Open rates used to be the go-to signal that your email landed where it should. But in 2025, they’re mostly skewed by privacy updates, image blocking, and misleading data.
If you’re relying on open rates alone, you might not realize your emails are going to spam, being ignored, or not getting delivered at all.
This article breaks down what’s happening behind today’s email systems and shows how to tell (accurately) whether your emails are reaching inboxes. We’ll also cover better metrics to track and simple ways to improve your deliverability. Let’s begin!
Why open rates are not the reliable metric they used to be
Back in the day, if people opened your email, you knew you were doing something right. But that was before inbox providers imposed policies we’re dealing with today.
One of the reasons today’s metrics are skewed is Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection. It preloads tracking pixels, so now, your open rate might look amazing, even when no one actually reads a thing.
Gmail, on the other hand, is doing the opposite. If it doesn’t trust the sender, it blocks those same pixels. This means even legitimate opens don’t get counted.
One platform inflates the data, the other suppresses it, and you’re left with numbers that don’t mean much of anything, which results in a distorted view of engagement. A campaign might look like it’s performing well or poorly based on open rates alone, but the truth is buried under how each platform handles tracking. Without understanding that, it’s easy to misinterpret what’s actually happening.
That’s why relying on open rates won’t give you a proper idea of your campaigns anymore. They’re inconsistent, unreliable, and they tell half the story at best. If you want to understand what’s working, it’s time to look deeper at metrics that reveal real customer interactions.
Why email deliverability matters so much
Email deliverability sounds complicated, but it boils down to one simple idea: making sure your emails land in the inbox. Many businesses assume that if they click “send,” their messages automatically reach recipients. Unfortunately, reality isn’t so kind.
Even emails with great copy, a good offer, and a clean list can fail to make it past spam filters if your domain reputation is not the best or your setup isn’t trusted by inbox providers.
That’s where deliverability makes or breaks your strategy. If your emails aren’t reaching people, nothing else matters. Not the open rates, not the call to action, not the design. And you might not even realize it’s happening. Your metrics could look fine, while huge segments of your audience aren’t seeing anything.
That’s where tools like InboxAlly come into play, an email deliverability platform designed to help your emails consistently land in the inbox—not spam. It works by improving your sender reputation through behavioral signals that train inbox providers to trust your messages. Whether you’re sending newsletters, sales outreach, or customer updates, InboxAlly offers visibility into inbox placement and equips you with the tools to fix deliverability issues before they spiral out of control.
Inbox providers like Gmail and Outlook score your domain based on things like sending habits, complaints, authentication, and consistency. If you fall short, your reputation goes down, often gradually, which makes it even harder to notice.
That’s why deliverability is so important. If your reach is broken, your results will be too. So let’s take a look at how to tell if your emails are landing where they should.
Simple Ways to Check If Your Emails Are Being Delivered
Tracking open rates isn’t what it used to be, but that doesn’t mean you’re completely in the dark. Even with all the privacy changes, there are still a few ways to get a sense of how your emails are performing:
Requesting Read Receipts
If you’re looking for a quick way to check whether someone opened your email, reading receipts can do the trick (sort of).
Both Gmail and Outlook let you request one, which sends a little prompt to the recipient asking them to confirm they’ve opened your message. It can be useful, but it only works if they agree to send the receipt. The issue is that most people won’t, and some won’t even see the prompt.
On top of that, reading receipts can feel a bit pushy. It’s fine if you’re emailing a colleague about something urgent or time-sensitive, but for general outreach or marketing, it’s probably best to skip it. The response rate just isn’t reliable enough to base your marketing decisions on.
Seed Testing: Seeing Exactly Where Emails Land
A more reliable method is “seed testing.” The idea is simple: you send your campaign to a bunch of test inboxes, called “seed addresses”, to see where it lands. It gives you a clearer picture of your deliverability than open rates ever could.
Using dedicated email deliverability software makes the process even easier. Instead of manually checking each inbox one by one, the software does it for you. You’ll get a report of your inbox placement across different providers, so you can catch issues early and fix them before they ruin your campaign.
Monitoring Domain Reputation and Blocklists
Finally, regularly check your domain reputation and blocklists. Even small things, like a spike in complaints or sending to a stale list, can land you in trouble. You can use MxToolbox or HetrixTools to monitor your status and catch issues early.
And if you do find yourself listed somewhere, don’t wait it out. The longer you ignore it, the harder it is to get back on track.
Authentication: Your First Line of Defense
Authentication is your way of proving to inbox providers that you’re a legitimate sender. There are three main methods: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework) specifies which mail servers are allowed to send emails on behalf of your domain. If the sending server isn’t on that list, the message usually gets blocked.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to your emails, which confirms the message wasn’t altered in transit and that it came from an authorized source.
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) builds on SPF and DKIM by telling inbox providers what to do if SPF or DKIM fails (reject, quarantine, or let it through), and it sends you reports so you can monitor and improve your setup over time.
Most email platforms provide step-by-step instructions or support to help you configure them properly. It’s a one-time task that can drastically improve your inbox placement.
Better Metrics to Gauge True Email Performance
Instead of chasing misleading open rates, focus on metrics that reflect real interaction: reply rates, click-through rates (CTR), and conversions.
Reply rates show you immediately whether your audience sees value in what you’re offering. A direct response shows genuine interest, which is much more telling than a passive open that may or may not have even happened.
Click-through rates (CTR) come next. They show whether people engaged with your content, not just glanced at it. And if those clicks lead to conversions (whether it’s a signup or a purchase), you’ll know your emails are doing their job.
Once you start tracking these metrics, things get clearer. Low reply rates are probably caused by a weak CTA or a message that’s too vague. Poor CTR may be because the copy doesn’t resonate with the audience, or the offer’s off.
At the end of the day, inbox space is limited, and attention even more so. If you want the best feedback on your campaigns, watch what people do, not what your tracking pixel says they might’ve done.
Final Thoughts
Back at the start, we asked a simple question: Are your customers even seeing your emails? Now you know, open rates can’t answer that anymore. But inbox placement, domain reputation, and engagement metrics still can. These are the signs that tell you if your message is reaching the right people and getting tangible results.
The goal isn’t just to send more emails but to send better ones that make it to the inbox. And now that you know what to look for, you’re ready for your next awesome campaign!
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