Campaign performance: Channel comparison

The Channel comparison screen shows how your email, SMS and push channels perform against each other, so you can see which channel drives the most engagement and revenue for every message you send.

Channel comparison is in beta. It shows your email, SMS and push channels. Only the channels on your account appear.

Go to: Campaigns > Campaign performance > Campaigns, then select the Channel comparison tab.

When to use this screen

Use the Channel comparison screen to:

• See which of your channels is performing best for the selected date range.
• Compare click-through rate, conversion rate and revenue per message between channels.
• Track how each channel's results change over time against a prior period.
• Compare campaigns that send on one channel with campaigns that send on more than one.

Set a date range

Set the date range at the top of the screen, next to View by. Select any of the pre-configured date ranges from the date picker drop-down, or choose Custom range to set your own.

By default, the screen shows the last 28 days compared with the previous 28 days. The second date range, after vs, is for comparison. If you change the first date range, the comparison range resets, so set the first range first.

The Channel overview comparison and Multi-channel campaign performance sections show both periods. The Channel performance section uses the first date range only.

Which campaigns are included

The screen includes both automation and broadcast campaigns. Email results combine automation emails and broadcasts. SMS and push results come from automation campaigns only.

For automation campaigns, messages sent, delivered and clicked count on the day the message was sent. Orders and revenue count on the day the order was placed. For broadcasts, all results count on the day the broadcast started sending, including clicks, orders and revenue that come in after your date range ends. Dates use your account's time zone.

Archived automation campaigns are not included unless they are set to be included in reports.

Channel performance

The Channel performance section compares your channels side by side for the first date range.

Every channel on your account has a card showing:

• Performance score: a score from 0 to 100 that shows how close the channel comes to your best click-through rate, conversion rate and revenue per message in this period.
• Sent: the number of messages the channel sent in the period.
• A label showing where the channel stands: Your top channel, Below your top channel, Not enough sends yet, Only channel with enough sends, No engagement yet or No sends yet.

If a channel cannot be scored, its card says why. For example, a channel with fewer than 500 sends shows how many more it needs. Select the info icon on a card for more detail.

The score compares your channels with each other. It is not an industry benchmark. To learn how the score is worked out and what each label means, see How channel performance scores work (BETA).

How each metric compares

The table under the cards shows the three rates behind the score for each channel:

• Click-through rate: clicks divided by messages sent.
• Conversion rate: orders divided by messages sent.
• Revenue per message: revenue divided by messages sent.

The Best label marks the scored channel with the highest value for each rate. If two channels tie, both show Best. Select the info icon next to a rate to see its definition and how many points it is worth.

💡 Rates in this section are per message sent, so every channel is measured the same way. Channel overview comparison and Multi-channel campaign performance show rates per message delivered. Push only counts a message as delivered when the device confirms it, so push rates in those sections can be much higher than here.

Explain the scores

Select Show explanation in the Channel performance header to see why your channels score as they do. Architect AI reads the figures on the cards and in the How each metric compares table for the first date range and writes a short headline with a few points, for example which rate is furthest behind your top channel, how send volume affects clicks per message, and how much of your revenue each channel brought in.

The explanation is generated when you select the button and only uses your account's figures for the selected period. It is marked AI-generated. Check the figures above. so you can compare it with the cards and table.

Select the arrow on the right of the panel to fold the points away and keep the headline, or select Hide explanation to close the panel. The panel also closes when you change the date range.

The button appears when at least two channels have a score. If the explanation cannot be generated, the section shows a plain summary of the scores instead.

Download data

Select the download icon to export one row per channel for the first date range, with its score, state, messages sent and delivered, the three rates, and which rates it leads on. In the file, Your top channel shows as Best performing and Below your top channel as Trailing your best. See Export your data below.

Channel overview comparison

The Channel overview comparison section shows one metric at a time for each channel over time, for the current and prior period. Date ranges of up to a month show each day. Longer ranges show each week.

Select a metric

Use the Select metric drop-down to choose what the section shows. Total revenue is selected by default.

• Total revenue: revenue attributed to the channel's campaign messages.
• Total orders: orders attributed to the channel's campaign messages.
• Messages sent: campaign messages sent on the channel.
• Messages delivered: campaign messages delivered on the channel.
• Total clicks: clicks on campaign messages on the channel.
• Click-through rate: clicks divided by messages delivered.
• Conversion rate: orders divided by messages delivered.
• ROI (revenue per message): revenue divided by messages delivered.

Rates in this section are per message delivered. ROI (revenue per message) does not include sending costs, and it is not the same as Revenue per message in Channel performance, which is per message sent. Email includes automation and broadcast emails.

Read the chart

Each channel has a card at the top with its value for the current period and how much it changed compared with the prior period, as a percentage of the prior value. Select a card to hide or show that channel in the chart.

