How to Improve Email Open Rates and Boost Engagement

If your email open rates are in the gutter, you have to play detective before you can play doctor. Nine times out of ten, the problem isn't some complex, hidden issue. It's usually one of three things: a sketchy sender reputation, boring subject lines, or a messy email list. Nail these fundamentals, and you've won half the battle.

Getting to the Root of Low Email Open Rates

Before you can start fixing things, you need to figure out what's actually broken. Low open rates are rarely caused by a single blunder. It’s more like death by a thousand paper cuts—a combination of little friction points that stop your message from ever getting seen.

Think about it: your subscribers' inboxes are a warzone. They're constantly bombarded with noise. Any email that feels even slightly irrelevant, untrustworthy, or generic is getting deleted on sight.

The good news? The biggest problems are often the easiest to spot and fix. Let's start with the three pillars that decide whether your email even gets a chance: who it's from, what it's about, and who you're sending it to. This is the bedrock of any solid email strategy.

Is Your Sender Name Killing Your Credibility?

The "From" name is your digital handshake. It’s the very first thing someone sees, and it sets the entire tone. If it looks generic, corporate, or just plain robotic, you’ve already lost.

What sounds better? An email from "info@yourcompany.com" or one from "Nathan from Unkoa"? The first one screams "automated marketing blast," while the second feels like it came from a real person. That little human touch builds an instant sliver of trust and makes people curious. People connect with people, not faceless brands.

A simple switch from a generic address to a personal name can give your open rates a serious lift. It signals there's a real human behind the message, making it feel less like spam and more like a conversation.

Are Your Subject Lines Putting People to Sleep?

Your subject line has one job and one job only: get the click. If it’s bland, vague, or sounds like every other sales email, it’s going to get lost in the noise. "Weekly Newsletter" or "New Product Update" are instant snoozefests. They give your reader absolutely no reason to care.

A great subject line does one of three things: it sparks curiosity, highlights a clear benefit, or creates a little urgency. It needs to be specific enough to feel relevant but intriguing enough to make them want to know what's inside. This is your single biggest lever for standing out.

Is Your Email List a Ghost Town?

Finally, who are you actually emailing? If your list is clogged with inactive subscribers, dead email addresses, or people who haven't opened a single email in six months, your open rates are going to tank. Period.

Sending to a disengaged list doesn't just hurt your metrics; it actively tells email providers like Gmail and Outlook that your content might be spam. This is a one-way ticket to the promotions tab, or worse, the spam folder.

Cleaning your list regularly isn't just a "nice-to-have"—it's non-negotiable. That means removing bounced emails and having a plan to re-engage subscribers who've gone quiet. It might feel weird to shrink your list, but trust me, a smaller, highly engaged audience is infinitely more valuable than a huge, indifferent one. A tool like Bouncer can be a lifesaver here, helping you keep your list clean and protect your sender reputation from day one.

The sheer volume of email makes this stuff critical. Over 333 billion emails were sent daily in 2022, with that number projected to hit 392 billion by 2026. Standing out is tough, but it's not impossible. In fact, global open rates actually rose to 26.6% in 2024, proving that people will open emails that are well-crafted and relevant. You can discover more insights about these email marketing statistics and how to make them work for you.

Before diving deeper, let's look at some immediate actions you can take. These are the low-hanging fruit—quick changes that can make a noticeable difference right away.

Quick Wins Checklist For Higher Email Open Rates

This checklist covers the high-impact, easy-to-implement changes you can make today to start seeing better open rates.

Working through these simple items can give you a quick boost while you work on the more in-depth strategies we'll cover next. Think of it as clearing the clutter before you start renovating.

Writing Subject Lines That Get Opened

Let’s be honest: your subject line is the gatekeeper. It’s the handshake, the movie trailer, and the first impression all rolled into one tiny, critical sentence. In an inbox overflowing with noise, a weak subject line is a death sentence for your email. But a great one? That can single-handedly rescue an entire campaign.

Your goal isn't just to stay out of the spam folder. It’s to cut through the clutter of meeting reminders, project updates, and a dozen other marketing emails all screaming for attention. This means ditching generic phrases like "Weekly Update" and tapping into proven frameworks that actually grab attention and earn the click.

