Believing false myths can affect a company, but focusing exclusively on opens is one of the worst, because measuring opens correctly is what proves the contribution of email marketing to business goals. Knowing how many people open our communications is a data that often serves as a first step in the analysis, but it is not the only thing that counts because, due to Apple's Mail Privacy Protection, it may not be reliable. There are other related metrics that have a better correspondence with what you want to achieve in each campaign.
Opens and clicks per hour
Choosing the best time to send a mailing cannot be left to chance because it is a decision that will affect the results. In addition to doing an A/B test, it is possible to consult the report of how many openings there are the first 24 hours after sending the message in order to be able to quickly assess whether it is necessary to change the time next time and thus be more efficient.
In the same graph, it is also possible to identify the times that the sending has achieved the most clicks, which can be interpreted as an answer to the question of when there is a greater predisposition to purchase or consult the content received.
Opens by device
Knowing which users open your messages is a way of assessing their general interest, for example in the subject matter of your campaign. But it is also important to know them a little better because you can provide them with a better experience. Therefore, it is useful to know from which devices our messages are being read, both on a daily basis and during holiday periods.
Acrelia's statistics graphically show a first, more basic distinction between computer, mobile or tablet. This way we can see how important it is to take care of the template so that it is responsive and adapts well to the different devices. To further adjust the design and take care of usability as well as accessibility, it is also possible to know which browsers are the most used, for example Chrome or Firefox.
Map of openings
When doing international email marketing, knowing from where the messages are opened is key to decide the multi-language strategy of the mailings. Viewing this data graphically is the easiest way to know the geographic locations of these users and thus identify countries with the same languages.
However, keep in mind that the IP is used to locate the openings, so there may be some discrepancies if you drill down to the city level (you can always include a field in the form to know where your subscribers live).
Reading time
Opening an email is not synonymous with reading it, especially when they are opened automatically, for example if you have set your inbox to move on to the next message after closing one. It takes at least a couple of seconds for recipients to consider that the content has interested them enough to stop and look at it, even if it's just the headlines and a few images.
Users who are really engaged with your brand and are interested in what you send them are those who spend more than 8 seconds. In this time, they can read enough to value clicking on any of the links, forward the campaign or share the newsletter with their contacts on social networks.
Clicks per open
The click-through rate of a newsletter is a very useful metric to compare campaigns on different channels, for example to compare email marketing and social media. The click through rate can be calculated by taking into account all emails delivered (Click Through Rate or CTR) or only the clicks of recipients who have opened the message (Click Through Open Rate or CTOR).
Click throughs that take into account opens are a true reflection of how interested users are in our communications and is a more comprehensive metric, so we always recommend looking at it.
Click map
The open rate is used to assess whether the subject line was attractive, the sender was correct or the timing was optimal. It does not tell you whether the content met expectations, which calls to action worked best or which links were most interesting to users. Visualising on a map where the most clicks were achieved is valuable information for optimising content and design.
Identifying at a glance which links or buttons have more clicks (in green) compared to those with fewer clicks (in red) is a way to prepare better newsletters in the future.
Forwards and opens
Another metric to take into account to assess the interest of users in what we send them is how many times they forward it to other people. With Acrelia it is possible to know both the total number of forwards and the people who have opened it, that is, both the value perceived by the recipients and their contacts.
This data provides an extra layer of information to each forwarded campaign because it increases the reach of the communication and can also help us to achieve conversions and new subscribers. If that is our goal, focusing on openings alone will not help us reach any conclusions.
Complaints and unsubscribes
If you think that opens are the only thing that counts, you are not fully aware that recipients can open a campaign and at that very moment mark it as spam or unsubscribe. Maybe even without reading it because they are already tired of your previous communications. Both metrics indicate that something is wrong with your email marketing and can impact your deliverability, so you cannot ignore them.
Logically, these two metrics should be as low as possible, although the larger your contact list is, the more likely it is that some of them will want to stop receiving your messages. Therefore, the subscriber retention rate should be high, above 97%, so that the list remains stable over time.
