You’ve heard me yammer on and on about how open rates don’t matter.
And, yes, I still believe open rates don’t matter.
However, what does matter is open rate trends.
And a few of my Klaviyo clients have been experiencing a drop in open rates for seemingly no reason. This drop in open rates hasn't affected other email softwares that different clients use. I’ve seen no such trend in Infusionsoft, MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, or BirdSend.
This being a problem specific to Klaviyo is interesting.
And so, I did some digging…
What digging did I do?
Well, first I created a Klaviyo Open Rates Hypothesis Google Doc. Inside this doc, I listed all the potential hypotheses for why Klaviyo’s open rates were dropping across multiple clients.
I initially had 6 potential reasons, including:
1. Low-performing inboxes
Which means banning inboxes like Hotmail and Outlook have seen the biggest drop. This made a slight improvement.
2. Engaged segments
The nature of many of my clients’ Klaviyo accounts is that they have an older demographic. And older demographics are more likely to croak than younger ones.
So, I created a few different engaged segments (7-day, 30-day, 60-day, 90-day, you get the point) and sent only to these engaged segments.
The kicker?
I only used email engagement metrics to create these segments, I didn’t include other engagement metrics that aren’t directly connected to email.
This probably created the biggest improvement. However, it doesn’t address my next hypothesis:
3. Improper tracking
This hypothesis suggests that Klaviyo is simply no longer accurately tracking opens. Now, open rate tracking has never been accurate. But I’d beg to argue that it’s also never been this inaccurate.
For example:
I created a test email address in one of my client’s accounts. And then, I opened an email on desktop, which Klaviyo properly tracked. But then, I opened another email on mobile, which Klaviyo still says I never opened. I use Apple Mail, and I know they’re making it harder to track opens in general. But this doesn’t address the fact that Hotmail and Outlook inboxes have suffered the biggest drop in opens from this trend.
My solution to this is to incorporate other engagement metrics that aren’t directly tied to email. The big problem here is, I have no idea if people are actually opening and their software isn’t tracking it, or if they’re just not tracking it at all.
4. Formatted emails
Klaviyo recently updated their email interface—and I absolutely despise this new “upgrade.”
Now, whenever I copy and paste an email from Google Docs, a bunch of other code gets added if I choose to format the email like it’s formatted in Docs.
I know, I know. It’s a “best practice” to not format your emails like this. But I’m often adding several emails to different pieces of software every day. It eats up a lot of my time. And the alternative is equally as bad: I have to add line breaks to every single paragraph, re-add links, and reformat my copy with bold, italics, underlines, etc.
But, despite what Glock Apps (an email deliverability software) told me, I A/B tested this several times and noticed no discernible difference between the versions with extra code or not.
(Such an annoying problem though. I hate Klaviyo a little bit more each and every day. They still don’t understand the basic and proven fact that copy is more persuasive than pretty templates and sales. And so, they create their entire email software to be optimized for designed templates instead of a copy-first approach to email.)
5. UTM Tracking Links
This one is related to the last: Glock Apps also told me not to use UTM Tracking Links (which helps third-party data sites, like Google Analytics, to track your email results).
I A/B tested this a bunch and noticed no real difference.
6. Blacklisted IP
This is the most pressing issue. And it’s also the one I’ve tested least because it requires a lot of moving parts.
Again, my email check with Glock Apps revealed that some of Klaviyo’s IPs are blacklisted. And as such, some of the emails I send are going to spam automatically because Klaviyo’s blacklisted.
Glock Apps recommended reaching out to the email software and letting them know about it. So I did. They offered zero help or even empathy.
My only potential solution to this is switching to a platform like Ben Settle’s Berserker Mail, which focuses on deliverability instead of pretty templates.
The problem with this is that moving platforms is a massive job with an even bigger opportunity cost. As such, I’m saving this as my last resort option while exhausting other potential solutions first.
Whew!
See how much goes into something as simple as email marketing?
This is yet another value of working with a professional who understands not only the human psychology element of email, but also the technical drivel of deliverability.
The good news is that some of the thangs I’ve implemented already are boosting the opens a bit, which is important for better deliverability from a Klaviyo perspective.
Also, notice I have not yet changed the strategy or subject line strategy. I don’t believe this is as simple of an issue as “write better subject lines,” especially because my clients have some of the most engaged audiences in their niche.
Remember, people always read the “From Name” before the subject line anyway.
Now, onto bidness:
If you’re also noticing a weird and unexplained drop in your open rates—or have noticed a similar drop in your revenue from email—mayhap I can help.
Only one way to find out:
Hit reply, and we’ll set up a quick call.
John
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