Master Proven Subject Line Frameworks

Instead of staring at a blank cursor, start with structures that are already wired to work. Two of the most effective are the Curiosity Gap and the Direct Benefit. These aren't just clever tricks; they tap into fundamental human psychology.

• The Curiosity Gap: This is all about creating an itch that your reader has to scratch by opening the email. You hint at valuable information without giving it all away, creating a mini-cliffhanger right in their inbox.
  • Example: "The one mistake everyone makes with their pricing page."
  • Example: "Is this the real reason your ads are failing?"
  • Example: "What we learned after analyzing 100 landing pages."
• The Direct Benefit: This approach is straightforward, powerful, and respects the reader's time. It clearly states the value and tells the subscriber exactly what they'll get by opening. It immediately answers their unspoken question: "What's in it for me?"
  • Example: "Your plan to double sales this week."
  • Example: "Save 10 hours a month with this automation trick."
  • Example: "A free template to organize your content calendar."

These frameworks are especially potent for B2B outreach. If you need more inspiration, we've compiled a ton of high-converting B2B cold email templates that put these principles into practice.

Personalize Beyond the First Name

Personalization has to be more than just dropping into the subject line. That's table stakes now. True personalization shows you've been paying attention. It reflects the subscriber's context, behavior, or interests, making the email feel like it was written just for them.

Try these more advanced personalization tactics:

• Reference a recent action (e.g., "Your feedback on our last article").
• Mention their industry or role (e.g., "A new SEO tactic for solo founders").
• Use location-based context (e.g., "Big news for marketers in Austin").

This level of detail makes your message hyper-relevant and incredibly difficult to ignore. You’re no longer sending a mass email; you're starting a one-to-one conversation.

The Power of Preview Text and Emojis

Your subject line doesn't fight this battle alone. It has a partner: the preview text. This is the little snippet of text that appears right next to the subject line in most inboxes. Wasting this precious real estate with "View this email in your browser" is a massive own goal.

Think of the preview text as the subtitle to your subject line's headline. It should complement and expand on the subject line, not just repeat it. Use it to add extra context or a more compelling reason to open.

For example:

• Subject Line: The one mistake everyone makes…
• Preview Text: …and the simple fix that boosts conversions by 30%.

Emojis, when used strategically, are another great tool. A single, well-placed emoji can make your email pop visually and convey emotion in a split second. But don't overdo it, or you'll look spammy. A good rule of thumb is to stick to one or two that genuinely match your brand's tone.

It's also crucial to know your battlefield. The global average email open rate hovers around 22% in 2025, but that number is almost meaningless without context. Healthcare emails can soar to between 34% and 44%, while B2B services often struggle to hit 15%. A "good" open rate is relative, so you have to adapt your tactics to your specific audience. To get a closer look at these numbers, you can read the full research about these email open rate findings.

Writing for the Mobile-First World

More than half of all emails are now opened on a phone, where screen space is a luxury. This means your subject lines need to be short, punchy, and front-loaded with the most important words. Most mobile email apps will chop off your subject line after just 30-40 characters.

Here’s a quick before-and-after to show you what I mean:

When you’re trying to nail that critical first impression, a tool like QuillBot can be a lifesaver. It helps you rephrase, shorten, and sharpen your subject lines and preview text until they’re perfectly tuned for clarity and impact, making sure your message actually gets seen—and opened—on any device.

Improving Your Sender Reputation and Deliverability

An amazing email is worthless if it lands in the spam folder. Before you even touch your subject lines or content, you have to get the technical foundation right. This is all about sender reputation and deliverability—basically, proving to inbox providers like Gmail and Outlook that you're a legitimate sender and not a spammer.

Getting this right is non-negotiable. Think of it as the invisible force that determines whether your audience ever even gets a chance to see your message. Without a solid technical setup, your campaign is dead on arrival.

The Three Pillars of Email Authentication

To build that crucial trust with inbox providers, you need to implement three key authentication protocols. Think of them as your email's official ID, verifying that you are who you say you are.

