Once upon a time, the great Jim Yaghi — a computer scientist who has helped Yours Caveman with my many technological snafus over the years — responded to one of my customers’ questions about open rates.
And, specifically, the futility of paying much attention to them.
In fact, I daresay his response exposes the whole “open rate” shtick quite nicely:
there is no way to know your real actual open rate or numbers. Clicks are accurate, however. Some opens are implied from counting clicks (no one can click your email link without opening your email). More opens can be tracked by embedding a tracking image into the html version of an email (if you send in html). If and when the email is opened, the email client may only load the text part of the Message and ignore embedded images. This is most common for security, images are only loaded if the user asks to load them. If a user asks to load images, the tracking image is requested from the email sending server. It then can count that open. However many actual opens are missed because the original message is text only, not html, or the recipient only accepts text emails, or the email client does not load images by default and the recipient does not feel the need to load them for your message. Meaning, most actual opens without link clicking are untrackable.
What’s more important to you, Chuckles:
Having a higher open rate… or getting more of your emails opened?
If it’s the latter, then focus on these 3 things, in this exact order:
1. Be someone whose emails people on your list want to open
2. Write emails people on your list want to open
3. Write subject lines that intrigue people on your list enough into wanting to open
You won’t hear these being taught at any goo-roo seminars. Instead, you’ll hear chest-pounding about “test results!” using slick tricks that are purely tactical, that may have worked for the one teaching them, and may have only worked one time at that… and that may or may not work for you, your market, your list, your offer, your personality, your brand, and the list goes on.
But, do the 3 things above, and you’ll blow all those fools out of the water.
More:
All 3 of those things are what happen when you apply — over time, with patience & consistency — what I teach in my “Email Players” newsletter and the book I give to new subscribers.
Just realize, it takes hard work and time to get the above 3 things tight.
It also takes a list to email to, even if it’s a small list.
And, an offer(s) to send to that list.
Don’t have those things?
Then git…
Otherwise, go here next:
Ben Settle
