🙃 You got a 42% open rate? Congrats.
That means… what, exactly?
A subject line did its job? A preview pane was persuasive?
Someone accidentally tapped your email while trying to unsubscribe from Temu… again?
Here’s the thing:
Open rates are a vibe.
Response is a result.
In the email world, marketers cling to open rates like they actually mean something.
Meanwhile, conversion is tanking.
Clicks are flat.
Revenue? Still waiting.
Direct mail has its very own version of this delusion:
“If we can JUST get them to open the envelope…”
Sure. But what happens after the envelope’s opened?
Spoiler alert:
If your offer sucks, your targeting’s off, or your letter sounds like it was written by ChatGPT 3.0 in corporate buzzword mode?
It’s headed straight into the trash, right on top of those butterfly wings they impulse-bought from Temu.
🕵️♂️ Engagement ≠ Response
Opening a piece of mail or an email is like someone glancing at you across the bar.
Or, as the kids say, a swipe right.
It’s not a yes. It’s not even a maybe.
It’s just, “I noticed you exist.”
But, good news, it’s also not a no.
Engagement is cheap.
Response is earned.
Marketers who obsess over open rates are often measuring the wrong moment. The real magic happens after the open:
Did they read the offer?
Did they take action?
Did they click, buy, donate, subscribe, scan, call, or do literally anything besides opening?
That’s your response.
That’s your real performance.
Everything else? Just a vibe check.
🚪 In Direct Mail, the Envelope Is the Moment
The envelope is the tease. The whisper. The glance from across the bar.
But it’s also the bouncer at the door.
Get it wrong, and nothing gets in.
No copy read. No offer seen. No shot at response.
Just a one-way trip to the trashcan.
Your envelope has one job: get opened.
If it doesn’t earn that moment of curiosity?
It doesn’t matter how brilliant the letter is—or how perfect your offer sounds inside.
And once it’s opened?
If you’re mailing the wrong audience, don’t even bother. It’s dead.
If your message doesn’t land, it gets skimmed and skipped.
If your offer doesn’t drive action, it’s just a waste of everyone’s time. (And your money.)
Because engagement isn’t the goal.
Response is.
🚫 Bottom Line: Vanity Metrics Won’t Save You
So go ahead. Test that envelope. Track that open.
Brag about your 42%.
But don’t confuse it with actual performance.
Response is what pays the bills.
🔥 Bonus BS Detector
If your agency pitches a “high-performing” campaign and leads with open rate…
Run.
💥 Want help writing campaigns that get opened and acted on?
You know where to find me.
(I’ll be in the corner mumbling about cost per response and bad envelope design.)