Summary
When a company transitions between marketing automation platforms, a noticeable decline in email open rates and unique click-through rates is a common challenge. This drop often stems from a complex interplay of technical factors, changes in measurement methodologies, and the inherent adjustments mailbox providers make to new sending patterns. Even with correct SPF and DNS entries and without a dedicated IP, these issues can arise, making it crucial to understand the underlying causes.
Key findings
- Measurement discrepancies: Different marketing automation platforms (MAPs) or email service providers (ESPs) may calculate open and click rates using varying methodologies, leading to perceived drops that are merely reporting differences. For instance, some ESPs might count a click as an open if the open beacon didn't fire.
- Sender reputation reset: Switching ESPs, even with shared IPs, can effectively reset or alter your sending reputation with internet service providers (ISPs). This necessitates a careful IP warming process to build trust again.
- Tracking pixel issues: The way a new ESP embeds its tracking pixel might lead to email clipping in clients like Gmail. If recipients must click 'view entire message' for the pixel to load, opens will be underreported.
- Shared IP blacklisting: On shared IPs, your deliverability is influenced by other senders. If you switch to an ESP with a history of spammy behavior or shared IPs on a blacklist (or blocklist), your emails may face immediate deliverability challenges. Monitoring your shared IP's reputation is critical.
- Content and domain changes: Even if the sending domain supposedly remains the same, subtle changes in subdomains, tracking domains, or content formatting introduced by the new platform can affect how ISPs perceive your mail.
Key considerations
- Verify calculation methods: Before panicking, understand how both the old and new platforms define and calculate open and click rates. Discrepancies may simply be statistical, not a true performance drop.
- Monitor specific inbox providers: Check if the open rate drop is uniform or more pronounced with specific mailbox providers, such as Microsoft (Outlook/Hotmail) or Gmail. This can provide clues about targeted deliverability issues. Read more about diagnosing deliverability drops.
- Assess tracking pixel behavior: Test your emails in various clients to see if the tracking pixel consistently loads. Clipping issues, especially in Gmail, can significantly impact reported open rates.
- Review IP and domain reputation: Even on a shared IP, the reputation of the IPs you are assigned can fluctuate. Regularly check if your sending IPs or domain have landed on any blacklists or blocklists. Disruptions during a switch can be substantial.
- Re-establish sender authority: Regardless of IP type, a platform switch means mailbox providers are seeing mail from a new source, even if the domain is the same. Build up volume slowly and consistently to prove your sending legitimacy.
What email marketers say
Email marketers often face a steep learning curve when migrating marketing automation platforms, and a drop in open rates is a frequently reported symptom. Their experiences highlight the practical challenges that arise from differing platform mechanics and the need for meticulous validation of metrics post-migration. They emphasize that while foundational elements like SPF and DNS might be correct, the nuances of tracking and underlying IP reputation can still cause significant issues, particularly on shared IP infrastructure. The community consensus points to the importance of understanding how each platform measures engagement and the potential for a fresh reputation start with mailbox providers.
Key opinions
- Metric calculation variations: A primary concern is that different ESPs or MAPs calculate open and click metrics in fundamentally different ways. This can lead to an apparent drop that isn't a true performance issue, but a statistical anomaly based on how the numbers are derived (e.g., denominator used, how clicks are back-counted as opens).
- Shared IP challenges: Even without a dedicated IP, a new shared IP pool might contain addresses with a tarnished history, potentially landing on an email blocklist or blacklist. Continuous monitoring of these IPs is vital.
- Sending domain consistency: Marketers frequently question if the sending domain or any associated subdomains changed, as this can affect sender identity and how mailbox providers perceive the mail.
- Inbox-specific impact: Many marketers notice that performance drops are not universal, but are concentrated with specific inbox providers like Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo, indicating issues with those providers' filtering algorithms. Learn more about Hotmail and Outlook deliverability.
- Tracking pixel visibility: Some ESPs' tracking pixels might cause emails to be clipped, particularly in Gmail. If the open tracking pixel is hidden behind a 'view entire message' link, opens will be underreported even if the user eventually opens the email. This is one reason why open rates are dying.
Key considerations
- Understand reporting nuances: Deep dive into how both the old and new platforms define an 'open' and 'click'. Differences in including click-conversions as opens or using 'sent' vs. 'accepted' as the denominator can explain observed drops.
- Segment analysis: Analyze the open rate drop by recipient domain (Gmail, Outlook, custom domains) to pinpoint specific deliverability challenges. This can help in diagnosing issues rather than just seeing an overall decline.
- Content and template audit: Even if the template looks the same, the underlying code from a new MAP can introduce deliverability issues. Inspect for excessive code or elements that might trigger spam filters. For more, see why emails go to spam after changing content templates.
- IP reputation management: Understand that on shared IPs, your sending reputation is tied to others. If a new ESP's shared IP pool includes less reputable senders, your deliverability can be impacted. Consider what happens when your IP gets blocklisted.
- Engage with support: Leverage the new ESP's support and deliverability teams. They should be able to provide insights into their tracking methods, IP health, and common migration issues.
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests that companies should first determine if the observed drop in open rates is due to calculation discrepancies. Different marketing automation platforms may report metrics in varied ways, which can cause a perceived decline rather than an actual one.
Email marketer from Email Geeks points out that shared IPs can be an issue. It is crucial to monitor each sendout to ensure that the shared IP has not been blacklisted, as this could significantly impact deliverability.
