In email marketing, tracking metrics has been the key to understanding and improving campaign effectiveness. For years, one of the most reliable metrics has been the open rate, but as the digital landscape evolves, so do the challenges of accurately measuring this essential statistic. In this article, we’ll explore why open rates are becoming less reliable and how you can adapt. 

The open rate and the challenges of modern email clients

Traditionally, the open rate—the percentage of recipients who open an email—has been a fundamental metric in email marketing. This metric has been invaluable for marketers, helping them gauge the success of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions. 

Email opens are tracked using tracking pixels, tiny 1×1-pixel images embedded in the email content. When the recipient opens the email, the pixel loads from a remote server, sending data back to the sender. However, the reliability of open rates is increasingly under threat due to privacy concerns and changes in how email clients handle images. Here’s why open rates are becoming less dependable: 

• Image blocking: Many email clients now block image loading by default. Recipients can open the email and consume its content without loading images. Such opens aren’t counted, resulting in a lower-than-actual open rate being reported. Image blocking is even more prevalent now because of mobile devices that automatically block image loading for privacy, speed, and conserving data usage. This means that a significant portion of your audience might be missed in the open rate calculation. 

• Preview panes: Some email clients allow users to preview an email without actually opening it. In these cases, the open rate may register false positives, counting emails as opened when they were merely previewed. 

• Privacy concerns: To protect user privacy, email clients and webmail services are increasingly blocking tracking pixels, making it harder to track open rates accurately. 

• Apple privacy changes: Apple devices that run iOS 15 automatically open all emails, which can result in an inflated open rate.  

The future of email metrics is a dual approach

So, what’s the way forward for email marketers like you who rely on open rates to measure engagement and success? It’s essential to employ a dual approach: improving how to measure engagement and applying strategies to improve engagement itself. Here’s how you can adapt.

Measure engagement more effectively

1. Diversify engagement metrics: Instead of relying solely on open rates, evaluate other indicators such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and ROI. These metrics offer a more comprehensive view of your email marketing performance.

2. Implement email authentication: Email authentication protocols like DMARC, SPF, and DKIM improve email deliverability and enhance your sender reputation, indirectly affecting engagement rates. 

3. Use alternative metrics: Consider using alternative metrics like measuring conversion attribution through unique coupon codes or UTM parameters. These tools can help track the direct impact of your emails beyond the open rate. 

Strategies for improving engagement

1. Personalization and segmentation: Tailoring your email content to individual recipients’ preferences and behaviors can drive higher engagement. By segmenting your audience and sending personalized content, you can increase the chances of your emails being opened and acted on. 

2. Expand your messaging channels: SMS has a 98% open rate. Start taking advantage of the SMS channel today!  

3. Test your content: Testing and refining content allows you to continuously improve email performance by identifying what resonates best with your audience using real data. Evaluating device data analytics, such as OS, browser, and device type, along with click heatmap analytics provides deeper insights into how recipients interact with your emails. Using this information, you can optimize design and content for the best user experience across all devices, boosting overall effectiveness and engagement. 

4. Use your own data: Rely on first-party data such as transactions and in-store visits that can be collected using a customer data platform like Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Data. 

While email opens as a metric is not going away, it’s certainly less reliable. Dynamics 365 Customer Insights already provides an entire suite of capabilities for you to easily tackle challenges like this, and continues to invest in finding solutions that align with the evolving privacy landscape. Together, we’ll navigate these changes and continue to deliver successful email marketing campaigns, maintaining your connection with your audience while respecting their privacy in this new era of digital marketing. 

Next steps

Not yet a Dynamics 365 Customer Insights customer? Start your free trial today.

The post Beyond open rate: Rethinking email marketing metrics appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

As Microsoft Copilot features continue to roll out across Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, it can be easy to get overwhelmed and lose track of critical new capabilities. Thankfully, the Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event is just around the corner.  

Register today for the virtual launch event on Tuesday, October 29, 2024—a showcase of new and enhanced capabilities releasing between October 2024 and March 2025. Packed with demos and a live Q&A chat with Microsoft experts, you’ll get a sneak peek at innovation that can empower your workforce, optimize business processes, and enhance customer engagement.   

Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event

Explore the future of your business.

Register here

Explore the future of business with Copilot

Microsoft product leaders and engineers will be live at the event to give you an in-depth look at the latest Copilot capabilities for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, including new ways to automate business process across your organization and scale your team. Our team will also showcase organizations across industries using new Copilot and Dynamics 365 features to drive transformation.

Top 4 reasons to attend the launch event

Twice a year, the Business Applications Launch Event gives you a sneak peek at product news, demos and insights into upcoming features and capabilities across Dynamics 365, Microsoft Power Platform, and Copilot. Here are four top reasons to attend the October 2024 event:  

1. Get a sneak peek at highlights from the 2024 release wave 2. Discover what’s new and improved in Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform. Hear from Charles Lamanna, Microsoft Corporate Vice President Business and Industry Copilot, and other leaders as they guide you through dozens of new Copilot and core platform capabilities releasing over the next six months.  
2. Personalize sales and service experiences. Learn how to elevate customer experiences with demonstrations of new capabilities across Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales. You’ll also discover how Sweden-based automotive company, Lynk & Co, is using Dynamics 365 to drive highly personalized experiences.
3. Transform business operations with AI-enabled enterprise resource planning (ERP) processes. Get a sneak peek at the enhancements that improve both core functionality and autonomous capabilities across ERP applications like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central through the lens of our customer Lifetime Products, as well as the latest features for Business Central.  
4. Exploring the future of Microsoft Power Platform. Learn how Copilot is transforming how you build, what you build, how you automate, and get a first-hand look at how Applied Information Sciences is innovating business solutions using the newest capabilities for Microsoft Power Apps, Microsoft Power Automate, and Microsoft Copilot Studio.