1. SPF (Sender Policy Framework): This is a public list of all the mail servers authorized to send emails from your domain. It’s like telling Gmail, "Only emails from these specific servers are legit. If you see one from anywhere else, be suspicious."
2. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): This adds a unique digital signature to every single email you send. When it arrives, the receiving server checks this signature to confirm the message wasn't tampered with in transit. It's the digital equivalent of a tamper-proof seal on a package.
3. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): DMARC ties SPF and DKIM together and tells receiving servers what to do if an email fails either check—for instance, reject it or flag it as spam. This is your security policy, enforcing the rules you’ve set.

Setting these up isn't a "nice-to-have" anymore; it’s the price of admission. For a deeper dive into the technical setup, check out our complete guide on email deliverability best practices.

Warm Up Your Domain to Build Trust

If you’re starting with a brand new domain, you can't just start blasting thousands of emails on day one. That’s a massive red flag for internet service providers (ISPs). You need to "warm up" your domain first.

This means gradually increasing your sending volume over several weeks. Start small by emailing your most engaged subscribers—the ones you know will open and click. This positive engagement signals to ISPs that you’re a reputable sender, building your reputation slowly and safely. Cold email outreach tools like Lemlist often have automated warm-up features built in to handle this for you.

A slow and steady warm-up process is one of the most critical steps for long-term deliverability. Rushing this is like trying to sprint a marathon; you’ll burn out your reputation before you even get started.

Keep Your Email List Squeaky Clean

Your sender reputation isn't just about technical settings. It’s also heavily influenced by the quality of your email list. Continuously sending to invalid, old, or unengaged email addresses is a surefire way to get flagged.

This is where list hygiene comes in. Regularly cleaning your list is one of the highest-impact things you can do to boost your open rates.

• Remove Hard Bounces Immediately: A hard bounce means the email address is invalid or doesn't exist. Get these off your list instantly, as they are a strong negative signal to ISPs.
• Segment Out Unengaged Subscribers: Create a segment of people who haven't opened your emails in the last 90-120 days. You can run a re-engagement campaign for them, but if they don't bite, it's time to let them go.
• Verify Emails at the Source: The best way to keep a list clean is to prevent bad emails from getting on it in the first place. Use a double opt-in process or an email verification service to confirm every new subscriber.

A great way to think about your email strategy is to balance curiosity, benefit, and personalization, as this flowchart shows.

This visual reminds us that while deliverability is the foundation, what you write—sparking curiosity, showing a clear benefit, and making it personal—is what ultimately earns the open.

Using a dedicated tool like Bouncer makes this super simple by automatically verifying your list and flagging risky emails before you hit send. This proactive approach doesn't just boost your open rates; it protects your all-important sender reputation for the long haul.

Using Segmentation to Deliver Relevant Content

Sending the same generic message to your entire list is a surefire way to kill your open rates. It's the email equivalent of shouting into a crowded room and hoping a few people turn their heads.

The real secret to getting people to open your emails isn’t some clever growth hack; it’s relevance. And the only way to be consistently relevant is by getting smart with segmentation.

Think of segmentation as dividing your email list into smaller, more focused groups based on specific criteria. Instead of a one-size-fits-all blast, you get to tailor your message to what you actually know about each subscriber. This simple shift transforms your emails from impersonal broadcasts into valuable, one-on-one conversations.

For a solo founder or a small team, this doesn't need to be some complex, data-science-heavy project. You can start with a few simple, high-impact segments that will immediately make your campaigns feel more personal.

Start with Behavior-Based Segmentation

The most powerful way to segment your list is by what people do, not just who they are. Behavioral data cuts through the noise and tells you what your subscribers are actually interested in, letting you send them content they’re far more likely to open. This is where you’ll see a massive lift in your open rates.

