Statistics in cold email are not there to make you happy but to tell you what to change. Most tools show colourful charts and leave you guessing what to do with them. The interesting question is which number means which action.
Colldly measures four things that can be influenced, delivery, opens, clicks and replies, and shows them in a context that leads to a concrete decision.
Which number means what
The order in which it pays to look at them.
Performance by sequence step
The summary number for a campaign hides the most interesting part. When you split the results by sequence step, you find out where the business really happens.
A typical finding: the first email has a decent open rate but few replies, while the second and third step bring most of the reactions. That is a signal the sequence works and adding another step pays off.
The opposite finding is just as valuable. When follow-ups bring nothing, that is not a reason to send more of them; it is a reason to rewrite them, because they obviously bring nothing new.
Tools beyond the basic numbers
Why open rate is only indicative
An open is measured with an invisible image in the body of the email. When the mail client downloads it, an open is recorded. The problem is that some clients block images automatically and others prefetch them without anyone reading the message.
The result is that the open rate can be both underestimated and overestimated. As a trend over time it is useful; a sharp drop with unchanged copy is a reliable signal of a deliverability problem. As an absolute number, do not rely on it.
A reply, by contrast, is hard data. It either came or it did not.
What this feature does not do
So you know exactly what you are buying: these are deliberate limits, not bugs.
Frequently asked questions
What open rate is good for cold email?
Above forty percent is a solid result, above sixty excellent. It depends on list quality, the subject line and mailbox warm-up.
Why do I have a high open rate and zero replies?
The subject line attracts, but the copy does not deliver value or the call to action is unclear. Try rewriting the body of the email and simplifying what you ask for.
Can I see exactly who opened the email?
Yes, for each company you see the number of opens and the time of the last one. Companies that opened repeatedly are the warmest contacts.
How do I run a subject line A/B test?
In the campaign settings add a second subject line. Recipients are split in half and after a few days you see which one has the higher open rate.
Can I measure without a tracking pixel?
Opens cannot be measured without it, but replies and bounces can. Those are more important anyway.