An email open rate is a metric used in email marketing to measure the percentage of people who open a specific email out of the total number of emails sent. It’s a key performance indicator (KPI) that shows how well your audience receives and engages your emails.
Email open rate is a big part of your email marketing strategy as it affects other metrics like click through rate and conversion rate.
Email Open Rates Calculation
Email open rate is calculated by dividing the number of opened emails by the total number of emails sent, minus the emails that bounced. Then you multiply by 100 to get the percentage. This gives you a snapshot of how good your subject lines and preview text are as these are the only things recipients see before they decide to open an email or not.
But email open rates can be misleading. Most email clients only register an ‘open’ when the recipient enables the images in the email to be displayed. So if a recipient reads the email without enabling the images, that won’t be counted as an ‘open’. Despite this limitation, email open rate is still a widely used metric in email marketing.
Email Open Rate Factors
Several factors can affect email open rates. These are the subject line, sender name, preview text and the time and day you send the email. The subject line is often the most critical as it’s the first thing recipients see. A good subject line can increase the chances of the email being opened.
The sender’s name also plays a big role. People are more likely to open emails from senders they know and trust. So make sure to use a sender name that represents your brand. The preview text which is a sneak peek of the email content can also affect the open rate.
Time and Day
The time and day you send an email can also affect the open rate. There’s no one-size-fits-all all answer to the best time to send an email as it depends on your target audience and their habits. However, several studies suggest that emails sent during the workweek, especially Tuesdays and Thursdays tend to have higher open rates.
Similarly, the time of day can also affect open rates. Emails sent in the morning or late afternoon tend to perform better. However, you need to test different sending times to find what works best for your audience.
