How to track message opens in marketing automation?

Use the Message opened condition to track who opens the messages you send. The condition triggers another step in the workflow based on what your contacts do with them. The element has “if yes” (green) and “if no” (red) connectors. When you attach an action to the “if yes” connector, we trigger this action only for the contacts who open your message. People who don’t open it are affected by the action you connected to the “if no” connector.

For example, you’d like to move people who open your message to a specific list. You’d also like to give a tag “inactive” to those who don’t open it. To do this, connect the Move action to “if yes” and the Tag action to “if no.”

You can select a specific message or any message to be the trigger. You can also specify how long you’d like the workflow to wait for the condition to be met.

What types of messages can I use for the Message opened condition?

You can choose from the following types of messages:

• A newsletter.
• An autoresponder.
• An A/B Test.
• An automation message.

You can set up the condition to be broad or very specific, depending on which message open you choose.

• If you’d like the next step to be triggered when any of your messages is opened, set the condition properties to Any.
• If you’d like the next step to be triggered when a particular message type is opened, first select the message type. Then, select Any from the next drop-down.
• If you’d like a specific individual message to be the trigger, select the message type. Then, select Specific from the drop-down, and choose the message from the list of available messages.

Open tracking consent in marketing automation

For the Message opened condition to recognize an open, the message must have open tracking enabled and the contact’s open must be tracked individually. If you use Track opens only with consent, the contact’s consent status also affects which path they can follow. Learn more about how consent affects open tracking.

Below you’ll find answers to the most important questions regarding open tracking consent and its impact on how automation workflows and the messages used within them work.

For more information about open tracking consent, click here.

Q1: I’m building a new workflow. Can I use a message with open tracking disabled in the “Message opened” condition?

No. A message with open tracking disabled is visible in the message dropdown, but it is greyed out and cannot be selected. A tooltip explains why the message is unavailable.

In short: you cannot use a message without open tracking in a “Message opened” condition.

Q2: What happens if I already have an active workflow and open tracking is disabled for the message after the workflow is published?

The active workflow is not automatically stopped. Because the message no longer generates open events, contacts will not trigger the “Message opened” condition. Once the configured time window expires, all contacts will proceed down the negative path.

Q3: Can I edit a workflow where open tracking was disabled after publication?

Yes. You can open and edit the workflow as usual, and nothing is blocked. However, there is one important limitation: if you edit the condition and select a different message, you will not be able to select the original message again while its open tracking remains disabled.

Q4: Can I publish a draft if open tracking was disabled for a message after I selected it?

Yes. If you selected the message and created the draft first, and open tracking was disabled afterwards, publishing the draft is not blocked. The workflow will behave as described above: since the message does not generate open events, contacts will proceed down the negative path once the configured time window expires.

Q5: How does a contact’s open tracking consent affect the “Message opened” condition?

When Track opens only with consent is on, only opens tracked individually can send a contact down the “if yes” (green) path:

• Consent given: Their opens are tracked individually and can trigger the green path.
• Consent unknown + Don’t track opens, or consent declined: Their opens are not tracked and cannot trigger the condition.
• Consent unknown + Keep tracking: Their opens are tracked individually until they answer, so they can trigger the green path.
• Consent unknown + Track anonymously: Their opens can contribute to Total opens in reports, but cannot trigger the condition because GetResponse cannot identify who opened the message.
  

If the condition does not receive an individual open event for a contact, that contact follows the red path after the configured time window expires.