To put it bluntly, your email open rates can be the difference between thriving and merely surviving. Every unopened email represents a missed opportunity to connect with your audience, share your message, promote your offers, and drive your business forward.
At Talking Toucan, we understand the importance of getting emails opened. We run a popular email list focused on the art of persuasion and our expertise in persuasive messaging has helped countless clients across various industries enhance their communication. However, all of our hard work would be pointless if nobody reads the emails in the first place.
This article is designed to empower small business owners, freelancers, and digital creators with strategies to increase their email open rates.
We’ve structured this guide into two sections.
Section 1: Best Practices to Instantly Improve Open Rates
The first section outlines proven best practices that can instantly boost your email open rates. Each best practice has the potential to make an immediate and noticeable impact on your engagement metrics.
Section 2: Systematic Approach to Test and Optimise Open Rates
The second section provides you with a systematic approach to testing and optimising your email campaigns to increase your open rates. If you’re confident that you’re already following all the best practices, you can skip ahead to this section and follow our proven method for fully optimised email topics and subject lines.
There are also some longer-term strategies and behaviours that contribute to higher open rates. We will not discuss them in detail here as they are fairly obvious. These include writing valuable content, segmenting your list to make the emails hyper-relevant, and reviewing your sign-up process to ensure you’re attracting the right type of subscribers.
Disclaimer: whether your open rates will increase by 10% depends on your current email marketing performance and how many of these best practices you are already following. It also depends on how well you can implement the strategies outlined and the quality of your email marketing content. Your email open rates may improve by significantly more than 10%, but in other cases, it could be less.
Open Rate Expectations Management
Open rates vary across different industries. What might be a high open rate in one sector could be low in another. Understanding these variations will help you set realistic goals.
Here are some average open rates across various industries to give you a benchmark.
| Agriculture | 38.02% | Media and publishing | 34.23% |
| Architecture & construction | 31.08% | Medical, dental, & healthcare | 34.65% |
| Arts & artists | 31.08% | Mobile | 31.02% |
| Beauty & personal care | 31.09% | Music & musicians | 36.94% |
| Business & finance | 31.35% | Non-profit | 40.04% |
| Computers & electronics | 26.98% | Photo and video | 37.44% |
| Consulting | 29.61% | Politics | 36.10% |
| Creative services/agency | 32.37% | Professional services | 32.74% |
| Daily deals/e-coupons | 27.59% | Public relations | 33.69% |
| E-commerce | 29.81% | Real estate | 35.38% |
| Education & training | 35.64% | Recruitment & staffing | 32.40% |
| Entertainment & events | 37.30% | Religion | 43.97% |
| Games | 31.46% | Restaurant & venue | 40.03% |
| Government | 40.56% | Retail | 35.05% |
| Health & fitness | 37.07% | Social networks & online communities | 37.15% |
| Hobbies | 40.55% | Software & web app | 28.12% |
| Home & garden | 35.69% | Sports | 41.84% |
| Insurance | 30.08% | Telecommunications | 30.57% |
| Legal | 31.40% | Travel & transportation | 33.25% |
| Manufacturing | 29.08% | Vitamin supplements | 27.35% |
| Marketing & advertising | 29.71% |
Aim to be above average for your industry. For example, if you are in retail, striving for an open rate above the average of 35.05% would be a commendable goal. You might push to 40% or even 45% with an excellent strategy but expecting open rates in the 80% range would be unrealistic.
As a general benchmark, the average open rate across all industries is around 35.63%. The average Click-Through Rate (CTR) is about 2.62%, and the average soft bounce rate is approximately 0.70%.
Section 1: Best Practices to Instantly Improve Open Rates
We will begin by reviewing ten best practices that can instantly boost your email open rates.
Tip 1 – Perfect Your Email Subject Line.
The quickest way to increase open rates is by improving your subject line. This one sentence serves as the first, and at times, the only impression you make on your recipients. Think of it like this, the primary objective of your subject line is to get your email opened – nothing else! Therefore, take the time to get it right!
General Subject Line Best Practices
- Keep it to less than 50 to 60 characters.
- Regularly include your recipient’s name.
- Limit punctuation.
- Use emotional words – we all know emotions sell!
- Include no more than one emoji. This is not suitable for all industries. However, if appropriate, a well-chosen emoji has the potential to increase open rates.
Our Subject Line Strategy
Uniqueness is crucial. Your subject line is competing against every other message in your audience members’ inbox. Your goal should be to write subject lines that nobody has seen before. Ask yourself, “Is this subject line something I’ve read before?” If it is, re-write it to something unique!
Your goal should be to create intriguing subject lines. Curiosity is the most powerful emotion for improving open rates, always write subject lines that leave a hint of mystery. For example:
- “What’s the Secret to Effortless Productivity?”
- “Discover the Hidden Benefits of Your Daily Routine”
- “You Won’t Believe What Happened Next…”
- “Can You Solve This Mystery?”
