Open-based lists are lying to you (and Meta)
Here’s how to find REAL intent signals
📆 Tuesday, 3 Feb 2026
Hey — It's Rhythm. Thrilled to have you back in Ecom Circle, where I spend my time scaling ecom brands & finding best growth strategies to share with you.
Everyone knows Apple auto-opens broke open rates. Yet when we audit brands, we still see this everywhere:
“Opened in the last 90 days”
That’s your definition of “engaged”?
Opens are no longer a signal. They’re noise. And this one lazy filter quietly wrecks both email performance and ad efficiency.
The real damage? Most brands don’t even realize it.
Let’s dive in. 👇
Open Based Audiences = Wasted Ad Spend
Here’s the typical playbook:
“Take 90-day openers → build Meta lookalike → scale ads.”
Sounds simple enough, right? But there’s one major problem.
Up to 50% of that segment can be:
Apple auto-opens
Bots
Freebie hunters
People who haven’t actually read your emails in years
So what happens?
You feed Meta bad data. Meta finds more people like those. Your ads get worse. You increase spend to “fix” performance.
That’s how brands burn budget while thinking they’re scaling.
Bad segmentation → bad lookalikes → expensive learning curve.
And that’s before we talk about email deliverability getting crushed by sending to people who never cared in the first place.
“Okay, so what do we use instead?”
Great question.
Because opens weren’t even strong intent to begin with.
All they mean is that people heard you - not that they were interested in your products.
If you want revenue, you need behavioral intent, not inbox signals.
Here’s where the real gold is.
1. Category & Collection Depth
Someone browsing one product? Meh.
Someone exploring a specific category in depth? That’s a buyer.
High-intent signs:
Multiple products in the same category viewed
Filters used (size, color, price)
Returning to the same collection
Image gallery interactions (super underrated)
People evaluating visuals are imagining ownership. That’s purchase psychology in action.
👉 What to do in email
This is where you build Category Intent Flows, not generic browse abandonment.
Send emails that:
Show only products from that category
Include a comparison guide (“Which one’s right for you?”)
Highlight top-rated items in that collection
Address category-specific objections (fit, material, durability)
The goal is to help them decide, not just remind them you exist.
2. Session Depth & Recency
Nobody spends 5 minutes on your site for fun.
Strong intent signals:
Long sessions (3+ minutes)
Multiple page views in one visit
Repeat visits in 48–72 hrs
Late-night browsing
This is consideration mode. These people are close.
👉 What to do in email
These users should trigger a High-Intent Browse Flow, which is different from standard browse abandonment.
Your emails should:
Show the exact products they viewed
Add reviews and UGC to reduce hesitation
Include risk reducers (returns, warranty, shipping speed)
Use shorter delays between emails (intent decays fast)
Think of this flow as: “You were clearly shopping. Let’s make this easy.”
3. Engagement with trust-building content
This is the last step in the ‘consideration’ process. After they’ve locked in their favorite product, they’re gonna see if you’re legit. These are the signs you should be looking for:
Clicked reviews
Viewed FAQ
Viewed return policy
Viewed shipping info
Viewed “About Us”
This says “I want this, but I need assurance”. Do not send them a discount blast.
Instead, trigger a Trust & Objection Flow that:
Pulls in product reviews for what they viewed
Highlights guarantees and return policy
Reinforces brand credibility (story, quality, social proof)
Answers common shipping and delivery questions
These emails remove fear. And removing fear converts better than discounts.
🚀 Want This Set Up Properly?
This is where most teams get stuck. The logic is powerful — but implementation takes serious ESP know-how.
That’s why fast-growing ecommerce brands work with RetainIQ. They don’t just write emails. They:
Build high-intent segmentation systems
Implement behavioral flows most brands never touch
Fix broken automation logic
Turn ESPs into revenue engines
We’re opening 5 free Email & Flow Architecture Audits this week.
Not a fluff “tips” call.
A deep breakdown of where your segmentation, flows, and intent tracking are leaking money.
Once these 5 are gone, they’re gone.
👉 Claim your audit and see how much revenue your list is actually capable of.