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Hi, {{first_name|friend}}. 👋
Welcome to Issue #206 of All About Email!
Last week, my final guest author of the summer took us on a deep dive into typography, with tips, insights and some code!
This week, I’m here to talk about links, but not how you might expect. What do 6,117 clicks say about you, lovely readers (and what I’m changing)?
Let’s go! 👇
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A Quick Apology
In last week’s newsletter (I fixed the web version), I incorrectly linked to Jay Oram’s about page. 🤦♂️
Sorry, Jay and for anyone interested, this is Jay’s profile. Make sure you check out all of his social links. 😉
Speaking of Links
I’ve been with Beehiiv for 18 months now, and almost 12 months on my paid plan. I’ve been doing a lot of work behind the scenes and cleaning my list (more on that in another issue).
One of those things I’ve been looking at is data…I love data! ❤️
Beehiiv’s new dashboard is great, but with a sprinkling of ChatGPT, I’ve been taking things a bit further.
Let’s go! 👇
The State of Clicks - All About Email Edition
Ever wondered what you (and hundreds of other readers) actually click?
I do, and if you run a newsletter or send email marketing campaigns, you should analyse your clicks. ✅
I analysed every issue (up to this one) of All About Email, and here’s the TL;DR of:
What captured attention.
What underperformed.
How I’m evolving the newsletter.
The Big Winners
My newsletters contain a lot of links; last week’s issue had 72 links (actually a bit more) scattered throughout my email content and template. 🤯
View Online + Subscribe links - Accounts for 21.4% of all clicks.
LinkedIn - 11.8% of all clicks go to LinkedIn posts. Cross-posting works — more on how I’ll lean into this below.
Really Good Emails (RGE) - 7.9% of all clicks. Inspiration performs every time.
Top 3 Combined
View Online and Subscribe Links + LinkedIn + RGE - 41% of all clicks across all previous issues of my newsletter come from these links.
That’s a huge percentage…even if we remove RGE, 33.2% of links are to:
View the online version of a newsletter
Subscribe to my newsletter (not update preferences)
How You Click (Behaviour)
So how are readers like you, {{first_name|friend}}, clicking?
High intent: 90.4% of clicks are unique.
Internal vs external: Internal links have more repeat use (unique ratio 86.1%) than external (91.5%). People revisit my pages (other issues) more often than external resources.
Long tail: Only 12.7% of all clicks go to the top 8 links → engagement is broadly distributed across many resources (not just one hero link).
❤️ What you love: Tool and utility destinations (Litmus, Mail-tester, BIMI, Google Docs) account for ≈14% of all clicks; social platforms (LinkedIn, YouTube/X) account for ≈14.3%.
🤔 So I may need to start writing more about email tools and services…
Campaign Click Performance
Top campaigns: Issue 148, Issue 199 and Issue 186 lead with the top 10 campaigns delivering 29.4% of all clicks.
These winning issues spread engagement across multiple links, not just one standout.
Mini/special editions underperform core issues. **
** I might have to adjust positioning and CTAs to clarify their value when my newsletters don’t take their usual format (e.g. The Summer Series ⛱️).
What I’m Changing Next
More tool-first curation (deliverability, testing, production workflows).
Ask RGE for an enormous amount of sponsorship money. 😂
LinkedIn engagement loop — short commentary/snippets in email with a “continue on LinkedIn” CTA to compound reach. **
Issue Heatmap Tracking (section-level) to optimise the layout of my newsletters over time, perhaps using Email Heatmaps.
** I’m not entirely sure about this one, but I am bringing back my LinkedIn newsletter (because two newsletters just isn’t enough 😂).
Final Thoughts & Task Time
🚨 Seriously, though, Beehiiv gives me a huge amount of data (including Click Maps) and reporting tools for links, but AI has helped me take these JSON reports from Beehiiv and learn even more.
✅ I think when we talk about clicks and click-rates, we aren’t looking deep enough. So go and look at your data and see:
Do short or longer links perform better?
What are your top link categories?
Are there hidden opportunities for monetisation (ads, sponsors and partnerships)?
What link categories are not working?
Do links perform better in a “Hero CTA” or at the bottom of your email?
🎉 Link analytics offer a chance to refine your content, boost reader engagement, and deliver more value!
Now…before you go, for those data geeks like me out there, let’s take a look at some raw data from 68 newsletters on Beehiiv:
6,117 total clicks | 5,527 unique (90.4% unique) **
2,359 links clicked; engagement is long-tail (top 8 links = 12.7%)
Top 10 campaigns → Account for 29.4% of total clicks.
** At this point, I should also mention Beehiiv’s click tracking is excellent, and use tools to verify clicks and distinguish between automated and human clicks
That’s it for this week, {{first_name|friend}}. 👋
All About Email - Playlist 🎧
I listen to lots of music, particularly when I’m writing newsletters.
Each week, when I hit the publish button, I’ll share the track I am currently listening to and create the most eclectic email playlist you’ve probably ever heard.
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Email Marketing News & Tips
This week's excellent and insightful email news & tips:
Email Design Trends - Real talk about this year’s top design trends with our panel of email experts. What’s effective, what’s accessible, and how you can power up your own emails with them. (Really Good Emails)
Case Study - How Holbrook Pickleball Cut Email Production Time with the Email Love Figma Plugin. (Email Love)
Inbox Placement - Your Recipe for Sending Success. (Alison Gootee)
Using A Tip Jar? - 5 ways to actually make money from your tip jar, featuring independent publishers using them well. (Lex Roman)
noyb WIN - French DPA fines Google €325 million for “Spam Emails” in Gmail. (NYOB)
Email Advice - Misinformation 101. (Des Brown)
Spam Trigger Words - Backed up by multiple sources. (Action Rocket)
ZeroBounce One - How to Simplify Your Email Marketing Today. (ZeroBounce)
Spam or Rejected - Laposte.net will require that all emails be authenticated. (Word to the Wise)
SaaS Email List Hygiene - Removing, Archiving, and Suppressing Subscribers. When and How? (Userlist)
The SCL:-1 Loophole - Why DMARC Reject Doesn’t Stop Internal Spoofing in Microsoft 365. (Easy DMARC)
Yotpo Alternatives in 2025 - Where to Move Your Email & SMS Marketing (emailtooltester)
Personalisation Dissonance - Why Large Teams Struggle to Deliver a Consistent Email Experience to Readers. (Inbox Collective)
Accessibility Testing - Thunderbird Accessibility Study. (Mozilla)
Email risk report 2025 - Email fraud’s billion-dollar blind spot and the data behind bad emails (Bouncer)
International Charity Day - What two volunteer days taught us about connection. (Action Rocket)
If you have a question about this email or email marketing, reply, and I will answer you as soon as possible.
I hope you have a great week! 👋