- “Unlock the Secret Recipe Inside”
A good alternative to curiosity based subject lines are numbers and statistics. These can be an effective way to draw attention pique interest. For example:
- “5 Daily Habits That Improve Your Well-Being by 30%”
- “Boost Your Productivity by 50% with These Simple Tips”
- “See How 90% of Our Users Achieved Their Goals”
- “Solve Problems 40% Faster with This Strategy”
- “This Recipe Is Rated 5 Stars by 90% of Home Cooks”
Rhetorical writing devices are another excellent way to make your subject lines stand out: These devices work by engaging readers on an emotional level, evoking curiosity, and creating memorable phrases that compel people to learn more. Try the following:
- Alliteration: “Boost Your Business with Brilliant Branding”
- Anaphora: “Save More, Shop More, Enjoy More”
- Antithesis: “Work Smarter, Not Harder”
- Asyndeton: “Buy, Save, Smile”
- Epizeuxis: “Win, Win, Win with Our New Strategy”
Emotional language can create a strong connection with your readers and prompt them to open your emails. Examples of emotional language in subject lines:
- “Your Happy Place Awaits – Open Now!”
- “A Trip Down Memory Lane: Relive the Good Times”
- “Experience the Joy of Giving”
- “Transform Your Life with These Simple Steps”
- “Join Us in the Fight for a Better Tomorrow”
While it’s tempting to create a ‘clickbait’ subject line to increase open rates, this will result in long-term pain for short-term gain. Misleading your audience might increase initial opens but at the cost of your credibility which will result in lower open rates and more people unsubscribing from your list.
Tip 2 – Use your pre-header appropriately.
The preheader provides an additional opportunity to entice recipients to open your email. This snippet of text, displayed after or below the subject line in most email inboxes, complements the subject line by offering more context or teasing the content of the email.
To further increase open rates, keep the pre-header short and sweet (ideally between 40-70 characters). Use it to create curiosity and interest. Offer a hint about the email’s content without giving everything away. But ensure it adds value and isn’t just a repeat of the subject line.
Tip 3 – Maintain email list hygiene.
It is fairly obvious that removing the people who never open your emails is going to increase your open rate percentages. Assuming you’re emailing your list regularly (at least once per week), you can safely remove anyone who hasn’t opened an email from you in 90 or 120 days.
Sometimes you might wish to send a re-engagement email before hitting that delete button. To do this, include the subscriber’s name in the subject line and offer them something of immense value for free. This can work for some people but don’t expect the numbers to be extremely high. Even if someone reads your re-engagement email, it’s often an uphill battle to keep them interested meaning it might be best to just cut your losses and focus on engaged subscribers.
Tip 4 – Send at the right time and on the right day.
Timing can significantly influence whether someone opens your emails. There is no universally perfect day or time to send emails, so understanding your audience’s daily routine is crucial. Consider their activities in the morning, afternoon, and evening. What does their workday look like? How late do they stay up at night? How early do they rise in the morning?
On average, weekdays tend to return the best open rates with Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays being the clear winners. Specifically, studies show that the ideal times are Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Determining the optimal time and day to send emails requires strategic testing and analysis.
Tip 5 – Be careful not to end up in spam.
Spam filters have become increasingly sophisticated, but they are not infallible. Even the most carefully crafted emails can sometimes end up in the dreaded spam folder. To maximise the reach of your email marketing campaigns, you must take proactive steps to avoid being flagged as spam.
- Ensure every recipient has explicitly opted-in to receive your emails with double opt-in.
- Send from a reputable IP address with no history of sending spam.
- Keep your email HTML code clean and simple. This shouldn’t be an issue with templates offered by reputable mail providers.
- Educate your subscribers on how to whitelist your emails.
- As mentioned, never use misleading or “bait-and-switch” subject lines.
- Include a physical address in the email footer, this isn’t only best practice, it’s a legal requirement.
- Ensure there is an easy way for subscribers to opt out of your emails.
- Use email authentication methods such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to prove that your emails are legitimate.
- Be cautious with words and phrases that commonly trigger spam filters, such as “free,” “earn money,” “guarantee,” and excessive use of exclamation marks.
- Remove inactive subscribers from your list to maintain a high sender reputation.
- Avoid sending emails with too many images and not enough text.
Remember, you can check your sender reputation score using tools like SenderScore or Google Postmaster Tools.
Tip 6 – Consider your name and email address.
Ensuring that your ‘sender name’ and email address are recognisable to recipients is crucial for establishing trust and encouraging email opens. If your subscribers can’t identify who sent the email, they are less likely to open it, and may even mark it as spam.
People prefer a human connection, so wherever possible, send emails from the name of an individual or spokesperson. A great tactic is to combine a spokesperson’s name with your brand name for clarity, such as “Nora from Talking Toucan” or “Bill at Microsoft.”
Remember to keep your ‘sender name’ consistent across all your emails. When subscribers repeatedly see the same name, they will be more likely to open your emails.
Finally, it goes without saying to use a professional email address, such as info@yourcompany.com or support@yourcompany.com. Avoid using free email service providers like Gmail or Yahoo for business communications.
Tip 7 – Choose the right topics.