What the experts say
Email deliverability experts agree that migrating marketing automation platforms is a complex process that inherently impacts sender reputation and, consequently, open rates. While SPF and DNS records are critical, they represent only a part of the authentication puzzle. The core of the problem often lies in how mailbox providers assess new sending infrastructure and patterns, even with shared IPs. Experts emphasize that the period immediately following a switch requires heightened monitoring and strategic sending to re-establish trust and optimize inbox placement.
Key opinions
- Reputation rebuilding: Even with existing domain reputation, a new sending IP (even shared) from a different ESP requires a 'warming up' phase. Mailbox providers treat mail from new sources with caution, potentially initially routing it to spam folders.
- Consistency of email streams: ISPs monitor the consistency of your email stream. A sudden change in volume, frequency, or content type from a new platform can raise flags, even if the content itself is benign. This relates to what causes sudden email open rate drops.
- Data migration pitfalls: Experts highlight that failing to properly migrate and synchronize suppressions, bounces, and complaint data can lead to sending to problematic addresses, damaging new IP reputation quickly.
- Hidden technical differences: Beyond SPF and DNS, underlying technical configurations, such as how the new ESP handles DKIM signing or internal message headers, can subtly impact deliverability.
- Engagement signals: Mailbox providers heavily weigh subscriber engagement. A shift in platform might temporarily disrupt these signals, leading to lower inbox placement and, consequently, lower opens. Your email domain reputation is critical for this.
Key considerations
- Phased migration: Instead of an abrupt switch, consider a gradual transition, sending a portion of your volume through the new platform while monitoring performance. This allows for controlled warming and identification of issues.
- Detailed warming plan: Develop and strictly adhere to an IP warming plan, even for shared IPs. Start with your most engaged subscribers and slowly increase volume, proving consistent good sending behavior.
- Utilize Postmaster Tools: Actively monitor Google Postmaster Tools and other ISP feedback loops to gain direct insight into your reputation and deliverability from the mailbox providers' perspective. This helps understand if Yahoo and AOL open rates are affected.
- Content and list segmentation: Ensure your content remains high quality and relevant, and that you are segmenting your lists to target engaged users, especially during the transition phase. Sending to a bad email list can quickly harm reputation.
- Review ESP reputation: Before switching, thoroughly vet the new ESP's overall deliverability reputation, its policies on shared IPs, and its commitment to proactive deliverability management. A good ESP can mitigate many common issues.
Deliverability expert from Email Geeks suggests that companies must carefully assess the method by which their new marketing automation platform calculates open and click rates. Variations in these calculations can create a misleading impression of a performance drop when none exists.
Deliverability expert from Email Geeks states that the choice of denominator in open rate calculations is significant, with some platforms using sent emails and others using accepted emails. This difference alone can account for perceived rate changes post-migration.
What the documentation says
Official documentation and industry research highlight that email open rates are increasingly unreliable as a sole metric due to privacy changes (like Apple Mail Privacy Protection) and varying tracking methodologies across platforms. Documentation from major email services and ESPs indicates that the definition of an 'open' can vary, influencing reported statistics. Furthermore, technical standards and best practices implicitly affect how effectively tracking pixels load and how ISPs perceive email authenticity. When switching marketing automation platforms, the new platform's adherence to these standards, as well as its specific tracking implementation, can directly impact reported opens and overall deliverability.
Key findings
- Evolving open rate reliability: Documentation from platforms like VerticalResponse confirms that open rates are becoming less reliable due to privacy features, making comparisons across platform switches inherently challenging.
- Tracking methodology differences: Official guides, such as Mailchimp's, explain how their open tracking works. Each ESP has a unique implementation of tracking pixels, which can lead to variance in detection rates when migrating.
- Definition of an open: Industry resources, like Avada's blog, provide a clear definition of an open rate. However, subtle differences in how a platform counts (e.g., unique vs. total, including clicks as opens) can cause statistical shifts upon migration.
- Technical standards compliance: RFCs and other email standards govern email formatting and transmission. While not directly about open rates, non-compliance or unexpected formatting from a new ESP can trigger spam filters, reducing inbox placement and implied opens.
- Sender reputation metrics: Documentation from ISP postmaster tools (e.g., Google) outlines the importance of sender reputation. A platform switch is a significant event that ISPs monitor, and initial drops in reputation can occur before stability is re-established. For more on domain reputation recovery, see our guide.
Key considerations
- Review ESP's tracking specifics: Consult the new ESP's documentation to understand their exact open and click tracking mechanisms, including any differences in how they handle privacy features or pre-fetching.
- Monitor deliverability metrics: Shift focus from raw open rates to other reliable metrics like click-through rates, conversions, and direct feedback from Postmaster Tools. This offers a more accurate picture of campaign health. Understand why your email deliverability rate is wrong.
- Ensure proper authentication: While SPF and DNS might be correct, ensure DKIM and DMARC are properly configured for the new platform, as these are critical for establishing domain trust with ISPs. A misconfigured DMARC policy can cause issues.
- Content rendering across clients: Test email rendering extensively across various email clients and devices. Issues like email clipping or broken layouts can prevent tracking pixels from loading, leading to underreported opens.
- Compliance with ISP requirements: Familiarize yourself with the specific requirements and recommendations from major mailbox providers (e.g., Gmail's sender guidelines, Microsoft's SNDS). A platform switch might inadvertently cause deviations from these guidelines. For example, Outlook's new sender requirements are key.
Documentation from VerticalResponse confirms that open rates have become an unreliable metric due to recent privacy changes, specifically noting how Apple Mail Privacy Protection affects tracking. This shift makes click-through rates (CTR) a more accurate measure of true email engagement.
Mailchimp's documentation clarifies that their open tracking mechanism allows senders to see if contacts have opened email campaigns. It explains the technical process of how they track opens and how users can view these results within their platform.