Here are three simple yet powerful behavioral segments you can create today:

• Purchase History: Group subscribers based on what they've bought. Someone who purchased a beginner's course has entirely different needs than someone who bought an advanced toolkit. Now you can send them targeted upsells, complementary product suggestions, or content that helps them get more value from their specific purchase.
• Website Activity: Keep an eye on which pages subscribers visit. If a group of users keeps returning to your pricing page for a specific service, they're showing clear intent. You can create a segment for them and send a targeted email that tackles common questions or offers a special consultation.
• Email Engagement: This one is crucial. Carve up your list into groups based on how they interact with your emails. This allows you to treat your most loyal fans differently from those who are starting to tune you out.

By creating these groups, you stop guessing what your audience wants and start responding to the signals they’re already giving you.

Segmenting by Engagement Level

Let's dig a little deeper into segmenting by email engagement, since it directly impacts your sender reputation and, by extension, your open rates.

1. Your Champions (Highly Engaged): These are the folks who open almost every email and click your links regularly. They're your most valuable asset, so treat them like VIPs. Give them early access to new content, exclusive discounts, or a behind-the-scenes look at your business.
2. The Casual Readers (Moderately Engaged): This group opens your emails here and there but isn't as consistent. Your goal is to figure out what truly clicks with them. Try sending them your most popular content or run a survey to better understand their needs and interests.
3. The At-Risk Subscribers (Losing Engagement): These are people who used to open your emails but haven't in the last 60-90 days. It’s time to send them a targeted re-engagement campaign. A simple "Is this goodbye?" email can work wonders.
4. The Dormant Subscribers (Inactive): This segment hasn't opened an email in over 90 or 120 days. Sending emails to this group actively harms your sender reputation. After one final re-engagement attempt, it’s best to move them off your active list.

A smaller, highly engaged list will always outperform a massive, inactive one. Pruning unengaged subscribers is scary, but it’s one of the best things you can do for your open rates and deliverability.

Putting Segmentation into Action

Okay, managing all these segments and creating tailored campaigns might sound like a ton of work for a small team, but modern email marketing platforms make it incredibly straightforward.

Tools like Brevo are built for this kind of thing. You can set up automation rules that automatically move subscribers between segments based on their behavior. For example, if someone clicks a link about a specific topic, they can be automatically tagged and added to a segment for that interest.

This automated workflow means you can create highly personalized email experiences that run in the background, freeing you up to focus on creating great content. This is how you scale relevance without scaling your workload—a must-have strategy for any lean operation looking to boost engagement.

Getting Smart with A/B Testing

Guesswork is the enemy of a high-performing email strategy. If you really want to understand what makes your audience click, you have to stop assuming and start testing. This is where a smart A/B testing plan comes in, turning every email you send into a chance to learn and get better.

The idea itself is simple: you test one single thing to see which version performs better. Instead of launching a new subject line and just hoping for the best, you pit two options against each other to see which one genuinely drives more opens. This data-first approach takes emotion and bias out of the equation, giving you clear, reliable results you can actually build on.

The Foundation of a Clean Test

Before you can run any test, you need a clear hypothesis. A hypothesis isn't just a guess; it's a specific, testable statement about what you believe will happen. For example, "Using a curiosity-gap subject line will get a higher open rate than a direct-benefit subject line because it creates intrigue."

Once you’ve got your hypothesis, the real key is to isolate your variable. If you change the subject line, the sender name, and the send time all at once, your results will be completely useless. You'll have no idea which change was responsible for the lift (or the drop).

The golden rule of A/B testing is to test only one thing at a time. It’s the only way to get clean data you can actually trust and learn from.

What Should You Be Testing?

When your main goal is to improve email open rates, you need to focus on the elements subscribers see before they even think about clicking. These are your highest-leverage variables for earning that initial engagement.

Here are the top elements I always recommend testing first:

• Subject Lines: This is the most common one for a reason—it’s often the most impactful. Test different frameworks (curiosity vs. benefit), tones (humorous vs. serious), lengths, and the use of emojis or numbers.
• Sender Name: Does "Nathan from Unkoa" outperform just "Unkoa"? Test a personal name against your brand name to see which feels more trustworthy and familiar to your audience.
• Preview Text: This powerful piece of real estate is there to support your subject line. Test a direct call-to-action versus an extension of the subject line's story.
• Send Time and Day: Does sending at 8 AM on a Tuesday really work best for your list? Put it to the test against 5 PM on a Thursday. You'd be surprised at what you find out about your audience's habits.

