We all know that opens are VERY unreliable
So should you bin them completely? Hmmm, maybe.
Most teams report opens as proof that email is working - it's still being counted as a success metric in 2026.
An open tells you a tracking pixel fired, not that someone read it, cared about it, or did anything with it.
And with Apple Mail inflating opens, Outlook suppressing them, and corporate security bots firing pixels before a human ever sees the email, the number on your dashboard isn't even accurate.
Use opens for one thing only: pattern recognition.
A sudden significant drop in your normal range is worth investigating. A consistent baseline is a health check.
What to measure instead: meaningful actions
A meaningful action is anything a subscriber does that signals real engagement with your business - outside of the email platform entirely.
B2B examples: webinar registrations, pricing page visits, demo requests, content downloads, replies, proposal views
B2C/D2C examples: repeat purchases, basket activity, loyalty logins, direct site visits after a send, product page clusters
Build your reporting around these, track email-assisted conversions and measure time from subscribe to first meaningful action. Watch what happens to these signals when you send and when you don't.
Full guide below!
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