How to Check if Emails are Opened by People in Mailchimp

If you’re using Mailchimp to send out emails, you might be curious about whether your emails are actually being opened by your subscribers. Let’s explore how you can check this and what you can learn from the data.

How Mailchimp Tracks Email Opens

Mailchimp keeps track of email opens through a method called “pixel tracking.” Here’s how it works: a small, invisible image, just 1x1 pixel in size, is placed in every email you send. When someone opens your email and their email program loads images, this pixel gets downloaded from Mailchimp’s servers. This download is counted as an “open” in Mailchimp’s records.

Detailed Steps to Check Email Opens

To see if your emails are being opened, start by logging into your Mailchimp account. Go to the “Campaigns” section and then click on “Reports” to see all your campaigns. Find the campaign you want to check and click “View Report.” You’ll see a summary that shows the total number of opens, unique opens, and the open rate, which is the unique opens divided by the number of emails successfully delivered.

For more details, click on “Activity” and then “Opened.” This will show you a list of subscribers who opened your email, along with the date and time of each open, and how many times each subscriber opened it.

Advanced Open Tracking Features

Mailchimp also offers some advanced features for tracking opens. You can see where your subscribers were located when they opened your email, what kind of device they used (like a desktop, mobile phone, or tablet), and which email service they use (like Gmail or Outlook). There’s also a graph that shows you at what times your emails are most often opened.

Limitations and Considerations

It’s good to know that there are some limits to open tracking. If someone has their email settings set to block images, the open won’t be tracked unless they click on a link in the email. Also, some email programs might count an open if the email shows up in a preview pane, even if it wasn’t actually read. Some email services have privacy settings that can mess with open tracking, and if you send text-only emails, they can’t be tracked for opens unless someone clicks a link.

Using Open Data Effectively

You can use the data on email opens to improve your email marketing. For example, you can test different subject lines or times to send emails to see what gets more opens. You can also group your subscribers based on how engaged they are with your emails, including how often they open them. If some subscribers haven’t opened your emails in a while, you can send them special emails to try to get them interested again. And by looking at which types of content get more opens, you can make your emails better.

Remember, while knowing how many people open your emails is helpful, it’s just one part of the puzzle. You should also look at other things like how many people click on links in your emails and how many take the actions you want them to take, to get a full picture of how well your email marketing is doing.