The data shows that even small tweaks can have a massive impact. Take welcome emails, for instance. They see some of the highest engagement, with average open rates hitting 69% and sometimes even 80%. This just shows how powerful timing and a great first impression can be. By A/B testing different welcome subject lines, you can really dial in that crucial first touchpoint. You can find more stats about how timing and testing can dramatically increase open rates on MailerLite's blog.

How to Run Your A/B Test the Right Way

Running a successful test is about more than just sending two different emails. Following a structured process makes sure your results are statistically sound and actually useful.

1. Define Your Sample Size: Don't test on your entire list right away. A common practice is to send each variation to a smaller, random segment—say, 10-15% of your list for each version. Your email platform should be able to handle this for you automatically.
2. Set the Test Duration: You need to let the test run long enough to gather meaningful data. A period of 4 to 24 hours is pretty standard, but it depends on how quickly your audience usually engages with your emails.
3. Determine the Winner: Once the test period is over, your email marketing software will look at the open rates and identify the winning version.
4. Roll Out to the Full List: The winning version is then automatically sent to the rest of your email list.

This methodical process takes the guesswork out of the equation and makes sure you're always sending the most effective version of your email to the majority of your audience. These principles of testing copy apply far beyond email, too. You can get more ideas by checking out our guide on A/B testing landing page copy.

Got questions about getting more people to open your emails? Good. You're in the right place. Let's tackle some of the most common head-scratchers that come up when you start getting serious about your open rates.

What’s a Good Email Open Rate to Aim For?

Everyone wants a magic number, but the truth is, a "good" open rate is completely relative.

Sure, you'll see the global average floating around 22%, but that figure is almost useless on its own. A tight-knit community of superfans might pull in open rates north of 60%, while a B2B service targeting busy execs could be crushing it with a consistent 15%.

The only benchmark that truly matters is your own. Instead of obsessing over industry stats, focus on beating your last send. A good open rate is one that’s getting better over time because you’re getting smarter with your strategy.

Use the benchmarks as a loose guide, but make your real goal to consistently one-up your past self.

How Often Should I Clean My Email List?

Think of it like digital hygiene—you have to do it regularly. For most, a deep clean of your email list every 3 to 6 months is the sweet spot.

This isn't complicated. Start by immediately removing any hard bounces. Then, create a segment of subscribers who haven't opened a single email in the last 90-120 days. You can try hitting this group with a re-engagement campaign, but if they're still silent after that, it's time to let them go.

If you're pulling in a high volume of new subscribers every month, you'll want to clean more often—maybe even setting up an automated workflow. Keeping your list healthy is non-negotiable for a strong sender reputation and solid deliverability. Tools like Bouncer can even put this process on autopilot for you.

Do Plain Text Emails Really Improve Open Rates?

This one trips a lot of people up. Plain text emails don't magically make the open rate metric go up, but they do something far more important: they boost deliverability.

Because they're stripped of all the complex HTML and heavy images, spam filters are far less likely to flag them. That means more of your emails actually land in the primary inbox instead of getting buried in the promotions tab or, worse, the spam folder.

When your email lands where people can actually see it, your odds of getting an open skyrocket. They also tend to feel more personal, like an email from a real person, which can do wonders for engagement. The only way to know for sure what your audience prefers? Run an A/B test and let the data decide.

Why Are My Emails Going to the Promotions Tab?

Landing in Gmail's Promotions tab isn't a death sentence, but it's not ideal either. It definitely hurts visibility.

This happens because Gmail's algorithm is smart. It scans everything—who you are, how your email is formatted, and what kinds of links you're including. If it sees a bunch of flashy HTML, multiple images, and sales-y words like "discount," "sale," or "offer," it assumes it's a promotion and files it accordingly.

To avoid the tab, focus on improving your sender reputation, making your content genuinely valuable (not just a sales pitch), and even asking your subscribers to drag your emails into their primary inbox. A little nudge can go a long way.