If you’re running campaigns in Leadonion and you’re not sure what’s working, you’re not alone. Most people set up a campaign, glance at a few numbers, and hope for the best. But if you want to actually improve, you need to know what to track, how to analyze it, and what to ignore. This guide is for marketers, founders, and anyone who wants to get real value (not just dashboards) out of Leadonion.
Let’s walk through the whole process—step by step, using plain English, and only focusing on what matters.
Step 1: Get Your Campaigns Organized
Before you even look at the analytics tab, do yourself a favor: get your campaigns in order. If you’ve got a mess of “Test1” and “Summer2023_v2_FINAL,” you’ll never know what’s working.
- Name campaigns clearly. Use a standard naming scheme. E.g.,
ProductLaunch_May24_Email. - Group by purpose. Are you running lead gen, nurture, or sales? Keep types separate.
- Archive old stuff. If you’re not using it, hide it. Less clutter means less confusion.
Pro tip: The clearer your naming, the less likely you’ll mix up results later. Don’t trust your future self to remember what “List X” was.
Step 2: Know Which Metrics Actually Matter
Leadonion will show you plenty of numbers. The trick is knowing which ones are worth your time. Here are the basics:
- Opens: Measures if people are at least seeing your emails. Good, but not enough.
- Clicks: Now we’re talking—people are interested.
- Replies/Responses: Gold. These show real engagement.
- Conversions: This could be sign-ups, bookings, or sales (depends on your setup).
- Bounces/Unsubscribes: High numbers here mean something’s off.
Ignore the “vanity metrics” trap—open rates are nice, but if no one’s clicking or replying, it’s not working.
Gut check: If your boss asks “how’s that campaign doing?” and you can’t answer with a real business metric, go back and rethink what you’re tracking.
Step 3: Set Up Tracking Properly
You can’t measure results if your tracking isn’t dialed in. Leadonion tries to make this easy, but you still need to check a few things:
- Links: Use tracked links for every CTA. Double-check tracking is enabled (it’s usually a toggle when you add a link).
- Reply tracking: Make sure replies are being captured. Sometimes this needs connecting your email or CRM.
- Custom goals: If you want to track sign-ups or meetings, set up the right integrations. This might mean connecting Calendly, your CRM, or adding a tracking pixel.
- UTMs (optional): If you’re sending traffic to your own site, add UTM parameters so you can cross-check in Google Analytics.
Don’t skip this. If you have to guess where leads came from later, you’ll waste hours and probably get it wrong.
Step 4: Launch Your Campaign and Let It Run
Once you’re set up, actually launch your campaign. But don’t hover over the analytics page every five minutes.
- Let the campaign run long enough. Unless you’re sending to thousands, don’t judge results after a few hours.
- Check for errors early. Within a day, look for bounces, broken links, or delivery issues. Fix any obvious problems fast.
- Don’t panic over early numbers. Sometimes responses come late, especially in B2B.
Set a reminder to do your first real review after a meaningful chunk of sends—usually 24-48 hours for small lists, a week for bigger ones.
Step 5: Analyze Your Results (For Real)
Now for the part that matters: making sense of the numbers. Here’s how to avoid the “dashboard stare” and actually learn something:
a) Find Your Baseline
- Compare campaigns of the same type. If your last cold outreach got 2% reply rate, is this one better or worse?
- Don’t compare apples to oranges. A nurture campaign will always perform differently than a cold sales blast.
b) Look for Drop-Offs
- High opens, low clicks? Your subject line works, but your content doesn’t.
- High clicks, no conversions? Your landing page probably needs work.
- High bounces? Bad list quality or deliverability issues.
- Lots of unsubscribes? You’re annoying people. Tweak your targeting or frequency.
c) Segment Your Data
Leadonion lets you filter by segment—use it.
- How did different lists perform?
- Did certain industries or roles respond more?
- Are replies coming from your ideal customers or just randoms?
d) Go Beyond the Numbers
- Read the actual replies. Sometimes you’ll spot objections, pain points, or even angry feedback you can fix.
- Look for patterns in timing. Do you get more opens on Tuesday mornings? Less on Fridays?
Don’t just copy-paste numbers into a report. Spend 10 minutes actually thinking about what’s working—and what’s not.
Step 6: Report What Matters (and Ignore the Rest)
If you’re sharing results with your team, don’t just dump every graph into a slide deck. Focus on:
- What worked: Which messaging, subject lines, or lists performed best?
- What didn’t: Where did things fall flat? Any surprises?
- What you’ll do next: Concrete steps, not just “continue optimizing” (ugh).
If you can explain your results to a non-marketer in two sentences, you’re on the right track.
Step 7: Iterate (But Don’t Overthink It)
Here’s where most people overcomplicate things. You don’t need to reinvent your campaign every week. Instead:
- Change one variable at a time (e.g., try a new subject line, not a new list and new CTA).
- Run A/B tests if Leadonion supports it. But only if you have enough volume for results to mean anything.
- Drop what isn’t working, but double down on what is—even if it’s boring.
Chasing “perfect” campaigns is a waste of time. Consistent, small improvements always beat endless tweaking.
What to Ignore (Seriously)
- Obsessing over open rates: Apple’s privacy changes and email clients mean these numbers are increasingly unreliable.
- Tiny sample sizes: If you only sent 30 emails, don’t draw big conclusions.
- “Industry benchmarks”: Use your own past campaigns as a baseline instead of chasing generic numbers.
- Complicated attribution models: For most Leadonion users, simple tracking is more than enough. Don’t build a Franken-dashboard.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple
Tracking and analyzing campaigns in Leadonion isn’t rocket science, but it does take a bit of discipline. Focus on clear naming, honest metrics, and real-world results. Don’t get lost in the weeds chasing perfect data or pretty charts.
Get your basics right, look for meaningful patterns, and keep improving one step at a time. That’s how you actually get better—and, more importantly, how you stop wasting time on things that don’t move the needle.
Now, go see what your last campaign actually did. If it flopped, congrats—you’ve got something to improve next time. If it crushed, figure out why and do it again. That’s the whole game.