With the nurture cycle and nurturing capabilities within your Value Builder account, email "opens" and "clicks" are essential metrics. Using these metrics helps to gauge how engaged a contact is and can help determine when to move into the next stage. Below, we'll help to explain what these terms are and how they are tracked within The Value Builder System.
Email Opens
What is an Email Open?
An email open occurs when a recipient opens and views an email you've sent. It is tracked when the recipient's email client (such as Gmail, Outlook, or Apple Mail) loads the images or tracks a tracking pixel embedded in the email. When this happens, it signals that the email has been displayed on the recipient's screen, even if they don't interact with it or read it further. Opens may also sometimes be marked if a recipient is scrolling through their email and the "preview" loads on their side. Though they have not actively opened the email per se, the preview is loaded and this will be tracked.
Note: Depending on the recipient's email account, emails may be "opened" by a security filter or setting to scan for potential threats. This will be marked as an "open" even though the recipients themselves did not view the email.
Email Clicks
What is a Click?
A click, in the context of email nurturing, occurs when a recipient interacts with a link or a call-to-action (CTA) within your email. This interaction is recorded when the recipient clicks on a hyperlink or button provided in your email, which can direct them to a specific webpage, eBook, or assessment. Clicks are a more reliable metric for contact engagement as this requires the contact to actively click and interact with a link in your email. Whereas an email "open" does not require any action from the recipient to engage with the content that you've sent.
Why are the Opens and Clicks numbers very high for a contact?
You may notice that a contact within your portal has a very high number of opens and clicks for a specific email(s). There are a few potential scenarios that could've led to this. If the email was forwarded to other people, the opens and clicks will still be tracked on that email. In addition, email security features and spam filters may be interacting with the email as well causing the metrics to be showing a higher number of opens and clicks.
Conclusion
Email opens and clicks are key metrics in email nurturing that provide insights into the performance of your campaigns and nurture cycle. While opens indicate initial interest, clicks demonstrate active engagement and conversion potential.