Removing outdated email tracking tactics

Stop tracking email open rates, they’re misleading. Whether you’re sending thousands of automated emails or 20 hand-crafted ones a day, focus on one metric: replies. Not opens. Not clicks. Actual human replies, positive or negative. Here’s why: Google updates, advanced spam filters, and company security measures are making email tracking unreliable. For example, an email might show as “opened,” but it was actually a bot scanning it as part of a security protocol. You might see a 70% open rate and think, “This is great!” But if no one’s replying, it’s meaningless. Even clicks can be misleading. Instead, measure success by how many real conversations you’re starting. If you send 100 emails and get 10 genuine replies, that’s the metric to focus on. It’s not about how many people enter the funnel at the top, it’s about the quality of what comes out at the end. Next time you review an email campaign, ignore the flashy numbers and focus on what matters: replies. Hope this helps! ___ I’m Patrick Collins, Startup Sales Coach with 13+ years of helping startups build sales systems that drive real growth. 🔔 Subscribe to The Relationship of Sales for actionable strategies, tools, and lessons to scale smarter and faster.

“Email isn’t working like it used to.” Sales leaders tell me this all the time. Their teams are struggling to hit quota, blaming email. But a few simple questions reveal why. — Sending from? "Outreach / Apollo / HubSpot" — Main domain? "Yes." — Emails per rep/day? "250." (8-15 reps) — Signature? "1 image, 4 links." — Copy? "Calendar link, hard CTA, use case link." — Who handles deliverability? "No one. IT when accounts get suspended." — Tracking opens/clicks? "Of course! How else would I know deliverability is bad?" — Warming up mailboxes? "What’s warm-up?" — Data source? "Apollo’s "verified" data." 🚩 A major red flag walking. This worked in 2019, maybe early 2023. But now? → ESP filters are brutal → Reps are torching their main domains → Their emails scream automation and get filtered instantly → They’re tracking opens/clicks—metrics that died with Google & Outlook → They’re not even warming up mailboxes → Their data is the same overused, hammered-to-death junk And the worst part? They don’t even realize it. Here’s what actually works: Use secondary domains – Protect your main one. ↳ Buy on Cloudflare Track only replies – Opens/clicks kill inboxing. ↳ Turn off anything that isn't reply rate Cap sending at 30/day per mailbox – More domains, lower volume. ↳ Stop sending too many emails per mailbox/domain Warm up mailboxes ↳ Bare minimum: Instantly.ai. Best: Warmy.io - Email channel. Reliable. Double-verify lists. Bad data = bad reputation. ↳ Use LeadMagic and Emailable Use an SEP built for TODAY’s deliverability – Not outdated playbooks. ↳ Go with Instantly.ai, Smartlead or EmailBison — Cancel Outreach/Salesloft Worried about CRM Data sync? ↳ Let OutboundSync update your Hubspot or SFDC automatically No links. No images. Plain text only. – Avoid spam filters. ↳ Get into the inbox first, that's all that matters Email still works. Just not the way it used to.

Stop tracking open and click rates—immediately. Most people don’t realize this, but tracking these metrics is doing more harm than good. Here’s why: 1️⃣ Opens are misleading. They rely on an invisible pixel, and email providers like Gmail and Outlook see this as a privacy invasion. The result? Your emails land in spam or promotions. 2️⃣ Click tracking damages trust. When you modify URLs with redirects, spam filters flag them as suspicious—especially in cold outreach. 3️⃣ Bots inflate your metrics. Security bots often "open" emails and click links before real people do. Up to 75% of open rates can be false. 4️⃣ Tracking makes you look like a marketer. Email providers favor authentic conversations—not mass outreach stuffed with tracking pixels. What to do instead: Limit aggressive tracking—remove unnecessary tracking links. Focus on content quality—write simple, text-based emails that feel personal. Authenticate your domain—set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to improve trust. Encourage replies, not clicks—conversations improve sender reputation. Send in small batches—test deliverability before scaling (Instantly.ai helps you do it easily). Forget vanity metrics. Focus on what actually matters: landing in the inbox and starting real conversations. P.S. Video taken from Instantly.ai.