Episode 97: Quick Reminder About Metrics

Tue Feb 18 2025

In this episode, Liz Wilcox addresses common concerns about email marketing metrics. She reassures listeners that metrics are never fully accurate due to technological glitches and advises against obsessing over individual data points. Liz emphasizes...

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox Episode 97: Quick Reminder About Metrics Release Date: February 18, 2025

Introduction and Context

In Episode 97 of The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox, host Liz addresses a common anxiety among online business owners: the obsession over email marketing metrics. Aimed at entrepreneurs striving to optimize their email lists for profitability and personal satisfaction, Liz offers a candid and reassuring perspective on understanding and managing email marketing data.

Understanding Email Metrics and Their Limitations

Liz begins by highlighting the pervasive concern many have regarding the accuracy of their email metrics. She states unequivocally, “Metrics, my dear, will never be and have never been wholly accurate” (00:40). This declaration serves as the foundation for her discussion, emphasizing that while metrics are essential, they should not be the source of constant stress or obsession.

Drawing parallels to everyday technology glitches, Liz explains, “Technology has glitches… Nothing is perfect” (02:15). This analogy underscores her point that just as devices can malfunction, so too can the systems tracking email performance. The inherent margin of error in these metrics means that absolute precision is unattainable.

Common Concerns and Misconceptions about Metrics

Liz addresses specific worries frequently raised by her community. Many business owners are perplexed by subscribers who consistently open every email and click every link, sometimes within seconds of delivery. Liz reassures her audience, stating, “If you take a look at your metrics and you notice that… it's always going to be some measure of accurate and some measure of inaccurate” (07:00). She suggests that such behavior is likely the result of email filters or automated systems rather than genuine engagement, and stresses that it’s unnecessary to fixate on these anomalies.

Furthermore, Liz cautions against the tendency to dissect metrics at an individual level. “You are being so nitpicky and you are distracting yourself from real work” (10:30). By focusing excessively on specific data points or individual subscriber behaviors, business owners may lose sight of broader trends and actionable insights.

Focusing on Key Metrics: List Growth and Customer Conversion

Central to Liz’s message is the importance of prioritizing key performance indicators over getting bogged down by every metric detail. She identifies two paramount metrics every email marketer should concentrate on:

List Growth: “How many people are on your list every day? Is that something you're looking at? Because that's effing important” (14:10).
Customer Conversion: “How many of those people are we converting to customers?” (15:00).

Liz emphasizes that these metrics directly impact revenue and business sustainability. By focusing on expanding the email list and converting subscribers into paying customers, entrepreneurs can drive meaningful growth without being overwhelmed by less critical data.

Practical Advice and Encouragement

Liz offers pragmatic advice to help her audience navigate their metrics without falling into the trap of overanalysis. For those with smaller lists (fewer than 500 subscribers) or inconsistent emailing habits, she advises against extensive metric dissection. Instead, she encourages looking at metrics over time to identify trends, rather than stressing over daily fluctuations.

With a blend of tough love and genuine care, Liz motivates her listeners to shift their focus from metric accuracy to strategic growth actions. “What is going to make you money is growing your list. Getting more Joe 65s… We need to go find those free people” (08:30). Her passionate delivery reinforces her commitment to helping entrepreneurs succeed through practical and effective email marketing strategies.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

In wrapping up the episode, Liz reiterates her primary message: don’t let metric anxiety hinder your progress. Instead, channel your energy into expanding your email list and enhancing customer conversions. She reassures her audience of her unwavering support, stating, “I am rooting so freaking hard” (17:45), and invites listeners to join her Email Marketing Membership for further guidance and resources.

Liz’s heartfelt and straightforward approach in Episode 97 serves as a valuable reminder for email marketers to maintain perspective and prioritize actions that drive tangible growth over getting lost in the minutiae of data analysis.

Notable Quotes:

“Metrics, my dear, will never be and have never been wholly accurate” (00:40)
“Technology has glitches… Nothing is perfect” (02:15)
“You are being so nitpicky and you are distracting yourself from real work” (10:30)
“How many people are on your list every day? Is that something you're looking at? Because that's effing important” (14:10)
“I am rooting so freaking hard” (17:45)

About the Podcast:

The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox is dedicated to helping online businesses revamp their email marketing strategies. Through actionable insights and supportive guidance, Liz empowers entrepreneurs to build email lists that not only generate revenue but also provide a fulfilling marketing experience.

Transcript

A (0:00)

