Total and unique campaign metrics

  • Updated

In Optimizely Data Platform (ODP), you can use unique or total campaign metrics to evaluate your campaign performance, depending on how you want to track customer data. If a customer opens an email 10 times, the unique model records it as one open, while the total model records it as 10 separate opens.  

The default value displays the unique model, which focuses on the number of unique customers instead of the frequency at which customers open the emails. Consider the following example:  

  • A campaign is sent to 10 customers, and only one opens the email.
  • The total model counts the open rate as 20 total opens / 10 total sends = 200%
  • The unique model counts the open rate as 1 unique open / 10 unique sends = 10%

Unique metrics portray a more accurate depiction of your campaign performance. You can access both models to compare between providers.

Switch between models

You can switch between total and unique metrics for all campaigns, individual campaigns, or individual touchpoints.

Conversions and revenue

Conversions and revenue do not change when switching between total and unique metrics. ODP reports the total revenue from those conversions.

Comparisons to other tools

Many tools default to using the total metrics model because total metrics are often higher than unique metrics, resulting in an inflated performance report. If you use a tool that calculates total metrics instead of unique metrics, switch to the unique model in ODP to compare performances. Metrics revert to the ODP default value when loading or refreshing the page. 

Notable differences

Metric

Total

Unique

Sent

# email sends

# of users sent email

Open Rate

# opens or# sends

# of users opened or# of users sent

Click Rate

# clicks or# sends

# of users clicked or# of users sent

Global Unsubscribes

# global unsubscribes

# of users globally unsubscribed

List Unsubscribes

# list unsubscribes

# of users unsubscribed from lists

Conversions

# of conversions

same as total

Revenue

sum of revenue

same as total

Qualified

# of qualified

# of users qualified

Hard Bounces

# of hard bounces

# of users with a hard bounce

Soft Bounces

# of soft bounces

# of users with a soft bounce

Spam Reports

# of spam reports

# of users that gave a spam report

Click-to-Open Rate

# clicks or # opens

# of users clicked or # of users opened

Aborts

# of aborts

# of users aborted

Additional examples

Sends

If five one-time campaigns are sent to 100 customers, the total sends equal to 500, but unique sends equal to 100. 

Opens and open-rate

If a one-time campaign is sent to a single customer who opens that email five times, the total opens are five, but the unique open is one. This means a total open rate of 500% but a unique open rate of 100%.  

Total Metrics Calculation

  • Total sends = 1 email sent
  • Total opens = 5 emails opened
  • Total open rate = 5 opens / 1 send = 500%

Unique Metrics Calculation

  • Unique sends = 1 email sent 
  • Unique opens = 1 emails opened 
  • Unique open rate = 1 unique open / 1 unique send = 100%

Recurring and Continuous Campaigns

Recurring and continuous campaigns can reach the same customers multiple times.

For example, a cart abandonment campaign runs continuously, sending a maximum of one email per day per customer. In this case, 50 emails were sent to 50 separate customers on the first day. Each customer opened the email four times. At the end of the second day, another 50 emails were sent to the same 50 customers who did not open them. Reviewing the campaign would show a significant difference in performance based on the selected model.

Day 1

Total Metrics Calculation

  • Total sends = 50
  • Total opens = 50 emails * 4 opens each = 200
  • Total open rate = 200 / 50 = 400%

Unique Metrics Calculation

  • Unique sends = 50
  • Unique opens = 50
  • Unique open rate = 50 / 50 = 100%

Day 2

Total Metrics Calculation

  • Total sends = 50
  • Total opens = 0
  • Total open rate = 0 / 50 = 0%

Unique Metrics Calculation

  • Unique sends = 50
  • Unique opens = 0
  • Unique open rate = 0 / 50 = 0%

Day 1 and 2 Combined

Total Metrics Calculation

  • Total sends = 100
  • Total opens = 200
  • Total open rate = 200 / 100 = 200%

Unique Metrics Calculation

  • Unique sends = 50 unique customers * 2 unique emails each = 100
  • Unique opens = 50
  • Unique open rate = 50 / 100 = 50%