The day I stopped obsessing over email open rates

I spent two years chasing a 30% open rate for my client's newsletter. I tried every subject line trick and send time hack I could find. Then last month I actually talked to 10 subscribers on the phone. Seven of them said they open emails but never click anything because the content feels like a sales pitch. That made me realize I was optimizing for the wrong metric the whole time. Now I track clicks and replies instead of opens. Has anyone else had a similar wakeup call about vanity metrics?

2 comments

2 Comments

adam_lewis1mo ago

Those 7 people who said it feels like a sales pitch, did they give you any specific examples of what they'd actually want to read?

skyler431mo ago

Were they wanting more honest takes on the downsides and not just the good stuff?