Email Metrics: What About Open Rates?
One of the biggest questions we continue to be asked concerns open rates, i.e. what percentage of people who receive your email actually “open” and read it?
As email marketers, it is incumbent upon us to have reliable metrics on which to base our decisions. To that end, open rates may no longer be the best measure of the effectiveness and ROI of your email campaigns. While it is fine to review these figures, keep in mind that the statistics are skewed, especially if you are comparing current rates against prior periods.
Generally, open rates will be under-reported. If an image is blocked in an email client, that email will not be shown as opened. Unfortunately, 50% of email recipients have email clients that default to this setting. Most new computers and network administrators within companies use this as a default setting, without the email reader even being aware of it.
While it is fine to continue gathering this information, critical decisions should not be based on the results. Do not attempt to categorize your email marketing as a success or failure based on open rates or you might waste time fixing something that isn’t “broke”!
