Glossary Metrics
Is email open rate still reliable?
Open rate is the percentage of delivered emails recorded as opened, usually measured with a tiny invisible image (a tracking pixel) that loads when the email is displayed.
Since Apple introduced Mail Privacy Protection in 2021, Apple Mail can load images automatically whether or not the person reads the email, which inflates opens. Other clients block images, which hides real opens.
Tracking pixels and rewritten links can also make a one-to-one email look like marketing mail to spam filters.
Why it matters
- Decisions based on unreliable opens lead teams the wrong way.
- Tracking adds weight that personal emails do not normally carry.
- Replies are the signal opens were trying to approximate.
How Reach Crew handles it
Reach Crew does not count opens. It measures what matters, which is replies, and its drafted answers never mention tracking.