does BBNC track open rates based on image downloads only?

Robyn tmp

What if people view in a preview pane but don't 'open'? What if they click on 'display images always from this address' - does that record as open even if they don't because it has picked up the 'download'?



Thanks!

Warren Sherliker

The request for images is where the tracker records an 'open' so yes. It does not care if it is preview or fully opened it just cares that images associated with the email were downloaded.

Peter Gulka 2

So to clarify - if I open an email in Outlook, and it tells me it has blocked images, you are saying it has already downloaded them enough to trip the tracker? It's just not displaying them to me?

Warren Sherliker

Sorry - not clear in my first response. The images are the key - if they are shown then a view is tracked, if they are not shown then it does not show as a view.



Basically there is a hidden image in the email. When Outlook or the other email clients request these images i.e. when you click Show images or the equivalent, the request is sent off to fetch the image. It will be something like 'http://yoursiteurl/tracklinks?emailid...'. This runs a script to track the view and also delivers back a blank image so Outlook does not appear to have done anything. In the background though the view has been counted.



Cheers



W.

Robyn tmp

Thanks Warren. So BBNC automatically puts this hidden image in every email message sent out? You don't necessarily have to insert an image yourself?



I ask because we had an issue this week where we needed to track an email, there was a small image in the lower lhs of the screen but because it was so small, and didn't affect the overall look of the email in my inbox, I didn't download it. Therefore, on my message report it didn't track as open.



We then inserted the logo at the top of the page - a nice big box image - so people were more likely to click on the download images option (ie tracking read). We got our tracking happening and we generally DO include the logo as a standard, but as this was an in-house blast, they weren't going to and it made me wonder then about the whole tracking issue.


Thanks


Rboyn

Warren Sherliker

Hi Robyn,



Yes, BBNC will do this automatically when you send emails. Sounds like you are right with your explanation as well. Putting some crucial info as an image does tend to make people click the 'show images' button.



Things have changed as you always used to be told to do the opposite as some people used to have text only email readers but it seems a bit more middle ground now. You want you stats so you know how you are getting on with your email designs effectiveness and you still want to support those that do not turn on images.



A good balance in content seems to be key and I always say - look at your leading contemporaries i.e. Amazons, Oxfams etc. as good examples - they know what they are doing (probably spent millions on it) so use their designs as a basis for yours. They know the balance between images and content you should be trying to achieve.



W.

Jaime Lassman 2

We have a Preschool division head who adds photos of the kids in her weekly emails. The open rates for her emails are measurably higher than the open rates for our other emails.


This week, her email was opened 11% more than the emails from other division heads.

Peter Gulka 2

That's interesting... Are there not privacy issues with that?

Jaime Lassman 2

We make agreeing to use of images and video part of the enrollment/reenrollment process, and we end up with 100% of parents saying it is okay to use images of their children for promotional, marketing, and general use. Sometimes one family opts out, but for the past two years, 100% give permission.



This division head will write about something that happened in school, and often the photos show part of the process or event.