E-goi logs an email open when a contact who receives your email either:
- Views the images in your email
- Doesn't view images but clicks through any link in your email
This is similar to how ISPs (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.) measure engagement. The more your contacts view or click through your emails, the higher your engagement and sending reputation - which is key to have your sends landing right in the inbox!
So, always strive to send out mailings with timely, relevant content driving people to view images and click your links!
Some ISPs (eg. Outlook) don't show images by default. Help!
While Gmail auto-displays all pics in an email, most other ISPs only do so once the user allows it (by clicking a "Show images" button or similar when viewing the email).
Without pics, a placeholder text (aka ALT text) will be visible instead - use it to entice people to display images. Any clickthrough will also count as an open.
Does Apple Mail's Privacy Protection impact my open rate?
No worries! AMPP prevents open and clickthrough tracking in Apple Mail, but users must enable it - it is not on by default.
I'm getting opens from contacts who told me they never opened or clicked my email. How come?
They probably have a spam filter which clicks through all emails to ensure they're safe.
This shouldn't affect your overall results for large sends (as not many people use these filters), but if you think your data may be skewed, you can weed false opens out:
- Include an "invisible" link in your email (make it tiny and transparent) so no one can see it but for a spam filter. Have the link lead to a special "are you human?" sign-up form on the off chance a human actually clicks it. When it's time to gauge your results, segment your contact list for people who clicked that link and consider disregarding them from your data.
- Go for roundabout ways to track results. Don't simply rely on opens! Smart SMS texts for non-openers, on-site messaging, web push notifications and E-goi's Track & Engage can all help you get a clearer view of your engagement across multiple channels.