You need to know if the system is working. Here are the numbers to watch and the ones to ignore.
Open rate: Aim for 60%+ on email. If you’re below 50%, your subject lines need work or your emails are landing in spam. Check your domain warmup and DNS settings in Instantly.
Reply rate: 20-35% is the benchmark for well-targeted outbound recruiting campaigns. Below 15% means your messaging isn’t resonating or your targeting is off. Above 25% means you’re in a strong position.
Interested reply rate: Not all replies are positive. Track the percentage of replies that express genuine interest. A healthy campaign converts 40-60% of replies into interested candidates.
Candidates per sequence: How many candidates you’re contacting per role. 50-100 is a solid starting pool. If you’re burning through 200+ candidates for a single role, your targeting criteria needs tightening.
Time to first interview: From the day you launch outreach to the day the first candidate interviews. Aim for under 2 weeks. If it’s taking longer, you’re either targeting too narrowly or your response time to interested candidates is too slow.
Cost per hire: Add up your monthly tool costs plus the hours you’re spending on sourcing and outreach. Compare this to what a staffing firm would charge for the same hire. This is the number that keeps the system justified.
Total emails sent: Volume doesn’t matter. A campaign that sends 50 emails and books 5 interviews is better than one that sends 500 and books 3.
LinkedIn connection acceptance rate: This varies wildly based on your profile, industry, and timing. It’s not a reliable indicator of campaign quality.
Time spent per candidate: Don’t optimize for speed. Optimize for personalization quality. A message that takes 3 minutes to write and gets a reply is worth more than 10 messages written in 3 minutes that get ignored.
Every Friday, review: how many candidates contacted, reply rate, interested replies, interviews scheduled. If reply rates drop below 15% for two consecutive weeks, revisit your messaging. If you’re getting replies but not converting to interviews, the issue is in your follow-up or scheduling speed, not your outreach.