Open rate discrepancy

[Jake_Nelson]

I was curious, I was looking at a lead that we sent an email to, marketo did not mark him as having "opened email".  Yet he clicked a link within the email.

If the email went to a provider like outlook, can you scroll through the email without technically opening it (looking at the view panel)?  I am trying to get a better understanding of 1.) if more people are reading our emails then we thought and 2.) if something might be off with marketo's tracking information for opened emails.

Somewhat new to this all, so any information would be helpful.

Thanks,

Jake

[Josh_Hill13 · Accepted solution]

Opens is a directional and unreliable metric. Most people block image downloads (default in Outlook). If they do not download images, Marketo will not know if they opened. But they can click the email and marketo will see that unique click because it has the marketo tracking code.

[Anonymous]

In addition to what Josh said, you may find this useful, as it explains exactly how the various email metrics are calculated and why you may not see an activity log entry for opens: Why Does My Smart List Count Not Match the Email Performance Report?

[Josh_Hill13]

Yes, thank you Kristen!