You’ve crafted the perfect email—great design, compelling message, and a strong CTA. You hit send, and then… crickets. Your open rates are lower than expected. Sound familiar?
If you’re only focusing on tweaking subject lines and send times, you might be missing some crucial elements that determine whether your email even makes it to the inbox.
Check out our latest infographic below for five proven ways to increase your email open rates. But first—let’s uncover what might be sabotaging your email performance.
The Silent Killers of Your Email Open Rates
1. Your Sender Reputation Is Holding You Back
Email providers track your sending behavior—things like bounce rates, spam complaints, and engagement levels. If your past emails have been ignored, deleted, or marked as spam, your future messages could be landing in junk folders before they even get a chance to be opened.
Quick fix: Use email verification tools to remove inactive or fake addresses, and keep an eye on your domain reputation.
2. Your Emails Are Landing to Promotions (or Worse, Spam)
Gmail, Outlook, and other email services use AI-powered filtering to determine whether your message should land in the primary inbox, promotions tab, or spam. Too many images, excessive links, or certain trigger words (“free,” “guaranteed,” “limited-time offer”) can push your emails out of sight.
Quick fix: Test your emails with spam checkers before sending and personalize your messaging to increase inbox placement.
3. Your List Might Be the Problem
If your list is full of outdated or disengaged contacts, your open rate will naturally suffer. Sending emails to people who haven’t interacted with your brand in months (or years) drags down your overall performance.
Quick fix: Regularly clean your list and run a re-engagement campaign before removing inactive subscribers.
4. Your Pre-header Text Isn’t Pulling Its Weight
Most people focus on the subject line, but the preview text can be just as important. It provides extra context and can make or break whether someone decides to open your email.
Quick fix: Treat your preheader like a secondary subject line—use it to spark curiosity or highlight urgency.
5. Your Audience Behavior Has Shifted
What worked last year might not work today. Contact behavior, inbox algorithms, and email habits evolve, and if you’re not adjusting your approach, your open rates will take a hit.
Quick fix: Test, analyze, and optimize. Run A/B tests on subject lines, sending times, and personalization techniques to see what resonates with your audience right now.
Struggling with Low Open Rates?
Your email strategy might need a refresh. Our infographic breaks down five proven tactics to help you improve your inbox placement and boost engagement.
At Marketlyft, we take a holistic approach to email marketing. From building high-quality email lists to designing campaigns that engage and convert, we help businesses create emails that actually get opened (and drive results).
Ready to see real improvements in your email marketing? Let’s talk. Get in touch with us today!
