Positive engagement lifts reputation; negative engagement and inactivity lower it. Metrics are also how you decide who to keep sending to.
Mistake 1: Reporting opens as success when Apple inflates them by prefetching#
Why it hurts: this undermines email engagement metrics at the point where mailbox providers make their decision, and it is rarely surfaced by your own tooling until placement drops.
Fix: Track clicks and replies as primary metrics; opens are unreliable after Mail Privacy Protection.
Mistake 2: Ignoring the complaint rate until Postmaster Tools flags it#
Why it hurts: this undermines email engagement metrics at the point where mailbox providers make their decision, and it is rarely surfaced by your own tooling until placement drops.
Fix: Set benchmarks per segment and channel rather than industry averages.
Frequently asked questions#
What is a good click-through rate?
2 to 5% for marketing email is common; transactional mail often exceeds 10%.