“Can we get a list of who opened it?”

It’s a common follow-up after email comms go out.

And on the surface, it sounds like a logical next step.

“That contact did something, so they want to buy from us.”

I hate to break it to you, but:

An open or click isn’t intent.

It’s not qualification.

It’s just a list of people we already had.

Still, we love the idea that the click or the open means something definite.

They’re clean signals — numbers in black and white that suggest readiness.

That single, quantifiable moment of magic that leads to the sale.

Sometimes it does.

But you can rarely pin intent to one signal.

Before that, your comms have been doing the work:

One clarifies a benefit. Another removes friction. The next shows social proof.

Then there’s the combination of what else they’ve seen.

What they already understand about your offer.

What objections have quietly been resolved elsewhere.

What messages finally landed.

And eventually, someone’s ready to talk.

You have to look at, and respect, the system of signals your marketing team is building to gain trust, clarity, and readiness over time.

When enough of those signals stack up — when there’s aggregate behaviour, not a single isolated action like an open — the contact doesn’t just become “ready”, they become compelled.

That’s the quiet power of compound momentum.

(If you’re starting to think about attribution here, the “let’s do more of that” tipping point, I don’t blame you. But it’s a whole other conversation you won’t be surprised to know I have strong feelings about, mainly: helpful lens, terrible ruler.)

Believe me, I get a buzz seeing our CTOR hold at 60%.

But it’s just one signal.

And I’m tracking opens and clicks to understand quality, not hand over a list of opens.

I want to see if the message landed and check if it’s doing its part in building momentum.

To make sure the next thing we do is even more useful than the last.

That’s the point.

So if you want to follow up meaningfully, ask your marketing team:

• What was this comms designed to do?

• What compound signals show someone’s actually ready to engage?

• What insight are we actually looking for — and what the hell will we do with it?

TL;DR: Intent isn’t a single open.

If you want to act — look beyond the open list.

And don’t miss the point of good marketing because you’re staring at the wrong signal.