For click-through rate and conversion rate, the chart shows bars: the solid bar is the current period, and the pale bar is the matching day in the prior period. For all other metrics, it shows lines: the solid line is the current period, and the dashed line is the prior period. Hover over the chart to see the exact values and dates for both periods.

Download data

Select the download icon to export the selected metric for each channel, by day or week, for the first date range. To export a different metric, select it first. See Export your data below.

Multi-channel campaign performance

The Multi-channel campaign performance section groups your campaigns by the channels they actually sent on in each period, for example Email only, Push only or Email & SMS. Campaigns that sent on every channel your account uses are grouped as All channels. Broadcasts are always in Email only.

Use it to see whether campaigns that reach contacts on more than one channel perform differently from single-channel campaigns.

Use the Select metric drop-down to choose Total revenue, Click-through rate or Conversion rate. Rates are per message delivered, across all campaigns in the group. Groups are sorted from highest to lowest value for the selected metric.

Each group shows a darker bar for the current period and a lighter bar for the prior period. A group with no campaigns in one of the periods shows only one bar. Hover over a group to see the exact values.

This section only includes automation campaigns that had new entries in the date range, so its totals can differ from the Channel overview comparison section for the same range.

Select the download icon to export the campaigns behind the chart for the first date range: one row per campaign, with the messages it sent on each channel and the selected metric. See Export your data below.

Export your data

Select the download icon in a section to open Export report. Give the file a name if you want, choose CSV or XLSX, and select Export. The file is prepared in the background. When it is ready, download it from Exports in the top bar.

Exports cover the first date range only. No export includes the prior period. If you do not see the download icon, ask your account admin for permission to export campaign performance.

Use cases

Find your strongest channel

Check which channel brings in the most engagement and revenue for every message you send.

1. Set the date range to the period you want to review, for example last month.
2. In Channel performance, look for the channel labelled Your top channel.
3. Check the How each metric compares table to see which rates it leads on. The Best label marks the leader for each rate.

If no channel shows Your top channel, fewer than two channels sent enough messages to compare. Try a longer date range.

Use this when you plan where to put your next promotion or which channel to test new content on first.

Understand why a channel scores lower

A lower score tells you a channel is behind your top channel. The How each metric compares table shows you where it is behind.

• Lower click-through rate: contacts are not engaging with the message, or fewer of your messages are reaching them. Review your message copy, images and send times (and subject lines for email), and check the channel's delivery rate.
• Good click-through rate but lower conversion rate: contacts are clicking but not ordering. Check that the page you link to matches the message and that any offer is easy to find.
• Good conversion rate but lower revenue per message: contacts are ordering, but spending less. Review which products and offers you feature on that channel.

For a short explanation written from your own figures, select Show explanation in the Channel performance header. See Explain the scores above.

💡 A lower score does not mean you should stop using a channel. It can still reach contacts your other channels do not. See How channel performance scores work (BETA).

Measure the impact of a new channel or campaign

See how your results changed after you launched a new channel or a new campaign.

1. Set the first date range to a period after the launch.
2. Set the comparison date range, after vs, to Previous period, or a custom range of the same length before the launch.
3. In Channel overview comparison, select Total revenue from the Select metric drop-down. Compare the current and prior period lines for each channel. A channel you have just launched has no prior period to compare with.
4. Switch to Messages sent to check whether a change in revenue came from sending more messages or from better results per message.

Spot unusual days

Find days when a channel performed much better or worse than usual.

1. In Channel overview comparison, use a date range of a month or less so the chart shows each day, then select the metric you want to check, for example Click-through rate.
2. Look for days where the current period is much higher or lower than the prior period.
3. Hover over the day to see the exact values.
4. Go to the All campaigns, Automation or Broadcast tab and set the date range to that day to see which campaigns sent. A broadcast's results all count on the day it started sending.

Decide whether to add a second channel to a campaign

Compare campaigns that send on one channel with campaigns that send on more than one.

1. In Multi-channel campaign performance, select Conversion rate from the Select metric drop-down.
2. Compare each group, for example Email only with Email & Push (or All channels).
3. Switch to Total revenue to see how much each group brings in overall.

Each group contains different campaigns, and broadcasts are always in Email only, so a difference can come from the type of campaign as well as the channels. Export the section to see which campaigns are in each group. To test a second channel, add it to one automation campaign and compare that campaign's results before and after.

Note: This section shows a group if your campaigns used that combination of channels in either date range.

Share results with your team

Select the download icon in any section to export its data for the first date range, then download the file from Exports in the top bar. Use the export to add channel results to your own reports or to share them with your team.

Related articles

• How channel performance scores work (BETA)
• Campaign performance: All campaigns (BETA)
• Push notifications in campaign performance