That’s not all. You’ll also hear from other Microsoft leaders about their roadmap for the future of AI, customer service, and operations and how to use these new technologies to take on your organization’s most time-consuming tasks.  

The Business Applications Launch Event streams live on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 starting at 9:00 AM Pacific Time and then available on-demand. Be sure to register for updates and reminders as the event day approaches. We’ll see you there!    

Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event 

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 
9:00 AM-10:00 AM Pacific Time (UTC-7)  

The post Explore what’s new for Copilot and Dynamics 365 at the Business Applications Launch Event appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Boost visibility, streamline role management, and enhance compliance  

In today’s digital landscape, managing security, roles, and licensing within ERP systems is increasingly complex. As organizations scale, the need for robust governance, efficient user management, and cost-effective licensing strategies becomes paramount. To address these challenges, Microsoft Dynamics 365 is introducing a set of new capabilities in our ERP portfolio. These new capabilities enhance security and governance, offering significant benefits to IT professionals and business leaders alike. 

A critical aspect of the upcoming security features is how they will help prepare for compliance certifications, including Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). With regulatory standards becoming more stringent, achieving compliance is essential. More than ever, companies need to mitigate risks associated with fraud, reporting errors, and security breaches. As new AI technologies are adopted, security becomes even more top of mind. Robust governance frameworks safeguard sensitive data and ensure ethical AI deployment. The enhanced governance features will ensure that you can maintain rigorous control over financial processes, role management, and security protocols. These features provide visibility and a transparent audit trail, significantly easing the certification process. Additionally, they reduce the likelihood of non-compliance, protecting your organization from financial and reputational risks. 

“Bringing additional transparency and simplicity to our ERP customers for managing security, licensing and roles is a critical step in helping organizations meet their compliance and governance goals while saving costs.” – George Glantsching, VP, Microsoft Dynamics

Bringing new features to customers faster

Microsoft is delivering advanced security and role management features which will empower organizations to apply precise role management, advanced audit capabilities, and comprehensive license optimization tools, while maintaining a seamless user experience in Microsoft Dynamics 365. This ensures that you can access these critical features faster, enhancing security and operational efficiency. 

Simplify role management while reducing costs

We’ve listened to our customers and are introducing advanced features to the Dynamics 365 ERP portfolio, focusing on security management and licensing. This capability will simplify role management, providing you with tools to create, manage, and optimize roles within the ERP environment. The precise role and duty management feature, powered by tailored automations, allows organizations to define duties based on specific processes or tasks. This ensures role access aligns accurately with each team’s operational needs, leading to more accurate control over access permissions. Cost savings are driven by ensuring that licenses are scoped to each user’s specific needs. By refining role management in this way, these advanced features ensure organizations can scale with confidence while optimizing both governance and cost efficiency. 

Ensure compliance with role-based access control

Another critical feature is the segregation of duties (SoD) validation. This control mechanism ensures no single system user controls all aspects of any critical business process, reducing fraud and error risks. System administrators will be able to easily define incompatible tasks, ensuring that critical operations are not compromised. This feature is essential for leaders aiming to meet stringent regulatory requirements and maintain high levels of internal security. With integrated SoD validation, your business can minimize exposure to risk and better prepare for audits or regulatory reviews. 

Gain greater control with advanced security features

The new features coming to Dynamics 365 will include several advanced security controls giving system administrators greater visibility and control over their environments. The role audit trail will provide a non-removable history of permission changes, making it easier to track and audit role modifications over time. Security versioning and snapshot capabilities will allow security snapshots at specific points, enabling easy comparison or restoration if needed. The temporary role assignment feature will be invaluable for managing employee absences, allowing roles to be reassigned while maintaining strict control over access. These capabilities will provide peace of mind for business leaders that require agile, yet secure, role management. 

Control elevated privileges and secure sensitive data

A critical addition to the upcoming security features is the Elevated privilege management. (This is often referred to as super user privilege management (SPM) or ‘FireFighter’ in ERP world.) It provides the ability to manage and monitor elevated privileges for super users or administrators requiring temporary critical system access. Significantly reduce the risk of misuse or security breaches by restricting elevated access to specific, time-limited periods and tracking all super-user activities. This advanced control ensures only authorized personnel have access to sensitive systems, when necessary, further enhancing compliance and internal governance. 

Optimize costs with detailed licensing insights

The upcoming license report based on the new licensing model allows organizations to see exactly what license levels are applied to each user, calculate the total cost of ownership (TCO), and validate license accuracy. This report, alongside others like role components with license indicators and duty components with license indicators, provides a comprehensive view of license usage, helping optimize license costs effectively. These tools empower better licensing management, ensuring customers only pay for what they need and maximizing the value of their ERP investments. 

Looking ahead: the future of ERP security

As Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP portfolio evolves, these new features mark a significant step forward in ERP security and governance. For system administrators, these tools will provide enhanced control, reduced risk, and greater efficiency in managing complex ERP environments. Integrating these features into daily operations ensures ERP systems are secure and aligned with latest industry standards and best practices. 

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to innovate, enhancing the Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP portfolio. We look forward to delivering tools that empower you to excel in today’s dynamic business landscape. 

The post Optimizing ERP Security Configuration and Licensing within Microsoft Dynamics 365 appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.