If you're sending cold emails as part of your sales process and want to actually know what's working (and what isn't), you need more than a list of opens and clicks—you need real insights. This guide is for sales reps, founders, and anyone who wants to get smarter about email outreach without drowning in pointless data. We'll walk through how to use Lemlist to track and analyze your email performance, zeroing in on what matters and skipping the fluff.
1. Get Your Lemlist Account and Campaigns Set Up
Before you can track anything, you need to have your Lemlist account connected to your email and a campaign running. If you’re already sending emails through Lemlist, skip to Step 2.
- Connect your email account: Lemlist works with Gmail, Outlook, and most SMTP providers. The setup is straightforward—just follow their prompts.
- Warm up your email: Use Lemlist’s built-in warm-up tool if you’re using a fresh domain. It’ll help you avoid the spam folder.
- Build your campaign: Upload your list, write your emails, and set up your steps. Personalization helps, but don’t overthink it—your first goal is to get a campaign out the door.
Pro tip: Don’t try to “perfect” your first campaign. Set up something basic, get it running, and then use the data to improve.
2. Know Which Metrics Actually Matter (and Which Don’t)
Lemlist tracks a ton of metrics, but not all stats are equally useful. Here’s what matters for most sales outreach:
- Open Rate: Tells you if your subject lines and sender name are getting attention. But, with Apple Mail privacy changes, it’s not as reliable as it used to be.
- Reply Rate: The gold standard—if people are replying, you’re getting somewhere.
- Click Rate: If you include links, this shows who’s interested enough to click. Don’t obsess over it unless your CTA needs a click.
- Bounce Rate: High bounces mean bad email lists or technical problems. Keep it low.
- Unsubscribe/Spam Complaints: If these are creeping up, you’re annoying people (or triggering spam filters).
Don’t chase: “Delivered” counts (almost always close to 100%), “steps completed,” or opens inflated by bots. Focus on replies and real engagement.
3. Find and Understand Lemlist’s Reporting Dashboard
Once your campaign is live, click into it on Lemlist’s dashboard. You’ll see several tabs—focus on these:
- Overview: At-a-glance stats. Useful for spotting trends, but dig deeper for real answers.
- Performance: Breaks down opens, replies, bounces, and more by step, sequence, and time.
- Recipients: Lets you drill down to see how individual contacts interacted with your emails.
How to read it: - Spot big red flags (high bounce or complaint rates). - Compare steps: Are you losing people after the first email? Are certain follow-ups working better? - Look for outliers—did a specific subject line or message outperform the rest?
Pro tip: Export your data (CSV) if you want to slice and dice it in Excel or Google Sheets. Lemlist’s built-in charts are fine, but nothing beats your own filters.
4. Track the Right Metrics for Each Stage
Not all stats matter at every step. Here’s a quick cheat sheet:
- First email: Focus on open and reply rates. If opens are low, tweak your subject or sender. If replies are low, your message isn’t connecting.
- Follow-ups: Watch reply rates closely. Sometimes, the second or third email gets the response. If nothing’s working, your sequence might be too pushy or too generic.
- After a reply: Lemlist lets you track positive vs. negative replies. Don’t just count “any reply”—focus on the ones that turn into real conversations.
What to ignore: Open rates on follow-ups (often unreliable), click rates unless your CTA is a link, “delivered” stats.
5. Analyze What’s Working (and Why)
Here’s how to get actual insights—not just pretty graphs:
- Break it down: Compare campaigns by segment, message, or time. Did one subject line get double the replies? Did a new list flop?
- Look for patterns: Are replies coming from a certain industry, job title, or company size? Use this to refine your targeting.
- Subject lines: If your open rates are tanking, test new subject lines—but don’t change everything at once.
- Copy tweaks: If lots of people open but don’t reply, your pitch might be too generic or not clear enough about what you want.
- Timing: Lemlist shows when emails get opened or replied to. If you see a pattern (e.g., Tuesday mornings work better), use it.
Pro tip: Don’t fall for “vanity metrics.” High open rates look nice, but if nobody replies, who cares? The only stat that matters is conversations started.
6. Run A/B Tests Without Getting Bogged Down
Lemlist makes it easy to run A/B tests (they call it “multivariate testing”) on subject lines, email copy, or even sending times.
- Keep it simple: Test one thing at a time—otherwise, you won’t know what made the difference.
- Sample size matters: Don’t declare a winner after 10 emails. Wait until you have at least a few dozen results per variant.
- Ignore minor differences: If two subject lines get 30% vs. 32% opens, it’s basically a tie.
- Iterate, don’t overhaul: When you find a winner, roll it out and test something new. Don’t try to reinvent your whole sequence every week.
7. Spot (and Fix) Deliverability Problems
Even the best email won’t work if it lands in spam. Lemlist’s stats can help you spot issues:
- Rising bounce rate: Clean your lists. Remove old or obviously fake addresses.
- Low open rate across the board: Your emails might be hitting spam. Check your sending domain, use Lemlist’s warm-up tool, and avoid spammy language (“free,” “guaranteed,” etc.).
- High complaint or unsubscribe rate: Your emails aren’t relevant—or you’re emailing people who never opted in. Tighten up your targeting.
What not to bother with: Don’t obsess over small fluctuations in open rates. Focus on big, consistent drops or spikes.
8. Share Results with Your Team (or Just Yourself)
If you’re working solo, use Lemlist’s exports to keep tabs on what works. For teams:
- Set up regular reviews: Once a week or month, look at reply rates and new conversations started. Ignore “activity” stats that don’t lead to sales.
- Share what’s working: If a subject line or template is killing it, make sure everyone knows. Don’t keep secrets.
- Ditch what isn’t: If a sequence is underperforming, retire it. There’s no prize for sticking with what doesn’t work.
9. Don’t Get Paralyzed by Data—Iterate Fast
It’s easy to get stuck staring at dashboards, hoping for answers to jump out. They won’t. Use Lemlist’s data to make one or two changes at a time, test, and repeat.
- Start with basics: Subject line, first sentence, call to action.
- Test, tweak, repeat: Don’t wait for “perfect” data. If something’s obviously not working, try something new.
- Keep it human: Automated tools are great, but your emails should still sound like a person, not a robot.
Bottom line: Lemlist gives you all the data you need to improve your sales emails, but don’t let the numbers run the show. Focus on replies and real conversations, ignore the noise, and keep improving one step at a time. Simple beats complicated—just track, tweak, and stay skeptical of anything that sounds too good to be true.