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

Summary

Experts, marketers, and documentation widely agree that relying solely on email open rates as a metric is increasingly problematic due to factors like Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), image blocking, and bot activity. MPP inflates open rates by pre-loading images, rendering the data less trustworthy. The consensus is to use open rates cautiously, primarily for assessing subject line performance on a limited basis. A holistic approach is recommended, emphasizing engagement metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversions, website traffic, revenue, and customer lifetime value (CLTV) to gain a more accurate understanding of campaign effectiveness. Segmentation, personalization, and advanced analytics play a crucial role in optimizing campaigns based on these more reliable indicators.

Key findings

  • Opens Are Unreliable: Apple's MPP, image blocking, and bot activity make open rates an increasingly unreliable metric.
  • MPP Inflates Data: MPP pre-loads images, inflating open rates and skewing campaign data.
  • Focus on Engagement: Key metrics should shift to click-through rates, conversions, website traffic, revenue, and CLTV.
  • Use Sparingly for Subject Lines: Open rates can be used cautiously to assess subject line performance, but are not definitive.

Key considerations

  • Adopt Holistic Approach: Implement a holistic measurement strategy encompassing various engagement metrics.
  • Leverage Advanced Analytics: Employ advanced analytics and attribution models to track the true impact of email campaigns on business outcomes.
  • Implement Segmentation: Segment email lists and personalize content to drive genuine engagement.
  • Adapt to Privacy: Adapt marketing strategies to align with growing privacy concerns and MPP.

What email marketers say
13Marketer opinions

Experts and marketers agree that using email opens as a sole metric for email marketing success is not sufficient. While opens can provide some insight into subject line performance and initial engagement, they are becoming increasingly unreliable due to factors like Apple's Mail Privacy Protection and image blocking. A holistic approach that considers click-through rates, conversions, website traffic, and other engagement metrics is recommended for a more accurate understanding of campaign performance. Furthermore, segmenting email lists and personalizing content can improve engagement, but negative engagement should be carefully monitored.

Key opinions

  • Opens Not Sufficient: Relying solely on open rates is insufficient for measuring email marketing success.
  • Opens are Unreliable: Open rates are becoming less reliable due to privacy changes and image blocking.
  • Need Hollistic Approach: A holistic approach considering other engagement metrics is crucial.
  • Clicks are better: Clicks are often considered a better metric than opens

Key considerations

  • Track Multiple Metrics: Track click-through rates, conversions, website traffic, and other relevant metrics in addition to open rates.
  • Monitor Negative Engagement: Take precautions to remove contacts with negative engagement signals (e.g., spam complaints).
  • Segment Lists: Segment email lists and personalize content to improve engagement.
  • A/B Test: A/B test different email elements to optimize for overall performance, not just open rates.
Marketer view

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.

January 2022 - G2
Marketer view

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

December 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

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.

February 2025 - Stack Overflow
Marketer view

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.

February 2024 - Reddit
Marketer view

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.

April 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

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.

October 2024 - ActiveCampaign
Marketer view

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.

November 2024 - Formstack
Marketer view

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.

December 2021 - Campaign Monitor
Marketer view

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.

July 2021 - Neil Patel
Marketer view

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".

July 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

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.

December 2022 - HubSpot
Marketer view

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.

September 2024 - Sleeknote
Marketer view

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

July 2021 - Email Geeks

What the experts say
5Expert opinions

Experts generally agree that email opens are an increasingly unreliable metric for measuring email marketing success, particularly due to Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP). MPP inflates open rates, skewing data and making it difficult to accurately assess campaign performance. Instead of focusing on opens, experts recommend shifting towards metrics that reflect user engagement and business outcomes, such as click-through rates (CTR), conversions, customer lifetime value (CLTV), and revenue.

Key opinions

  • Opens are Unreliable: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) makes open rates less trustworthy.
  • Focus on Actions: Marketers should measure actions that are important to them, like revenue and conversions.
  • Opens can be harmful: Using opens without considering feedback loops can lead to reputation problems.

Key considerations

  • Shift to Engagement Metrics: Shift focus towards metrics like click-through rates, conversions, and customer lifetime value.
  • Implement Advanced Analytics: Use advanced analytics and attribution models to track the true impact of email campaigns.
  • Adapt to Privacy Changes: Adapt email marketing strategies to account for privacy changes like Apple's MPP.
Expert view

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.

March 2025 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

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.

April 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

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.

January 2023 - Spamresource.com
Expert view

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.

October 2024 - Spamresource.com
Expert view

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.

January 2023 - Word to the Wise

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Email marketing documentation consistently emphasizes that open rates are becoming increasingly unreliable as a primary metric for email marketing success due to privacy changes like Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and image blocking. While open rates can offer some insight into subject line effectiveness and initial interest, they should be used with caution. A greater emphasis should be placed on analyzing other metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, website traffic, read time, and overall engagement levels to get a more accurate understanding of how recipients are interacting with email campaigns. It's important to use email testing and analytics tools to optimize email design and content for better engagement.

Key findings

  • Opens Less Reliable: Open rates are becoming less reliable due to MPP and image blocking.
  • MPP Inflates Rates: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection can inflate open rates, skewing data.
  • Subject Line Effectiveness: Open rates can still offer *some* insight into subject line effectiveness, but not as a primary measure.

Key considerations

  • Focus on Other Metrics: Focus on metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, website traffic, read time, and engagement levels.
  • Use Analytics Tools: Utilize email testing and analytics tools to optimize email design and content.
  • Cautious Use of Opens: Use open rates cautiously and in conjunction with other metrics.
Technical article

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.

October 2023 - Litmus
Technical article

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.

January 2023 - Mailchimp
Technical article

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.

June 2024 - Sendinblue
Technical article

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.

January 2022 - Email on Acid