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Jamie_Barclay
Level 5
April 3, 2018
Question

Click to open rates are low

  • April 3, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 7365 views

Hi everyone,
I've noted that in general our open rates are pretty good (almost 40%) but the click-to-open rates are hovering around 5%.  This seems low especially when the CTA is to an informational website or to download a PDF that provides far more information that is included in the email. I'm wondering if this seems low (especially since the open rates are good) and/or if you have any insight you can share.

Thank you

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    4 replies

    joshuag36299401
    joshuag36299401
    Level 2
    April 4, 2018

    Hey Jamie,
    As you're probably aware, there are a lot of variables that contribute to setting an accurate baseline for comparing CTRs.

    That being said, in your own analysis, take the open rates with a grain of salt.

    Open rates are notorious for becoming inflated.

    Opens are tracked based on a pixel load, and many email browsers load emails as they arrive in the inbox regardless of if the user wanted to "open" them or not.

    There are also anti-spam services that pre-check emails prior to delivery that could result in opens.

      J
      Jamie_BarclayAuthor
      Level 5
      April 4, 2018

      Thanks Josh,
      I am aware of these issues.  However in terms of the anti-spam service prechecking I also ran a smart list and the number of actual people in our database that open email aligns to the open rate in the email performance report.

      I also know that really open rates don't reflect those that may have clicked through so open or click = true open rate.  So the open rate in the reporting in my experience is underreported.  I'm wondering if there's a gitch on the Marketo side that is underreporting click-to-opens.  Something is off given the CTA would drive people to learn more.

      T
      Tom_Kerlin2
      Level 7
      April 4, 2018

      Hi Jamie,

      If the CTA in your email is using a tokenized url then double check to make sure it's set up for successful tracking.

      Here's an older thread that might help: Can you use URLs in Tokens? YES - here's how.

      -Tom

      Tom Kerlin
      A
      Anonymous
      April 5, 2018

      It is a bit ambiguous to look at CTRs across the board.  If you are curious about standards I would look for reports within your industry/niche.  I agree that if you have a great open rate and a low CTR your CTA may not be matching your subject line in the emails.  The flip side, though, is if the low CTR people convert to your offers at a high rate than perhaps you are only pulling the hottest leads down through the funnel with your email marketing message.

      Do you use any of the scoring features in Marketo or in your CRM to ascertain how MQL ready or sales ready the people receiving these emails are?

        Jo_Pitts1
        Community Advisor
        Jo_Pitts1Community Advisor
        Community Advisor
        April 5, 2018

        Jamie,

        Everyone has spoken to the technical aspects of the low CTR that you've got.  This is super valid! 

        While your open rates might be inflated (but they may not if people aren't loading images), It is reasonable to assume that tracking of opens is working (otherwise you'd see 0%, not 5%). 

        However, a different view may be that your CTAs are simply not compelling or visible enough.  If you have the ability to reach any of the audience through a different channel (i.e. phone), it might be worth finding out why they aren't clicking through.

        Cheers

        Jo

        Grégoire_Miche2
        Grégoire_Miche2
        Level 10
        April 6, 2018

        Hi Jo,

        While your open rates might be inflated (but they may not if people aren't loading images), It is reasonable to assume that tracking of opens is working (otherwise you'd see 0%, not 5%).

        You know it's working, but you can also be sure the number is wrong. If can be totally off the mark if you are addressing medium to large companies with antivirus software, that will all download the images and trigger an "open" event. The validity of the open is only to check how it evolves over time or how it compares between 2 email addressing the same targets.

        And to be complete, the click detection also tend to become seriously tempered with by the anti phising / link scanners. read this: [Shared Blog]: I Want to Believe, But: Your Email Link Clicks Aren’t Real and vote here:

        -Greg

          Jo_Pitts1
          Community Advisor
          Jo_Pitts1Community Advisor
          Community Advisor
          April 8, 2018

          Greg,

          Grégoire Michel wrote:

          Hi Jo,

          While your open rates might be inflated (but they may not if people aren't loading images), It is reasonable to assume that tracking of opens is working (otherwise you'd see 0%, not 5%).

          You know it's working, but you can also be sure the number is wrong. If can be totally off the mark if you are addressing medium to large companies with antivirus software, that will all download the images and trigger an "open" event. The validity of the open is only to check how it evolves over time or how it compares between 2 email addressing the same targets.

          I completely agree with you hence why I acknowledged that the numbers might be inflated.  I was just concerned that everyone was ignoring the elephant in the room - namely a poor CTA is a poor CTA is a poor CTA .  It is easy to get wrapped up in the technology aspects of a problem and ignore the human side of it.

          cheers

          Jo

          Ronen-Was-SRpro
          Ronen-Was-SRpro
          Level 5
          August 7, 2018

          Hi Jamie,

          It also depends if you are sending them to private emails or to a company and corporate emails. Most of the companies servers detect the email and open it automatically to check if it is harmful. In this situation, you see that it was open however the person never saw the email.

          Ronen Wasserman
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