unopened emails with clicks

[Ed_Kuryluk]

I created a smart list to help me determine the conversion rate of one of our emails. The standard email analytics reports dont' meet our needs. 

What I found was a large discrepancy in the clicked link in email total if I removed the Opens email filter. 

I defined the same email and date range in each filter. This is how i filtered: 

1 - Was sent email 
2 - Opened email
3 - Clicked link in email
This gives me 173 leads

If I drop step 2 I end up with 395 leads. Does this mean 222 leads clicked without opening the email, or am I misunderstanding how these filters work together? 

Thanks
Ed

[Anonymous]

Ed, 

I think you're probably using your filters correctly, but keep in mind the "opened email" statistic is a pretty iffy one to base any sort of analysis off of. Depending on the email browser, an open may or may not register properly, so you may be getting false positives or negatives. I generally eyeball open rate as a vague indicator of subject line strength, but it's not a part of any real analysis for me. 

[Anonymous]

Ed:

If a user does not have images turned on, it does not count as an open, even though they may have read it word for word in the text version. A text version can result in a click too, but not an open. As Jeff points out, even when images are turned on, different browsers can read it differently or it may may register as an Open even though they really didn't read it. Clicking a link is better measure of engagement.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[Ed_Kuryluk]

I had read about the image not turned on scenario, but with so many not opened, it seemed there was another culprit. The browser issue was one I hadn't thought of but makes a lot of sense. 

This seems to mean in the standard Analytics Email Reports, the Open Rate is inaccurate as is the Clicked to Open Ratio.

Thank you for the responses,
Ed

[Alok_Ramsisaria]

Filters work in two ways here. For your concerns, you need to set "Use ALL filters" and not "Use ANY filters" in smart list. Here's a screenshot;

[Ed_Kuryluk]

Yes, I have the smart list set to use all filters.

Thanks