Why your open rates are lying to you (& what to track instead)
If you're obsessing over your email open rates, I need to tell you something - they're not as reliable as you think.
I know.
Open rates feel like the ultimate measure of whether your emails are working. High open rate = people love you. Low open rate = time to panic, right?
Not quite.
Here's the thing - open rates have become less accurate over the past few years, and if you're only tracking opens, you're missing the metrics that actually tell you whether your emails are making money.
Let me explain what's happening and what you should be tracking instead.
Why open rates aren't reliable anymore
There are two big reasons open rates have become less trustworthy:
1️⃣ Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP)
In 2021, Apple rolled out a privacy feature that pre-loads images in emails even if the recipient never actually opens them. Since most email platforms track opens by embedding a tiny invisible image in your email, Apple's update basically records an "open" whether the person read your email or not.
What this means is if a chunk of your list uses Apple Mail (iPhone, iPad, Mac), your open rates are inflated. You might see a 40% open rate and think you're crushing it, but in reality, a portion of those "opens" are just Apple's servers downloading images and not real humans reading your content.
2️⃣ Inbox Algorithms and Preview Panes
Email providers like Gmail and Outlook often load email content in preview panes or background processes to scan for spam which can trigger an "open" even if the person never clicked into the email.
Combine that with Apple's privacy protections, and you've got a metric that's murky at best.
Open rates aren't useless, but they're not the North Star metric they used to be.
Here's what you should track instead:
If open rates are unreliable, what should you be paying attention to? Here are the metrics that actually matter for pet business owners who want to know if their emails are working:
1️⃣ Click Rate (Not Just Click-Through Rate)
This is the percentage of people who clicked a link in your email - and it's one of the best indicators of engagement.
Why it matters → Clicks show intent. Someone who clicks is actively interested in what you're offering, whether that's reading a blog post, booking a service, or buying a product.
What to track → Look at your unique click rate (the percentage of recipients who clicked at least once). A good benchmark for service-based pet businesses is 2-5%, but this varies by industry and email type.
Pro tip → If people are opening but not clicking, your email content or call-to-action needs attention. If people aren't opening or clicking, you've got a subject line problem (or a list hygiene issue - more on that in a sec).
2️⃣ Conversion Rate
This is the big one: how many people took the action you wanted them to take?
That could be:
✓ Booking an appointment
✓ Buying a product
✓ Signing up for a class
✓ Downloading a resource
Why it matters → You're not sending emails just to get opens or clicks - you're sending them to drive business. Conversion rate tells you if your emails are actually making you money.
What to track → Most email platforms let you track conversions if you integrate them with your booking system or e-commerce store. If you're not set up for that yet, you can manually track conversions by looking at how many people took action after you sent a specific email (e.g., appointments booked the day after your email went out).
3️⃣ List Growth Rate
Are you consistently adding new subscribers, or is your list shrinking?
Why it matters → A healthy email list grows over time. If your list is stagnant or shrinking, it means you're not capturing new leads and eventually, engagement will drop as people naturally unsubscribe or disengage.
What to track → Calculate your list growth rate monthly: (New subscribers - Unsubscribes) ÷ Total subscribers × 100
A growth rate of 2-5% per month is solid for most small businesses.
4️⃣ Unsubscribe Rate
Yes, unsubscribes sting, but tracking them is important.
Why it matters → A sudden spike in unsubscribes can signal that something's off - maybe you're emailing too often, your content isn't resonating, or you're attracting the wrong audience.
What's normal → An unsubscribe rate under 0.5% per email is generally healthy. If you're consistently above 1%, it's worth investigating why.
Pro tip → Don't panic over every unsubscribe. People leave lists for all kinds of reasons, and it's better to have a smaller, engaged list than a bloated one full of people who don't care.
5️⃣ Engagement Over Time
This one's less about a single metric and more about trends.
Why it matters → Are the same people clicking your emails month after month, or are you seeing repeat engagement from new subscribers? Are certain types of emails (promotional vs. educational) performing better?
What to track → Look at your engaged vs. unengaged segments. Most platforms let you create segments based on who's opened or clicked in the last 30, 60, or 90 days. If your "engaged" segment is shrinking, it's time to run a re-engagement campaign (or clean your list - see December's newsletter for more on that).
What about open rates? Should you ignore them completely?
Not entirely. Open rates still give you directional insight, especially if you're comparing email performance within your own account over time.
Here's how to use open rates without obsessing over them:
→ Track trends, not individual numbers. If your open rates suddenly drop by 10-15%, that's worth investigating (could be a deliverability issue, a bad subject line, or timing).
→ Use them to test subject lines. A/B testing subject lines and comparing open rates is still a valid way to see what resonates - just don't treat open rates as the ultimate success metric.
→ Combine them with other data. High opens + low clicks = content problem. Low opens + high clicks (from the people who do open) = subject line problem.
A quick recap on the metrics that really matter:
If you take nothing else from this post, remember this:
✅ Click rate → Shows engagement and intent
✅ Conversion rate → Tells you if emails are driving business
✅ List growth rate → Indicates long-term list health
✅ Unsubscribe rate → Flags when something's off
✅ Engagement over time → Reveals trends and opportunities
Regarding open rates, use them as one piece of the puzzle, not the whole picture.
Ready to start tracking?
If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the numbers in your email dashboard, I created a free resource to help: The Email Metrics Cheat Sheet.
It's a one-page guide that breaks down the most important email metrics for pet business owners - what they mean, what's "good," and what to do if yours are off track.
Download your free cheat sheet here →
And if you want monthly email marketing strategy delivered straight to your inbox (with way less overwhelm and way more clarity), subscribe to Coffee, Collars, & Campaigns - my monthly newsletter for pet business owners who want to make email marketing actually work.
