How good are you at acquiring new subscribers?
How good are you at keeping subscribers? At selling more products to your existing subscribers?
If you’re serious about selling info products, you should be able to answer these questions.
To do so, you have to know your numbers.
In this essay, I’ll show you 4 key metrics every info-product business owner must know… along with context so you’ll know where you stand on each one.
1. Lead capture conversion %
I’ve written previously about how to grow your email list. As an info-product seller, your email list is the most important asset you own.
To grow your list, you’ll need a page that briefly describes who you are, what you do, and the benefits of signing up to your list.
Some call this an “opt-in” page… or a “squeeze” page… or a “landing page.” It’s all the same thing: the sole purpose of this page is to get interested people to sign up for your email list.
An effective opt-in page converts 40-50% of folks who visit it. Anything less and you’re probably leaving money on the table.
Your opt-in conversion rate is a very important leverage point in your business. If 1,000 folks a week visit the page… even a tiny 2% boost in conversion will make a big difference. That’s 20 more subscribers a week – over 1,000 a year – all from one tiny improvement!
Tip – If your conversions are low, first check if your messaging is congruent. If you’re sending people to the page from an ad, be sure the “bridge” from the ad to the opt-in page makes sense.
2. Email open rates
Unfortunately, email open rates are hard to trust ever since Apple effectively ruined their reliability with its privacy updates.
Still, they’re an important metric to measure since subscribers can’t consume your content if they’re not opening your emails.
Aim for a minimum of 20% open rates. 30% is great and achievable for most businesses, 50% is amazing.
You’ll only get open rates this high if your list is clean. If you have subscribers who haven’t opened emails for 6-12 months then consider running a re-engagement campaign or remove them.
Tip – Writing good subject lines is by far the #1 way to boost open rates.
The best subject lines:
- Pack an emotional punch
- Hit at least 1 of the “4 Us” – Unique, Useful, Urgent, Ultra-specific
- Create a sense of curiosity, urgency, or importance
- Shorter is usually better, but not always.
Discover the specific leverage points that will unlock growth in your business in less than 3 minutes. Start the diagnostic.
3. Email Click Through Rate (CTR)
The more new stuff you produce, the more clicks you’ll get…
If you keep putting the same old links to the same old stuff in front of your subscribers, clicks will decline. To keep clicks high, always be producing fresh, new, A+ content to link to.
Benchmarks for click-through rates vary depending on what you’re sending20-30% of clicks as a percentage of opens is gold standard. Anything below 5-10% isn’t great.
Tip – Always use tracking links to accurately measure what’s being clicked. Lots of apps don’t give you reporting on ‘unique clicks’ so while it might say 100 clicks, this could be the same 5 people clicking 20 times. Use a system that easily tracks unique clicks.
4. Subscribers to paid customers conversion %
Once you have a growing and engaged subscriber base, you’re in a position to start selling.
For free to paid subscribers during an initial launch:
- 10% is very good, and 25% conversion is great if you’re selling a low-priced product ($99 or less).
- For high-priced products, ($1000+) 1% is strong and 2% is amazing.
Hope these ideas help. Until next time,
– Dan Steinhart, CPA
P.S. All of the leverage points mentioned above can unlock revenue growth in your business.
Take this simple 3-minute diagnostic to identify the specific leverage points that will unlock growth in your business. Start here.