Standard email marketing metrics like opens and clicks are not accurate. Due to security protocols and bot activity, many email service providers pre-click and pre-open emails, leading to wildly inflated numbers. Marketers should understand that these metrics are fundamentally unreliable for measuring genuine user engagement.
With click-based metrics being unreliable, marketers should shift to a "zero-click" mindset. This involves creating content that provides full value directly within the email or social post, without requiring a click. This "no agenda marketing" builds brand equity with the 95% of your audience not currently ready to buy, ensuring they think of you when they are.
Marketers should not be afraid to send more emails. Frequency is directly tied to relevancy; the more relevant your content, the more often you can send it to stay top-of-mind. A slight increase in unsubscribes is not a failure but a positive sign of list hygiene, as it removes people who were never going to buy from you anyway.
Marketing automation lead scores are often corrupted by bot clicks. To identify these non-human contacts, filter your database for users who have clicked on every single email sent to them over a six-month period. This behavior is a clear indicator of bot activity, and these 'leads' should be disqualified to avoid wasting sales resources.