Dramatic decline in 'open rates'

[BillN356]

Through the past two years, we've seen a reported 'open rate' at around 30%+ A few weeks ago, there was a dramatic decline to 1-2%. This decline has not recovered. Prior to this, we cleared out our bounces, and we have a very low 'unsubscribe' rate.. Is it time to leave Constant Contact or has something changed that we cannot control?

[William_A]

Hello @BillN356 ,

If you have your own domain for sending emails from, I'd advise using emails with that domain going forward and setting up your account for email self-authentication. Sending from a generic free address for a business, especially if you have lots of links, images, and other elements that get checked aggressively by security algorithms and spam filters, is likely contributing to your decline in opens. For more info, or if you need additional insight and guidance, I'd advise speaking with our Delivery team directly.

[BillN356]

Thank You... I've emailed over to our host the Cname info for the DNS settings... Once confirmed, we'll monitor our next email send. If we're still seeing an issue, I'll call the delivery team.

[DeirdreS122]

I'm not sure William explained why the open rates dropped?  or does not using your own domain catch up with you??  we're experiencing a dramatic decline also.  What did you do?

[William_A]

Hello @DeirdreS122 ,

Your situation differs slightly from the OP, since you're already sending using your own domain. If you're sending using a private domain (i.e. @BusinessName.com), but you're not using self-authentication, it can result in unreliable deliverability. This can take the form of emails being reported as delivered to us, but being kept quarantined for malware checks, "delivered" to spam/junk, or it can result in significantly higher bounce rates. In either regard, open rates decline. Even if you enjoyed low bounces and high opens with a previous setup without self-authentication, a simple change by a major email system (Google, Apple, etc.) can cause that to no longer be the case.

If receiving networks and email programs have made adjustments to their screening processes and algorithms, it's important to have self-authentication setup to avoid road blocks to your delivery. Otherwise, some networks and security will see your email claiming to come from you, but is actually coming from our servers, and treat it like it's a spoof / spam. By setting up self-authentication, you mark us sending your emails as officially approved, and to be treated as though they're coming directly from you. This also helps mitigate those regular updates to their screening processes and algorithms, since you're still marking the emails you tell us to send as trustworthy.

If you'd like further insight and troubleshooting on your delivery, or guidance on setting up self-authentication beyond what's in the linked article, I'd recommend speaking with our Delivery team directly. 

[DeirdreS122]

Thank you William.  I'm not sure this explains why there has been such a sudden drop off.  From one email with 47% Open to next email getting 30% Open??

[KellieN59]

We have also seen a dramatic drop in our opened email rate - from 45% to 5%. We have not changed anything in the way we send emails. Do you have any suggestions?

[Caitlin_M]

Hi @KellieN59. Looking at your account, we saw you do not have self-authentication turned on. Self-authentication increases your deliverability and can help with having a better open rate. I recommend reviewing this article about self-authentication and how you can set it up. If you have further questions about the process, please contact our specialized Delivery team.

[CarolS5320]

We have authenitcated and done everything necessary but our open rates have dropped 50% from last year.  We never have closed a deal.   What options are left? 

[William_A]

Hello @CarolS5320 ,

According to our Compliance/Delivery team, your issue is more tied to the authenticated address' sending reputation. The only true "fix" is to continue sending without getting large numbers of spam/unsubscribes, and to give your reputation time to increase. 

If you have further questions regarding this, I'd advise speaking with the Delivery team directly.