Email marketing best practices: Why open rates are dead (and what to track instead)

Remember when the whole game was crafting the perfect subject line to boost open rates? Those days are gone.

Email subscribers are more savvy than they've ever been, and with all the recent privacy changes (thanks, Apple), open rates are about as reliable as a weather forecast.

But this shift isn't the end of email marketing. It's actually a chance to focus on what really matters: clicks, conversions, and engagement.

With Digital Native, my average open rate on weekly emails is ~60% (even higher on my welcome sequence). Those numbers were impressive in years past, and honestly, they still are. But I'm not obsessing over opens anymore. I'm focused on clicks, engagement, and conversions.

These are the email metrics you should focus on too, and I'll explain why.

The email metrics that actually matter

Apple's privacy changes broke open rate tracking. Opens are inflated and unreliable now. The old playbook used to mean obsessing over open rates, but that doesn't work anymore.

A subscriber opening your email doesn't pay the bills. Clicks, engagement, and conversions do. These are the metrics that show your subscribers are actually interested in what you're offering, not just glancing at your email while clearing their inbox.

So what should you be tracking? I'm paying attention to three things: click-through rates (are people actually engaging with your content?), conversion rates (is your email driving the action you want?), and overall ROI (is your email strategy actually making you money?).

These metrics tell you if your email is working, not just if it's being seen.

Open rates might be dead, but subject lines are more alive than ever

I know, I know. I just said open rates are dead because they're unreliable, but you still need people to open your email if you want a click or conversion to happen.

So writing good subject lines is as important as ever.

Your subject lines need to do more than tease. They need to align with your email content and offer clear value. Think of them as trailers for blockbuster movies. They should give a taste of what's inside and make people want more.

There are a bunch of ways to approach this. A few that work well for me:

Be specific. "5 Proven Strategies to Double Your Conversions" beats "Improve Your Conversions" any day.
Make it relevant to the reader. Tailor your subject line to your audience's interests and pain points.
Match the subject line with the email content. Never, ever bait and switch.
Open curiosity gaps. "The unconventional tactic that boosted our sales by 237%" makes people want to know more.
Use power words. Words like "Essential," "Exclusive," and "Limited" can drive urgency and action.

What you don't include in your subject line can be just as important as what you do include. Avoid these:

Clickbait. It might get opens, but it kills trust.
Over-promising. If you can't deliver on it, don't say it.
Being too clever. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: clarity trumps creativity every time.

So subject lines still matter. But what else can you do to actually drive clicks and conversions?

People are (still) the priority

Personalization is king these days, but it goes beyond just slapping a first name in the subject line (that's so early 2000s).

Now it's about understanding your audience and consistently delivering value.

Segmentation is a big one. Tailoring subject lines to specific audience segments will drive way more engagement than generic ones. Behavioral triggers are another, where you use past engagement to inform future subject lines. A lot of ESPs have these built-in now, so make sure you're taking advantage of them. And then there's the value-first approach. One of the best things you can do in your newsletter is lead with the benefit to the subscriber.

Your goal isn't just to get opens. It's to drive real engagement that leads to conversions.

Getting even more personal

So how do you craft subject lines that don't just get opens but drive real engagement? You have to get more personal.

AI tools can help you analyze your audience's behavior and predict which subject lines will resonate. But don't let the machines take over completely. Always apply human creativity and intuition. The machines don't always know best.

Go beyond just using names. Use behavioral data to create hyper-relevant subject lines. Something like "Continue your journey on [Topic They Last Engaged With]" can be surprisingly effective.

And when you're A/B testing, don't just test for open rates. Test for clicks and conversions. Try variations like question vs. statement, benefit-driven vs. curiosity-driven, short vs. long, direct vs. playful, formal vs. informal.

Keep in mind that what works for one audience might flop for another. To loosely paraphrase Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross, "ABTL (Always Be Testing and Learning)."

The future of email engagement

Email isn't going anywhere, but how we measure success is definitely evolving. We're moving toward engagement metrics that consider the entire customer journey, not just a single open event.

I think we'll see more AI-driven personalization, a bigger focus on post-click behavior, and tighter integration between email metrics and overall customer data.

The key to staying ahead is the same now as it's always been: never stop experimenting, learning, and adapting.

In email marketing, it's not just about getting in the inbox. It's about making an impact once you're there.