How should opens be used as a metric for email marketing?

Email marketer from G2 explains that while open rates are a good starting point, marketers must consider other metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and bounce rates to understand the full impact of their campaigns. They recommend using analytics tools to track these metrics and gain actionable insights for optimization.

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that using any single metric to try and measure success is just bad statistics.

Email marketer from Stack Overflow shares that tracking open rates allows you to get an idea of how many recipients were interested enough to open and view your email, but adds that with current technology, this may not be accurate, as the email may have been opened by a bot.

Email marketer from Reddit suggests that email opens provide a basic understanding of initial interest in the email, but they shouldn't be the sole measure of success. They advise using opens in conjunction with other metrics like clicks, conversions, and unsubscribe rates to get a complete picture of email campaign performance. They also stress the importance of segmenting email lists and personalizing content to improve engagement and overall results.

Email marketer from Email Geeks agrees that with clicks and opens, you need to ensure you are taking all precautions to remove the contacts where that click/open has been negative, otherwise, you’re running the unnecessary risk of continuing to contact people who have directly confirmed they don’t want your messages.

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign explains that marketers should analyze open rates to assess subject line effectiveness and overall email interest, but should also look at click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue generated from email campaigns. These metrics provide a more complete picture of email marketing performance.

Email marketer from Formstack explains that open rates allow you to get an idea of how many recipients were interested enough to open and view your email, but adds that you should also consider click-through rates, conversions, and bounce rates, plus any other metrics you think are important, like overall ROI.

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor suggests that with the decline of accurate open rate data, marketers should focus on metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and website traffic to gauge email campaign success. He recommends A/B testing different email elements and tracking the impact on these metrics to optimize email performance.

Email marketer from Neil Patel explains that tracking email opens is useful for assessing subject line performance and identifying engagement trends, but should be considered alongside other metrics like click-through rates and conversions for a holistic view of email campaign effectiveness. He emphasizes that a high open rate doesn't necessarily translate to success if recipients aren't clicking through and taking desired actions.

Email marketer from Email Geeks advises to use engagement metrics as an indication, but not "last opened message" but rather "out of last 50 emails the recipient opened more than X messages or clicked on X campaigns could be an indication of engaged recipient".

Email marketer from HubSpot shares that while open rates provide insights into subject line effectiveness, they are increasingly unreliable due to email privacy changes. They recommend focusing on other engagement metrics like click-through rates, website visits, and conversions for a more accurate understanding of campaign performance.

Email marketer from Sleeknote shares that one of the best ways to increase your open rates is to segment your mailing list, then send personalized emails. Because the emails are personalized, users are more likely to open and read the emails.

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that opens are one tool in your toolbox to mitigate risk but clicks are better

Expert from Word to the Wise suggests that marketers should shift their focus from open rates to metrics like click-through rates (CTR), conversions, and customer lifetime value (CLTV) in a post-MPP world. They recommend using advanced analytics and attribution models to track the true impact of email campaigns on business outcomes.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that using opens as a metric for who to continue mailing without also having FBLs to identify which of those opens resulted in a this is spam hit, leads to an increase in mail to folks who don’t want it and/or are receiving the message in their spamfolder, which longer term can lead to reputation problems.

Expert from Spamresource.com explains that opens are unreliable, so marketers should focus on measuring the actions that are important to them, like revenue, conversions, or even just users adding items to their cart.

Expert from Spamresource.com explains that Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) makes open rates less reliable, as Apple Mail automatically opens emails, regardless of user interaction. Therefore, marketers need to adapt and rely on other engagement metrics for a more accurate assessment of campaign performance.

Expert from Word to the Wise shares that Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) will impact email open rates, making them less trustworthy. This is because MPP will pre-load images (including tracking pixels) even if the recipient doesn't actually open the email, inflating open rates and skewing campaign data. Marketers should prepare for this change by focusing on other metrics.

Documentation from Litmus suggests that open rates should be used cautiously due to factors like Apple's Mail Privacy Protection and image blocking. They recommend focusing on metrics like click-through rates, read time, and engagement levels to gain a more accurate understanding of how recipients are interacting with emails. They also suggest using email testing and analytics tools to optimize email design and content for better engagement.

Documentation from Mailchimp explains that open tracking is a feature that allows users to see how many recipients opened their email. It uses an embedded invisible image, and when the image is downloaded it's recorded as an open. However, they also highlight that open rates are becoming less reliable due to privacy changes like Apple's Mail Privacy Protection.

Documentation from Sendinblue explains that open rates can help measure the effectiveness of your subject lines and the overall interest in your email content. They also emphasize the impact of Apple's Mail Privacy Protection, which can inflate open rates, and suggest analyzing other metrics like click-through rates and conversion rates for a more comprehensive understanding of email performance.

Documentation from Email on Acid shares that, because of changes to email privacy, open rates are no longer a reliable way to measure email success. Focus instead on metrics like click-through rate, website traffic, and conversions.