Editing Mailto:support@activecampaign.com (section)

=== Best practices moving forward ===
Email is still a valuable and lucrative part of your overall customer lifecycle. And the best path forward to measure engagement is to rely on email link clicks, first-party data, and to have an end goal in mind. Having the correct data will help you make better decisions, will help you understand what your customers care about, and will help you build stronger customer relationships.

* '''Create new baselines - focus on email link clicks:''' Email link clicks are a meaningful metric because they are actionable, measure engagement, and can lead to more conversions. Emails with high clicks can signify that your email was engaging and valuable. You'll want to ensure your emails contain clear, enticing calls-to-action (CTA) that get contacts to take the following action in their customer journey.

* '''Collect and store first-party data:''' You can collect and store first-party data in your ActiveCampaign account. Some of this data can include:
** Identifying website visits with Site Tracking
** Collecting email addresses or additional data a contact provides when they submit a form
** A purchase made on your site

You'll want to identify as many opportunities as possible for tracking first-party data. Then use this data and link clicks to understand what drives engagement and how your marketing strategy is performing overall.

* '''Track towards your end goal:''' What do you want to achieve with your email marketing? Do you want to convert a lead to a customer? Do you want a contact to take a specific action on your site? Successful engagement doesn't end with an email open. It happens at the point of conversion. If you have multiple conversion points, identify what they are, learn how to measure them, and measure them over time.