Two email reports show 4% and 6%. Before asking Migma to redesign the lower-performing message, check what those percentages divide by. The apparent gap may come from different definitions rather than different creative.
Use Migma to make a focused copy or design change after the measurement owner confirms that the comparison answers the intended question. A clear denominator helps prevent a good draft from being revised for the wrong reason.
This guide is published by Migma. It offers a worked example and a practical review method, not an independent performance benchmark. All figures below are fictional.
Start with the count underneath the percentage
The denominator is the population beneath the click count in a rate. Common labels can hide important differences: sends, delivered emails, recipients, and opens are not interchangeable populations.
Loops’ KPI guide defines click rate using delivered emails and distinguishes that from click-to-open rate. It also warns that a workflow report expressed against sends is a different measure. Read the definition attached to the actual report instead of assuming the column heading tells the whole story.
Write the calculation out in words. “Unique recipients with a qualifying click divided by delivered emails in this campaign” is far more useful than “CTR went down.” Record whether the report uses total events, unique people, or another unit, and note the period it covers.
A worked example: the same clicks, different rates
Imagine a campaign with 1,250 sends, 1,200 delivered emails, 500 recorded opens, and 60 unique recipients with a click. Assume for this example that those counts share an agreed observation window and use the same eligibility rules.
| Calculation | Result | What the label should reveal |
|---|---|---|
| 60 divided by 1,250 sends | 4.8% | A rate against sends |
| 60 divided by 1,200 delivered emails | 5% | A rate against deliveries |
| 60 divided by 500 recorded opens | 12% | A click-to-open measure |
Nothing about the email changed between these rows. The denominator changed. Treating the 12% figure as proof that one creative version outperformed a 5% version would confuse different questions.
Now imagine the same 60 people produced 95 click events. A total-event calculation answers a different question again. It may include repeat activity that a unique-person measure counts once. Ask how the platform treats repeated and automated activity before using the result in a comparison.
The table is an arithmetic exercise. It is not a suggested target for your audience, a measurement of Migma, or a comparison between sending products.
Make the observation windows match
A lifetime workflow report and a seven-day campaign report may both be valid. They are not automatically comparable.
Capture the send period, time allowed for activity, and extraction time. A message sent yesterday has had less opportunity to collect later clicks than one sent a month ago. An always-running onboarding email can also reach users at different product stages from a seasonal promotion.
Look for a change in audience composition as well. A narrower audience may produce a different rate without demonstrating that its layout is better. If eligibility or timing changed, describe that change in the report rather than attributing the whole difference to creative.
For a creative experiment, define the comparison before launch. Decide what stays fixed, which single change you want to evaluate, and what evidence will support the next decision. Keep campaign reporting separate from a claim that the email caused every later purchase.
Read Migma results with their stated scope
Migma’s current results documentation describes total and unique activity, recipient logs, and a Click map for reviewing recorded human clicks. It also explains that combined campaign reports sum unique counts per campaign. One address can therefore contribute once in each included campaign.
That scope matters when you describe a combined audience. A sum of campaign-level unique counts is not necessarily the number of distinct people across the entire batch. Keep the report label faithful to what it measures.
The same documentation explains that recorded delivery is not confirmation of inbox placement and that privacy features can affect open measurements. Avoid treating opens as an exact count of people who read the creative. Migma does not automatically choose an A/B winner; the documented workflow requires a reviewed selection.
Give the next draft a specific task
Once the measurement is comparable, identify an observable creative problem. A link may be difficult to find, the action may sound vague, or the email may ask readers to choose among too many equally prominent actions.
A useful Migma brief might say: “Keep the audience, offer, destination, and supporting copy unchanged. Make the getting-started action clear in the heading and button. Preserve the existing secondary help link.” This is a proposed experiment, not a promise of higher clicks.
Review the resulting draft beside the original. Confirm that the requested change happened and that the design did not quietly introduce a new offer or destination. Run Email Preflight, then inspect the version in the final sending platform. Preflight can reduce avoidable link, layout, and writing problems; it cannot guarantee inbox placement or a performance result.
Keep a short comparison note
Before reporting a winner, record the numerator, denominator, unit, observation window, audience, and creative change. If one of those remains uncertain, explain the limitation and resolve it before making a broader claim.
Use Migma to turn a verified finding into a reviewable draft. Better creative decisions begin with a report whose percentages mean the same thing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an email click-rate denominator?
It is the population used beneath the click count in the calculation, such as delivered emails or sends. Read the platform definition and label your report so different rates are not treated as equivalent.
Are total clicks and unique clickers interchangeable?
No. One recipient may click several times. Compare counts that use the same unit and review the platform rules for repeated or automated activity.
Can click-to-open rate replace delivered-email click rate?
They answer different questions and use different denominators. Open measurement can also be affected by privacy features. Keep both definitions explicit rather than comparing their percentages directly.
When should I change the email design?
After confirming the report describes a relevant creative problem. Give Migma one specific proposed change and keep audience, link destinations, and measurement definitions stable enough to interpret the result.