← Knowledge Base/Troubleshooting

Why Is My Email Campaign Showing 0% or 100% Open Rate?

Vedain CRM·18-Jun-2026·5 min read

Two of the most confusing campaign results are seeing 0% open rate (nobody opened?) or near 100% open rate (everyone opened?). Both are usually not what they seem. Here is what is really happening.

Scenario 1: Open Rate Shows 0%

If your campaign shows 0% or very low opens, the most likely causes are:

Emails Landing in Spam

Emails in spam are rarely opened. Check by sending a test email to yourself — did it land in spam? See the Why Emails Go to Spam guide to fix this.

All Emails Bounced

If your list has mostly invalid addresses, the emails never delivered. Check the Bounced count on the Campaign Detail page. A high bounce rate means list quality issues.

Campaign Too Recent

If the campaign sent in the last few hours, recipients may not have opened yet. B2B emails typically see most opens in the first 24-48 hours. Wait at least a day before judging open rate.

Campaign stats showing high bounce rate causing low open rate
Campaign stats showing high bounce rate causing low open rate

Scenario 2: Open Rate Shows 100% or Near 100%

This is almost always caused by Apple Mail Privacy Protection.

What Is Apple Mail Privacy Protection?

Starting with iOS 15 (2021) and macOS Monterey, Apple Mail pre-fetches all email content — including tracking pixels — as soon as the email arrives, before the user even touches it. This is done to hide the user's IP address and reading habits.

From your CRM's perspective, the tracking pixel loaded = the email was 'opened'. In reality, the user may never have read it.

How to Tell If Apple Mail Is Inflating Your Opens

Apple Mail opens all happen within seconds of delivery — often in the first 1-2 minutes. If you see a spike of opens immediately after sending, those are almost certainly Apple Mail pre-fetches.

What to Do Instead — Focus on Click Rate

Click rate is your most reliable engagement metric. Clicks require a real human to physically tap or click a link — Apple's pre-fetch does not click links. A click rate of 2-5% on a B2B campaign is strong and indicates genuine interest.

Campaign stats highlighting click rate as more reliable than open rate
Campaign stats highlighting click rate as more reliable than open rate

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a way to filter out Apple Mail pre-fetches from open tracking?

Some advanced email platforms detect Apple Mail opens by the speed (all happen within seconds) and flag them separately. Vedain currently does not have this filtering built in. Use click rate as your primary metric.

How can I improve my click rate?

Use clear, specific call-to-action buttons (not vague 'click here' links), personalise with merge tags, segment your audience so the content is relevant, and test different CTAs using A/B testing.

What is a good click rate for B2B campaigns?

2-5% click rate is considered good for B2B email campaigns. Above 8% is excellent. Click rate depends heavily on how targeted and relevant your content is to the recipient.

Ready to put this into practice?

Start your free 14-day trial of Vedain CRM — no credit card needed.

Start Free Trial

Still have questions?

Our support team is happy to help. Reach out any time.

Contact Support →