Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR)
Click-to-open rate is the percentage of opened emails that received at least one click, calculated as (unique clicks ÷ unique opens) × 100.
What Is Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR)?
CTOR isolates the effectiveness of your email content from the effectiveness of your subject line. While CTR measures overall performance (including whether people opened the email), CTOR specifically measures how engaging the content was for people who actually read it. A high open rate with a low CTOR suggests your subject lines are working but your content isn't meeting expectations. A low open rate with a high CTOR means your content is great, but you need better subject lines. Average CTORs for newsletters range from 10-20%.
Why It Matters for Newsletters
CTOR is the purest measure of content quality. It answers the question: 'Of the people who actually opened my email, how many found it compelling enough to click?' This metric is essential for understanding whether your content strategy is working, separate from your subject line strategy.
Best Practices
- Use CTOR alongside open rate to diagnose performance issues
- If CTOR is low, focus on content quality and CTA placement
- If open rate is low but CTOR is high, focus on subject line improvements
- Benchmark CTOR against your own historical averages, not industry benchmarks
- Track CTOR by content type to identify what resonates most
How Aldus Handles This
Aldus calculates CTOR automatically and uses it as a key signal in its AI learning loop. The platform's section-level analytics break down click engagement by content area, giving you granular CTOR insights.