Comments on: Looking Beyond Open Rates http://blog.bronto.com/2007/04/15/looking-beyond-open-rates/ Email marketing insights from Bronto Software Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:12:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Adam Covati http://blog.bronto.com/2007/04/15/looking-beyond-open-rates/comment-page-1/#comment-69 Adam Covati Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:56:59 +0000 http://blog.bronto.com/2007/04/15/looking-beyond-open-rates/#comment-69 Heidi, that's a great point, and one that bears repeating. While it is true that a good percentage of opens aren't tracked, there are few things working to make this still a relevant & useful metric. Firstly, we implicitly count a view if someone clicks a link, this helps to capture a percentage of viewers who have images off or are in text mode. One other thing to keep in mind is that this stat is off by a relatively consistent amount every time we view a report. That means that it still holds a lot of value from a comparative perspective. So when I want to see if message A did better than message B, I can bet that open rates will both contain a similar number of opens that weren't counted. In the world of email marketing, sometimes we have to deal with imperfect data, our challenge is, of course, to squeeze the most valuable data out of those numbers. Heidi, that’s a great point, and one that bears repeating. While it is true that a good percentage of opens aren’t tracked, there are few things working to make this still a relevant & useful metric.

Firstly, we implicitly count a view if someone clicks a link, this helps to capture a percentage of viewers who have images off or are in text mode. One other thing to keep in mind is that this stat is off by a relatively consistent amount every time we view a report. That means that it still holds a lot of value from a comparative perspective. So when I want to see if message A did better than message B, I can bet that open rates will both contain a similar number of opens that weren’t counted.

In the world of email marketing, sometimes we have to deal with imperfect data, our challenge is, of course, to squeeze the most valuable data out of those numbers.

]]> By: Heidi Bellm http://blog.bronto.com/2007/04/15/looking-beyond-open-rates/comment-page-1/#comment-68 Heidi Bellm Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:00:14 +0000 http://blog.bronto.com/2007/04/15/looking-beyond-open-rates/#comment-68 Interesting point on clicks and open however should be used carefully. Opens can be understated (ie, opens cannot be tracked from text emails or html emails where isps block images), thus the rate reported by your formula can be misleading. Interesting point on clicks and open however should be used carefully. Opens can be understated (ie, opens cannot be tracked from text emails or html emails where isps block images), thus the rate reported by your formula can be misleading.

]]> By: Bob Glaza http://blog.bronto.com/2007/04/15/looking-beyond-open-rates/comment-page-1/#comment-67 Bob Glaza Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:18:45 +0000 http://blog.bronto.com/2007/04/15/looking-beyond-open-rates/#comment-67 Thanks Eric - I especially like the revenue/recipient. The more we're able to link money to action helps lend validity to email marketing. Whether its the metric that catches the bosses ear only time will tell. Thanks Eric – I especially like the revenue/recipient. The more we’re able to link money to action helps lend validity to email marketing. Whether its the metric that catches the bosses ear only time will tell.

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