Summary
High email open rates despite low engagement are a multifaceted problem. A key factor is the inflation of open rates due to Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and pre-fetching by email clients like Gmail, which register opens even if the email is not actively viewed. Bot activity and inactive email addresses further contribute to this inflation. Additionally, a disconnect between compelling subject lines and engaging email content can lead to initial opens but low click-through rates. Issues such as poor audience segmentation, misleading subject lines, poor email design, a low sender reputation, and sending too many emails also play significant roles in this disparity. Ultimately, relying solely on open rates as a measure of engagement is misleading, and marketers should focus on more reliable metrics.
Key findings
- MPP and Pre-fetching: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and email pre-fetching by clients like Gmail inflate open rates, skewing data.
- Bot and Inactive Accounts: Bot activity and inactive email addresses contribute to artificially high open rates.
- Subject Line vs. Content: A disconnect between compelling subject lines and engaging content leads to opens but low engagement.
- Poor Segmentation: Irrelevant content due to poor audience segmentation results in low engagement.
- Email Design Issues: Poorly designed emails can deter engagement despite initial opens.
- Low Sender Reputation: A low sender reputation can impact deliverability and artificially inflate open rates as emails are auto-marked as read.
- Email Overload: Sending too many emails leads to subscriber burnout and decreased engagement.
Key considerations
- Focus on Better Metrics: Prioritize metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and website traffic to gauge true engagement.
- Analyze Human vs. Bot Opens: Utilize ESP features or third-party tools to differentiate between human and bot-driven opens.
- Improve Segmentation: Segment audiences based on behavior and interests to deliver more relevant content.
- Optimize Content and Design: Ensure emails deliver on the promise of the subject line with engaging content and visually appealing design.
- Manage Sender Reputation: Maintain a healthy sender reputation by following deliverability best practices.
- Test and Iterate: Conduct A/B testing on subject lines, content, and send frequency to optimize engagement.
- Clean Email Lists: Regularly clean email lists to remove inactive subscribers and bot accounts.
What email marketers say
12 marketer opinions
High email open rates coupled with low engagement are a common issue stemming from several factors. Privacy changes like Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and email pre-fetching by clients like Gmail inflate open rates, making them unreliable indicators of true engagement. Bot activity and inactive email addresses also contribute to artificially high open rates. Additionally, a mismatch between compelling subject lines and irrelevant or poorly designed content can lead to initial opens but ultimately result in low click-through rates and overall engagement. Factors like poor segmentation, over-promising in subject lines, low domain reputation, and sending emails too frequently exacerbate the problem.
Key opinions
- MPP and Pre-fetching: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and email pre-fetching by Gmail inflate open rates, rendering them inaccurate.
- Bot Activity: Bot accounts automatically opening emails contribute to inflated open rates without real engagement.
- Subject Line Mismatch: Clickbaity subject lines that don't align with email content lead to opens but low click-through rates.
- Poor Segmentation: Sending irrelevant content to subscribers based on poor segmentation lowers engagement despite opens.
- Email design: A poorly designed email impacts engagement by having a lower click-through rate, even if the emails are being opened.
- Domain reputation: A low domain reputation can affect deliverability and engagement
Key considerations
- Evaluate Engagement Metrics: Focus on metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue to gauge true engagement.
- List Hygiene: Regularly clean email lists to remove inactive subscribers and bot accounts.
- Content Relevance: Ensure email content is relevant and aligns with subscriber interests through proper segmentation.
- Subject Line Testing: Conduct A/B testing on subject lines to ensure they are not misleading or over-promising.
- Review Email Design: Ensure email design is appealing and the content is easy to navigate to improve click-through rates.
- Consider Email Frequency: Determine the optimal email frequency to avoid subscriber burnout.
- Consider Domain Reputation: Maintain a good domain reputation
Marketer view
Email marketer from HubSpot explains that email pre-fetching by certain email clients, including Gmail, causes inflated open rates. Gmail pre-fetches images, registering an open even if the recipient hasn't actively opened the email.
10 Sep 2024 - HubSpot
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests analyzing the time difference between delivery and open events and looking for accounts that clicked every link in an email. She also recommends using Klaviyo to rank clickers by the number of clicks and identifying accounts with bot-like activity.
4 May 2023 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
High open rates coupled with low engagement often result from inaccurate open rate tracking due to factors like bot activity. While open rates themselves may be a misleading metric, downward trends can still signal delivery issues. A significant driver of this discrepancy is a mismatch between enticing subject lines and the actual content of the email; failing to deliver on the subject line's promise leads to disengaged recipients.
Key opinions
- Open Rates are Flawed: Open rates can be a misleading metric due to bot activity and other tracking inaccuracies.
- Bot Activity Inflates Opens: Bots automatically opening emails contribute significantly to high open rates but do not represent genuine engagement.
- Subject Line/Content Mismatch: A failure to deliver on the promise of the subject line leads to a disconnect between opens and engagement.
Key considerations
- Focus on Better Metrics: Prioritize metrics beyond open rates to understand true engagement (e.g., click-through rates, conversions).
- Monitor Open Rate Trends: While absolute open rate numbers may be unreliable, track significant downward trends as indicators of potential delivery problems.
- Ensure Content Relevance: Align email content with the expectations set by the subject line to maintain audience interest and encourage engagement.
Expert view
Expert from Spamresource.com explains that bot activity is a primary contributor to high open rates with low engagement. They suggest many bots automatically open emails, skewing the open rate metric.
22 Jul 2021 - Spamresource.com
Expert view
Expert from Wordtothewise.com answers that a mismatch between subject line promise and email content is a significant driver of high opens but low engagement. Delivering on the subject line's promise keeps users engaged.
27 Jan 2022 - Wordtothewise.com
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
High email open rates coupled with low engagement are often caused by Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and other email client behaviors that automatically register opens, even when the email isn't actively viewed by the recipient. This makes open rates an unreliable metric for measuring true engagement. The documentation suggests that while compelling subject lines might lead to opens, a lack of resonance with the content can result in low engagement. MPP also impacts the ability to track user activity.
Key findings
- MPP Inflation: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) artificially inflates email open rates.
- Automated Opens: Images being automatically downloaded, combined with pre-fetching, causes inflated open rates.
- Content Mismatch: High open rates with low engagement may indicate a disconnect between subject lines and actual email content.
- Privacy Limitations: MPP limits the ability to track user activity and personalize emails effectively.
Key considerations
- Re-evaluate Metrics: Rely less on open rates and more on other metrics like click-through rates and conversions to measure engagement.
- Optimize Content: Focus on delivering valuable and engaging content to match the expectations set by the subject line.
- Acknowledge Tracking Limitations: Understand the limitations imposed by MPP and adjust marketing strategies accordingly.
Technical article
Documentation from Apple answers that Mail Privacy Protection hides the recipient's IP address so senders can’t link it to other online activity or determine their location. Also prevents senders from seeing if an email has been opened.
20 Sep 2023 - Apple
Technical article
Documentation from Litmus shares that factors like images being automatically downloaded when the user opens their inbox, and aggressive spam filtering influence open rates. With the release of MPP this has further skewed data.
20 Feb 2022 - Litmus
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