Email Campaign Sankey Diagram: Editable Template
Follow an email send from delivery through opens, clicks and purchases, with bounces, unsubscribes and non-openers drawn as their own ribbons. Replace the counts.
An email campaign Sankey follows one send from the list to the purchase. Every stage keeps the people who did not continue as a ribbon of their own.
Open and click rates are percentages of different bases, which makes them hard to compare. In a Sankey they share one base: the 10,000 emails sent.
The example is invented. Open counts depend on how your tool tracks opens, so treat them as an estimate and say so on the chart.
How to read this diagram
- 9,600 of 10,000 emails are delivered; 400 bounce (4%).
- 2,400 delivered emails are opened (25%), and 480 of those lead to a click (20%).
- 96 clicks end in a purchase, under 1% of the emails sent.
- 24 people unsubscribe after opening, a number to watch across sends.
The data behind it
Invented figures for illustration. Not data about any real business. Open counts are tracking estimates.
| From | To | Amount (emails) |
|---|---|---|
| Sent | Delivered | 9600 |
| Sent | Bounced | 400 |
| Delivered | Opened | 2400 |
| Delivered | Not opened | 7200 |
| Opened | Clicked | 480 |
| Opened | Unsubscribed | 24 |
| Opened | Opened only | 1896 |
| Clicked | Purchased | 96 |
| Clicked | Browsed, no purchase | 384 |
The same data as CSV
source,target,value
Sent,Delivered,9600
Sent,Bounced,400
Delivered,Opened,2400
Delivered,Not opened,7200
Opened,Clicked,480
Opened,Unsubscribed,24
Opened,Opened only,1896
Clicked,Purchased,96
Clicked,"Browsed, no purchase",384How it works
Take the counts from your email tool
Sent, delivered, bounced, opened, clicked and unsubscribed for one campaign.
Add purchases
Match clicks to orders with a campaign parameter, and count the rest as browsed.
Enter the flows
Each stage sends its people to the next stage or to an exit node.
Check the balance
Opened should equal clicked plus unsubscribed plus opened only.
Frequently asked questions
Are open counts reliable?
Not fully. Mail apps can load images in advance, which inflates opens. Note this on the chart or start the story at clicks.
Can I compare two campaigns?
Draw one Sankey per campaign with the same scale, or compare their ribbons side by side in a table.
Edit this email Sankey
Open the example as your own chart and enter your campaign counts.