“Engagement metrics” that actually matter
Open rates and click rates have a problem, and it’s getting worse.
Have you noticed that your open rates have spiked — or plummeted — for no apparent reason?
Or that some users seem to have clicked every single link in every email message (however unlikely that would be)?
Problems like this are the result of privacy protections that are being implemented by a growing number of popular mail processors, like Gmail and Apple Mail.
What gives?
I won't bother digging into the mechanics of how it works, but the practical effect is that it makes your open rates and click rates significantly less reliable.
And this is not just affecting CiviCRM emails. The big-bucks platforms like MailChimp and Constant Contact are struggling with the same issues.
I, and some other CiviCRM specialists, have ideas about ways we could improve the situation for CiviCRM, but it's an arms race. Against heavily resourced companies like Apple and Google.
None of us are likely to out-maneuver those tech giants anytime soon.
What to do?
One very smart thing to do here is to stop placing so much emphasis on open rates and click rates.
For one thing, those numbers have always been more of a relative measure than an absolute one.
(A 60% open rate doesn't mean that 60% of your recipients opened the email; but it probably does mean that more people opened that email than the one with the 20% open rate.)
But more importantly, they’re just very meaningful in your mission.
Your organization and your people don't really benefit from opening an email or clicking a link.
The benefit happens when they take a more meaningful action: donating, registering, renewing, joining.
So: .
Let the click and open rates continue to be what they've always been: relative general indicators.
And then, use more meaningful metrics to gauge who is actually making progress in their relationship with you.
Because making progress in the relationship is the kind of engagement you really care about.
All the best,
A.