What's up, Liz Wilcox here, The fresh branch list of email marketing. I don't know why I said it like that. Why am I talking like this? I don't know. But I kind of want to talk about today. A quick reminder about metrics for all of those that are freaking out over them and analyzing them and looking at every single subscriber and wondering how the heck is it that this person clicks on all my emails every single time or clicks on all the links in all my emails every single time? I get this question all the time in our Facebook group, the email sound booth. If you're not in there, get in there. I also get this question a lot in the Q&As of, like, this person has opened every email of mine. They've clicked on every link or they say, you know, within 10 seconds of sending the email, I already have a 2% or 10% open rate. How is that possible, Liz? And I want to give you a quick reminder because I think it's so important. And if you're not watching on YouTube, you can't see my face, but I am adamant. This is my adamant face, okay? And my voice. Adamant voice. I don't know. I'm being super weird today, but I'm trying to capture your attention here because it's so important. I want you to know, and this might be devastating. Are you ready? Are you sitting down? You're probably. You're probably driving, right? Or you're, like, doing the dishes or something. All right. Metrics, my dear, will never be and have never been wholly accurate. Let me repeat that. Your email metrics and. And any metrics online for that matter, can never be, will never be, have never been wholly accurate. There is always, has always been, will always be a margin of error. Okay? We can only do what we can do and let this be, I don't know, a relief valve for you. Yes, metrics are important in 2025, in the summertime, end of summer, we're gonna do a whole week on metrics. You get that for free if you're an annual pass holder. Just seeding that for you. We've got plenty of time. Okay, but, you know, it's the same as, like, remember when you used to play video games or maybe you still do, and it would freeze and you would just have to, like, turn it off and turn it back on again. Or, you know, the TV back in the day would act funny with the cable, so you'd have to unplug it and plug it back in. Look, technology has glitches My dear, technology is amazing. It does a lot more than humans. There's a lot less error than humans. Right? But there are still error. Nothing is perfect. Right. And unless you believe in Jesus, that's really the only example of perfection we have on this planet. Right? Like, come on now. And you know our metrics are not above the son of God, right? You know, so again, metrics are never going to be wholly accurate. If you take a look at your metrics and you notice that, you know there's somebody or somebody's on your list that always open and always click on every email and it's always within the first five minutes. Just know that, yeah, they likely have some kind of filter or their email service provider has some kind of filter that's clicking those links. There's nothing you can do. But because that always happens, then you can still look at that metric and get a feel. Right? Like if it says 4% click rate, you don't need to know that it was actually 3.7. Okay? You don't need to know that. And I say it with, I'm saying all this with love. I really am. I want you to take a deep breath. I want you to just look at your metrics for what they are face freaking value. When we say analyze the metrics, that does not mean analyze the metrics, you know, so that you can know if they're like 100% accurate. It's analyze the metrics against the metrics, not against itself. Does that make sense? And so when you're looking at your metrics, just look at them over time. Right? Right. Like we've got 4% here, 4%, 2%, 1.5. Then we know it's going down, right? And that's what we need to look at. Not whether or not, you know, like was the 4% accurate to begin with and now is it accurate? Like it's always going to be some measure of accurate and some measure of inaccurate. So don't obsess over that. Now also, if you are noticing what I just said, if you're noticing those same 10 people over and over clicking each link and I again, I say it with love, my friend. You are spending way too much time on the individuals and inside your metrics. Right? You are being so. I say it with love, please take it with love. You are being so nitpicky and you are distracting yourself from real work. Can I say that? Oh, I did. Did I just call you out? I'm sorry if that hurts. I want you to receive it with Love, because I want you remember, my mission is you make money with email. How is knowing that joe65mail.com clicks on every single link and you think it's because, you know he's got some block. How is that making you money? And I paused here that the podcast didn't end. That was a pause. I really want you to think about that. Like, how. How the freak is that making you money? It's not. Right. What is going to make you money is growing your list. Getting more Joe 65s. Right. Getting more Sandras, Getting more Chris's. Getting more Shaharas. Right. We need to go find those fre people. We don't need to be spending hours in our metrics. And especially. And again, I'm going to say with love, if you have less, let's say less than like, 500 people, and you have not been emailing consistently. I'm talking every single week or more for at least a year. You have no business dissecting your metrics that way. Sure, you can look at them. Oh, I got a click rate of 4% this week. I'm going to try to maintain that. I'm going to try to get 4% again. Right. That's what I want you to be doing with your metrics. Not clicking on Joe Schmo and Frederick and Marian and, you know, like, don't do that to yourself, my friend. All right. I hope this was received with love. It was a bit of a tough love podcast episode, but some of these are, aren't they? I'm. I hope you still love me, because I still love you and I want this so bad for you. I want you to make money with email. So please, instead of obsessing about your metrics, which, yes, they are important, but they're not important every day, and they're not so important right now that you have to make yourself sick about it. Okay. I want you to be obsessing. The only metric I want you to obsess with right now. Well, there's two of them. Number one, growing your list. How many people are on your list every day? Is that something you're looking at? Because that's effing important. Okay, and then how many of those people are we converting to customers? Right. I've got a whole episode on that. I'll link to that about why it's important to track that metric, your percentage of customers. But seriously, you also need to be tracking your. Your list growth rate and how many people are customers. All right, that's my spiel. This episode is called Quick Reminders. We're now at nine minutes. Anyway, I care about you so much and I care about your email list and I hope this was received well. As always you can join Email Marketing Membership if you're really really concerned about your open rate, your click rate, percentage of customers. That's what I focus on in the membership so you don't even have to worry about it. All the templates that I write are written from the perspective of how can I get more engagement AKA replies, clicks, opens, purchases. Right? I would worry about all that stuff for you. It's $9 a month email marketing membership. You already know the link is in the show notes. As always, I am Liz Wilcox and I am rooting so I am rooting for you so freaking hard. I want this so bad for you and I believe in you so much. I'll see you on the next episode my friend.