How do I explain poor email performance despite a good open rate?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that a low click rate, in relation to the open rate, can indicate that Apple's Mail Privacy Protection has skewed the data significantly and to look for a clear CTA.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign states that if you have a good open rate and a bad click rate it may be due to the email being bad to view, and difficult to navigate. They suggest testing different designs.
Email marketer from SuperOffice shares that a good open rate but a bad click rate means that the people who opened the emails may have been mislead by the subject title, meaning the content of the email was not what they thought, so they did not click anything. Make sure what the email says matches the expectation.
Email marketer from Neil Patel shares that to increase click-through rates, you need to make sure your emails are relevant and valuable to your subscribers. He suggests segmenting your list, personalizing your messages, and testing different calls-to-action to see what works best.
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog explains that while open rates are a starting point, focusing on click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and overall ROI provides a more accurate picture of email campaign performance. A good open rate with low CTR suggests the content isn't resonating with the audience.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that if a high percentage (50-90%) of opens are attributed to Mail Privacy Protection, the "true" open rate is likely much lower.
Email marketer from Litmus shares that marketers need to move beyond vanity metrics like open rates and instead focus on more meaningful metrics like conversion rates, revenue, and customer lifetime value. A high open rate doesn't necessarily equate to success if it's not driving business results.
Email marketer from Reddit says that high open rates but low click through rates can mean that your subject lines are good at getting attention, but the body of the email isn't interesting to your users, therefore, experiment with design.
Marketer from Email Geeks recommends determining the goals of each campaign to avoid getting caught up in vanity metrics, and using the goals of the campaign to determine how to measure success.
Email marketer from LinkedIn explains that if your open rates are good and your click through rates are not, then you need to improve the content of the email, which should be more engaging to the target audience.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise, Laura Belgray, responds that despite the importance of high open rates, it is more important to include information that is not bland, and is something that will have a call to action for a specific target market. The content should have a compelling effect.
Expert from Email Geeks explains the importance of being in the inbox and reminding people you exist, but emphasizes the importance of direct metrics. He suggests presenting the data as a funnel and highlighting the cost of losing contacts due to opt-outs compared to the desired actions achieved.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Oracle suggests that you need to improve the engagement rate by sending to a more appropriate audience that the content is targeted at.
Documentation from Sendinblue explains that if your open rates are high but your click-through rates are low, this could be a sign that your email content isn't engaging enough. They recommend segmenting your audience to deliver more personalized and relevant content, which can increase engagement and drive better results.
Documentation from Campaign Monitor explains that low click-through rates despite high open rates can suggest that your content is not resonating with subscribers. Focus on creating compelling content and offers that will encourage your subscribers to click.
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that high open rates and low click rates could indicate a problem with the content or call-to-action of your email. It suggests A/B testing different subject lines and content to see what resonates better with your audience to drive more clicks and conversions.