Open Rate

Open Rate is the percentage of an email send that was opened by the person who received it. Your email platform counts an open when a tiny invisible image inside the message loads, or when a link is clicked. Divide those opens by the number of emails that reached inboxes, and that percentage is your Open Rate.

It is not a measure of whether anyone read the email, and it is not a measure of interest in what you sold. A message can be opened and closed in a second. People most often confuse it with Click Rate, which counts the smaller group who opened and then tapped a link.

Opens divided by a denominator, times 100. The honest denominator is emails delivered, since an address that hard bounced never had the chance to open. The flattering version divides by emails opened rather than sent, or counts total opens instead of unique ones, so one person opening four times becomes four. Use unique opens over delivered. Also know that privacy features pre-load images on some devices, registering opens nobody made, which pushes the figure up.

Click Rate counts the people who went further and tapped a link. Deliverability is whether the email arrived at all, which sets the ceiling on opens. Sender Reputation is the inbox provider's view of you, and it moves Deliverability. Revenue per Recipient skips all of it and tells you what the send earned.