Open Rates vs. Response Rates: What Really Matters in Outreach

If you're wondering how to track open rates in Pitchbox, you're not alone, it's a common question.

However, at Pitchbox we’ve made a deliberate choice not to track open rates in our outreach campaigns.

Instead, we focus on a more meaningful and accurate metric: response rates.

❌ Why We Don’t Track Open Rates

There are a few important reasons why we don’t include open rate tracking in our system:

1. Tracking Elements (like Pixels) Can Hurt Deliverability

Tracking open rates typically requires embedding an invisible pixel in each email. While this is common in general marketing tools, it comes with a major downside:

Many email providers (like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo) treat these pixels as a sign of mass or promotional mail, which increases the likelihood of your message landing in the Promotions tab or even the Spam folder.

At Pitchbox, our goal is to help your outreach land directly in the recipient’s inbox, where it has the best chance of being seen and acted on. 😎

2. Open Rate Data Is Often Inaccurate

Even when open rate tracking measures are used, the data they provide is far from reliable. Why?

• Some email servers preload or pre-open content, including tracking pixels, before the recipient actually sees the email.
• Privacy features (like Apple Mail Privacy Protection) obscure or randomize open data.
• Firewalls and security tools can also trigger false opens, making it hard to tell what’s real.

That means open rates may appear higher than they actually are, and you can’t be sure which opens represent real human engagement.

📈 Why Response Rates Matter More

In general marketing email outreach, success often comes from the recipient simply viewing the content, becoming familiar with the brand, and understanding the product or service being offered. The goal is brand exposure, so a reply isn’t always necessary for the message to make an impact.

In link building, success isn’t measured by how many people view your email; we're all about building relationships and working with site owners. So, it’s about how many people respond and start a conversation with you.

Here’s why we focus on response rates:

• They reflect genuine engagement
• It offers a good insight into how your pitch is resonating with your target audience
• Every reply, even a “no thanks”, is a positive signal to inbox providers
• High response rates help protect and strengthen your domain reputation

✅ Too Long; Didn't Read: What You Should Know

• 📬 We do not track open rates because it harms deliverability and offers unreliable data
• 🧠 We track response rates, which reflect real interest and engagement
• 🔒 This approach helps keep your emails in the inbox and your domain reputation strong
• 🛠 Focus on writing emails that are relevant, personalized, and valuable