework your targeting and message.

Don’t be afraid to pause and regroup. It’s better than torching your domain’s reputation.

8. Action Steps: Keep It Simple

Here’s the quick recap to keep you moving:

  • Decide which metric matters most for your goal (reply rate for cold outreach, click rate for signups, etc.).
  • Check your campaign dashboard in Mailrush after every send.
  • Tweak one thing at a time—subject, message, timing, or list.
  • Watch for big swings, not tiny bumps.
  • Don’t lose sleep over open rates; focus on clicks and replies.

Every campaign is a test. The more you keep it simple, the easier it is to improve. Don’t let the data paralyze you—just use it to get a little better each time.