Open Rate (And Why We Don't Track It)
The percentage of delivered emails that were opened, typically measured using tracking pixels (which we avoid).
What is Open Rate (And Why We Don't Track It)?
Open rate measures what percentage of your emails were opened by recipients. Traditionally, it's tracked by embedding an invisible 1x1 pixel image in the email - when the image loads, an "open" is recorded.
Formula: (Unique Opens / Emails Delivered) x 100
Why open rates are problematic for cold email:
1. Tracking pixels hurt deliverability - Spam filters detect and penalize tracking pixels 2. Data is unreliable - Privacy features (Apple Mail Privacy Protection) pre-load images, inflating open rates 3. False positives - Spam filters scanning emails trigger "opens" 4. False negatives - Many email clients block images by default 5. Low business value - An open doesn't mean engagement
Our approach: We don't track opens because the tracking technology (pixels) directly hurts the deliverability that makes cold email work. Reply rate is more meaningful anyway.
Why It Matters
- 1Understanding why we don't track opens
- 2Tracking pixels damage deliverability
- 3Open rate data is increasingly unreliable
- 4Reply rate is a better metric for cold email
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Related Terms
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