False Email Open Rate: How to Get the Most Accurate Data with Snov.io

Picture this: You launch a cold email campaign, and soon after, your dashboard says you’re hitting all the right marks, with open rates of 80% or even more. But do these numbers reflect your prospects’ engagement, or is your email platform inflating your stats?

Let’s find out.

What is the email open rate?

The email open rate is the percentage of recipients who open a specific email out of the total emails sent in a campaign.

According to Mailjet’s 2023 research, 42.7% of respondents identified open rate as the most important metric for measuring cold email success.

Email platforms track opens using a tracking pixel embedded in the email’s source code. When a recipient opens the email, this pixel activates, recording the open in your email analytics. While you may assume these opens come from your prospects, they could actually be triggered by other factors, leading to misleading statistics.

What can cause false open rates?

There are a few reasons why your open rates might be higher than they are. Things like email security scans, bots, or even accidental triggers can make it seem like more people are opening your emails than they really are.

False open rates can create the illusion that your cold email campaigns perform exceptionally well. However, if your metrics aren’t accurate, you could be overlooking critical factors like email deliverability, audience engagement, or the effectiveness of your content.

So, you might be asking yourself: what’s behind those inflated open rates, and more importantly, what steps can you take to fix the issue and ensure your metrics truly reflect your campaign’s performance?

Join our marketing expert, Kseniia, as she breaks down the reasons behind false opens, explains how they can skew campaign performance and provides practical tips to help you address the issue effectively.

Did you know? Snov.io takes extra measures to ensure your campaign statistics accurately reflect recipient engagement. Snov.io automatically filters out inaccurate opens by enabling the False open detection feature by default. Our team has developed a special tracking methodology called Magic pixel to replace pixel tracking. As you may know, Gmail began blocking images in emails and flagging potentially suspicious messages to help protect users from spam. This also affects pixel tracking. With Magic pixel, the unique tracking pixel is integrated seamlessly into your email copy, which helps track emails correctly and avoid spam filters! → Learn more about how Snov.io track email opens here.