Have you seen a surprising rise in open and click rates that don't match any change in your marketing activity? Or a sudden wave of unsubscribes with no obvious cause? Both can be signs of machine clicks, also called server clicks, distorting your email data.
A machine click happens when the anti-spam filter on a receiving mail server checks the links in your email to confirm they're not malicious. Gmail, for example, will click your links if its filters find the email suspicious. The filter may check some links or all of them. Based on what it finds, it either delivers the email to the inbox or sends it to spam.
So, why do machine clicks impact email marketing?
Accurate campaign data is what lets you improve how you market to your audience. When you can't tell whether a human or a server took an action in your campaign, you end up with inflated metrics and unreliable segmentation.
There's another problem too. Machine clicks don't just skew your click rates, they can also hit that unsubscribe link. That means contacts may be getting removed from your list without ever choosing to leave.
What we've done to help with machine clicks
You may have already noticed something new in your TouchBasePro campaign snapshot report.
Our developers have built technology that assesses actions taking place in your email campaigns. TouchBasePro now flags suspected machine clicks directly in your snapshot report, giving you a clearer picture of your true campaign metrics. You can also filter these suspected machine clicks out of your report entirely.
There's a secondary benefit here too. A high volume of machine clicks is often a signal worth paying attention to. It may mean your database needs a clean-up, or that certain segments need to be handled differently.
What does this mean for me?
If you're already on TouchBasePro, you don't need to do anything. Start keeping an eye on your machine click counts and flag it if you see a significantly elevated number in a campaign.
If you're on a different platform and want access to this kind of reporting, we'd like to help. Get in touch to find out more about moving to TouchBasePro.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a machine click in email marketing?
- A machine click happens when an anti-spam filter on a receiving mail server clicks links in your email to check whether they are malicious. These clicks are automated and not made by a real person.
- How do machine clicks affect my email campaign metrics?
- Machine clicks inflate your click rates and can distort your open rate data. They can also trigger unsubscribe links, removing contacts from your list without those people choosing to unsubscribe.
- How does TouchBasePro handle machine clicks?
- TouchBasePro identifies suspected machine clicks and flags them in your campaign snapshot report. You can filter them out to get a more accurate view of how real recipients are engaging with your emails.
- Should I be worried if my campaign shows a high number of machine clicks?
- A high machine click count is worth investigating. It may indicate that your sending domain or content is triggering spam filters, or that your database contains addresses that route through aggressive filtering systems. It's a good prompt to review your list quality and segmentation.