Do "open rates" matter?

Last month, I was on the panel at the October Taste of Technology session that focused on email marketing (read about that here), moderated by Jennifer Sheehan of Technology Therapy.

During the discussion, we were asked about average "open rates" for email newsletters (that is, now many people "open" the message, according to the tracking through your email marketing provider). As the flood of email increases, open rates seem to be decreasing.

That's when the question came up as to whether, for an email marketing campaign, open rates and click thru rates are even relevant.

I suggested they might not be, based on an email exchange with my client, Bob Bly, who runs a very successful Internet business. (I had asked Bob to share open and click thru rates for his email marketing messages. His response to me: "We don't track that because we don't think it's relevant.")

What do you think? Do you watch yours? What do they really mean? How accurate are they? Does it mean someone actually read your message? Or just that their cursor happened to land on it? And if they do matter, what can you learn from them? How can you use them?

Please answer any or all of these burning questions.

Comments

[Mistina]

Bob definitely has a point because high open and click-thru rates don't necessarily translate into sales. At the same time, this information can provide an overall temperature reading of whether your audience finds your campaigns interesting and/or relevant. If your open and unsubscribe rates keep falling, you probably have a problem. Similarly, comparing results for different campaigns can show you which topics best resonate with subscribers.

[Jezra Kaye, Communicate with Power and Ease]

On the happy day when we all have 100,000 subscribers, I doubt that we'll be too worried about open rates, either. 'Till that time, I'm with Mistina--they give you a sense of how well you're engaging your audience. I also find it tremendously comforting (in those occasionally lonely or discouraged moments) to look at WHO is at least glancing at my content. It's gratifying to see the names of many people I admire, and it inspires me to keep my content aimed high.

[Laura Roeder]

Of course open rates are important! They show you how many people on your list are actually interested in hearing from you, and if your subject line was effective.

[Dani Nordin]

I find it's helpful as an overall temperature reading, but I also notice that the open rates level out as my list gets bigger. The numbers I really pay attention to, though, are my bounce and my unsubscribe rates. A couple of them are bound to happen; too many, and it's time to examine my list and see if there are any old names that are ready to clear out.

[Joan Damico]

I rarely look at open rate independently from click through and conversion rate. Of course, the ultimate metric is conversions, whether to sales or something else.

Email metrics are effective when you’re conducting tests on the most effective mailer.

I use open rates when testing subject lines. If the subject line is appealing, then the open rate is high. But there’s more to it. You then have to look at clicks and conversions. If readers are opening, but not clicking, then could indicate that the body copy, layout, etc. need work. If they’re clicking but not converting, then it may suggest the landing page needs work.

That said, I recently tested an email that had a great open rate (40%), but poor conversion rate (1%). By changing the subject line to more closely align with the body copy, open rate went down (26%), but conversion rate doubled.

Of course you can’t underestimate the power of the list and offer in your email campaign.

[Boris Mahovac - Email Marketing Coach]

I'm with Joan on this one. We can't look at open rates in isolation.

Recently I've been working with a high-end real estate agency in reviving their email campaign. First thing I told them was that their web site (i.e. landing pages) needs major reworking, and that no amount of tweaking and improving the email side of the equation will bring the results they wanted.

Improving open rates and click-throughs will only increase the bounces off their landing pages. Yes, if the conversion rate stays them same the net result will be higher sales, but ideally all parts of the campaign, starting with the subject line and ending on a landing page should be constantly tested and improved for best ROI.

[AP]

This blog post makes me think of a couple of things:

1. Click through rates and open rates matters. You can't gaurantee that your message was read or received, but the same is true for commericals on TV. How often do we walk way from the Television during commericals? Is a numbers game and if 10 people open, blank people read, blank people received the message. You have to track. . .

2. Now, the next step is to track smarter. Ask questions. Engage the audience. Ask them to do something after reading your email. Was the content I provided useful to you? In what way? Do you agree or disagree? And then some!

3. Follow up with a phone call. Email messages can get buried. But if you take the time to each other to some or all of your list, you'll keep your name and your brand in front of the consumer.