In the past, open rate tracking offered a valuable insight into how people were engaging with your emails. Nowadays, the reality is that it offers an incomplete and even misleading picture of your email performance.
How Open Rate Tracking Works
Open rate tracking works by embedding a tiny, often invisible pixel within an email.
When the recipient opens the email, the pixel loads, sending a signal back to the sender that the email has been opened.
This method used to offer a basic level of insight into whether someone was reading your email. Technology has since caught up with open tracking and now there are a number of ways in which it can paint a false picture of engagement.
The Reality of Open Tracking
Open tracking can mislead in the following ways:
False Positives from Automated Scans
Many email clients and security tools automatically scan emails for malicious content as they arrive in a recipient’s inbox. These scans can trigger the tracking pixel, making it appear as though the email was opened when, in reality, it was never seen by the recipient. This can lead to inflated open rates, giving you the impression that your campaign is more successful than it actually is.
False Negatives from Blocked Images
Some email clients like Google block images inserted into emails from loading by default. When images are blocked, the tracking pixel doesn’t load, and the email isn’t recorded as opened—even if the recipient actually viewed the content. This can lead to underreported open rates, making it seem like your emails are less engaging than they might be.
False Positives from Impact of Email Forwarding
When an email is forwarded, the tracking pixel is forwarded along with it. If multiple people open the forwarded email, each of those opens will be counted, leading to inflated numbers. This can give a false sense of engagement, as the opens may not be from your original recipient.
False Positives from Email Previews
Some email clients automatically load content when emails are previewed in the inbox. In these cases, the tracking pixel might be triggered without the email being fully opened or read. This, again, can result in an inflated open rate that doesn’t accurately reflect recipient engagement.
Risk of Being Marked as Spam
Recent updates from Google introduce a new risk for open tracking. Some Gmail users now see a banner on emails with open tracking enabled, giving recipients an easy option to mark those emails as spam. This not only reduces the effectiveness of your campaigns but can also negatively impact your sender reputation.
While open rates can offer some insights, they should not be viewed as the sole indicator of a campaign’s success.
So, what should you focus on instead? Check out our guide: Beyond Open Rates: Metrics That Really Matter.