{"id":10904,"date":"2026-03-27T18:39:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T00:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/?p=10904"},"modified":"2026-03-27T18:39:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T00:39:28","slug":"the-email-metrics-marketers-are-likely-to-get-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/?p=10904","title":{"rendered":"The email metrics marketers are likely to get wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Open rate. Click-through rate. Ask most marketing teams how their email program is performing, and those are the numbers they\u2019ll show you.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the problem: Open and click metrics don\u2019t tell you whether your email program is actually working. They tell you how people interacted with the email message, not whether the email generated meaningful results for the business.<\/p>\n

Relying on them as key performance indicators (KPIs) can lead to optimizing for the wrong outcomes entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What the data shows about open and click rates<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve seen subject line A\/B split tests where the version with the highest open rate produced fewer conversions or lower revenue per email (RPE) than the other versions. I\u2019ve also seen campaigns where the version with the highest click-through rate generated fewer conversions or lower RPE than the other versions.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just anecdotal. Looking across subject line tests I\u2019ve conducted for a wide range of clients and audiences over many years, the results are striking.<\/p>\n

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Open rate as a KPI: Rarely useful<\/h3>\n

Many marketing teams use open rate as the primary KPI for subject line tests. After all, the subject line affects whether someone opens the email. But if your business goal is conversions or revenue, open rate is a weak proxy.<\/p>\n

Across subject line A\/B tests I\u2019ve conducted using the scientific method<\/a>, I went back to see how often the highest open rate was a correct predictor of the version with the highest conversion rate (for non-revenue actions) or RPE.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Open<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The data suggests that if your marketing department relies on open rate as a KPI for your subject line testing:\u00a0<\/p>\n