There is some inconsistency in the reporting of this, but it appears true that the numbers indicated in any ‘Open Rate’ report are a little inaccurate because a lot of email clients register an open because the tracking pixel renders faster than some hit the delete button.

Again, this is debateable but we need to bear it in mind when looking at the data we collate. Open Rate is the % of people who received the email who have opened it. Technically ‘opened’ means that the recipients email software has registered the email as opened. You actually have no way of knowing whether or not the recipient has actually read or engaged with your email in any way. The numbers are further fudged by those recipients software who have the ‘preview’ function activated. The software often registers all email as opened because the preview function is turned on.

Thirdly, and perhaps most worrying, is that some people will read your email and an ‘open’ will not be recorded. This happens when a client receives a text-only version of your email or has images turned off because the tracking code is based in an image.

These all result in underestimated numbers of opens. The problems continue when you consider that most suppliers can consider an email ‘delivered’ whether it goes in a recipients Inbox or their Spam folder. The result is that the numbers are overestimated and underestimated at all turns. The answer to this is to find out specifically how your service provider calculates all these numbers as they differ from one service provider to another.

Irrelevant?
This doesn’t mean that open rates are irrelevant, they should just be considered only as part of your reporting. One clear thing that can be learned from studying open rates is that, so long as the way of calculating open rates isn’t changed, if there are any dramatic changes in open rates it is usually when you have changed something in your email. Therefore, open rates can be used to measure how any major changes in your email affects what happens at the recipients end.

ISP Problems
They can be used to find any problems with certain mail clients and ISPs. If you have an average open rate of 30% and a particular email delivered has an open rate at Tiscali, for example, of 0% - then there is a big problem with your emails when delivered to Tiscali recipients.

Subject Lines
Open rates can also be used to compare different subject lines. Use A/B split testing to try different subject lines on your emails.

Reader Fatigue
If you see a decline in your open rate numbers over time the most likely reason is that your readers are getting tired of your emails. Try mixing it up a little. It may be worth considering setting up standard email marketing for each client where the customer is sent a set list of emails at set times based on their activity, over and above the standard reminder emails, booking notifications and welcome home emails. Think about offering discounts for clients who haven’t booked with you for 6 months.