This is another tip that might seem obvious, but it’s crucial: people open emails about subjects they care about. Therefore, it’s essential to identify what truly matters to your audience and craft emails around those topics.
First, ensure you understand the topics your audience genuinely cares about, not just what you think they care about. Use surveys, feedback, and analytics, or just observe their conversations in online communities to discover their interests and preferences.
Once you’ve identified a topic of interest, use your email subject line and pre-header to provide hints and build intrigue. This approach can lead to higher open rates by piquing your audience’s curiosity.
Over time, consistently sending emails on topics that matter to your audience will help them associate your emails with valuable content. This ongoing relevance will lead to higher open rates as your subscribers begin to eagerly anticipate your emails.
Tip 8 – Upgrade Your Content.
This is more of a medium to long-term strategy but worth a brief mention. Focus on quality emails.
If your subscribers are happy with the content inside your emails, they are more likely to open your emails in the future. They may even begin to eagerly anticipate your emails. Conversely, if a subscriber is displeased with what they got in your email, they probably aren’t going to open your emails again. They may even unsubscribe.
Every email should offer something valuable. When we say this, most people immediately think of a free eBook, a special coupon, an epic blog post, or a webinar. These are all excellent offers, but value could also be as simple as a funny joke, interesting story, or entertaining piece of commentary.
The key is to make sure that you aren’t sending emails just to send emails. Focus less on the number of emails you send out and more on the quality, helpfulness, and relevance. Every single time you email your list, you need to deliver something of real value. The higher the value, the more loyal your subscribers will become, and you’ll see higher open rates.
Tip 9 – Mobile first.
With the rapid increase in mobile device usage, optimising your emails for mobile viewing is no longer optional; it’s essential. Depending on which statistics you trust, between 40 and 60% of email opens occur on mobile devices, and this number is only expected to grow. Neglecting mobile optimisation can significantly impact your open rates and overall engagement, as poorly formatted emails are often deleted within seconds.
To ensure your emails are mobile-friendly, start by using a responsive email design. This means your email layout should automatically adjust to fit the screen size of any device, whether it’s a smartphone, tablet, or desktop. Keep your email width between 600-640 pixels to ensure it looks good on all devices. Use a single-column layout for simplicity and ease of navigation, and make sure your text is large enough to read without zooming (at least 14pt for body text and 22pt for headlines).
Additionally, prioritise your content to highlight the most important information at the top of the email. Mobile users are often on the go and may not scroll through long emails. Use concise and compelling copy and ensure your call-to-action (CTA) buttons are large, easily clickable, and prominently placed. Avoid using tiny links that can be hard to tap on smaller screens. By focusing on mobile optimization, you can improve the user experience, making it more likely that recipients will open, read, and engage with your emails.
Tip 10 – Test! Test! Test!
You need to constantly run tests to find the best strategy for your audience and email list, which brings us to section 2 of the guide!
Section 2: Systematic Approach to Test and Optimise Open Rates
While you could test several variables, the factor with the potential for the biggest immediate impact on your open rates is your approach to writing subject lines.
About A/B Testing
A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a method of comparing two versions of the same variable to determine which one performs better.
When it comes to email subject lines, A/B testing involves sending two variations of a subject line to randomised segments of your email list. By measuring the open rates of these two groups, you can identify which subject line resonates more with your audience. Many email service providers have the functionality to facilitate these types of tests.
A/B testing is crucial because it allows you to base your decisions on data rather than assumptions. Different audiences respond to different types of messaging, and what works for one group may not work for another. By systematically testing and analysing the results, you can uncover valuable insights about your subscribers’ preferences and behaviours.
Approach For Testing Your Subject Lines
When conducting these tests, it’s important to change only a single variable at a time to ensure you can accurately determine what is driving the results. For example, you might test one email topic with two different subject lines: one that uses curiosity and one that uses statistics.
Here is our step-by-step approach to effectively test your email subject lines:
Step 1 – Select two subject line strategies to compare in relation to the exact same email.
For instance, imagine the email was about tips for successful home renovation. One subject line could be “Discover the Secret to Stunning Home Renovations” (curiosity) and the other “Improve Your Home’s Value by 20% with These Renovation Tips” (statistics). This isolates the impact of curiosity versus statistics as the variable.
Other potential subject line approaches you might want to test include rhetorical techniques, emotional language, interesting facts, shocking statements, urgency, benefits, humour, questions, and even the use of emojis.
Step 2 – Repeat the test until there is a clear winner.
Conduct this test multiple times with different subject lines using the same techniques. This helps ensure that your findings are consistent and not just a result of one-off anomalies. Your goal should be to keep testing until you have a clear winner for this round of testing.
Step 3 – Start the next round of testing.
Take the winning subject line approach and test it against another technique. For example, if curiosity-driven subject lines won, you might test them against subject lines using shocking statements or urgency.
Step 4 – Repeat this process.
Continually testing the winning subject line against new techniques. Eventually, you’ll get a feel for which type of subject lines your audience members respond best to.
Remember, you should also run split tests on the topics you write about, the time and day you send your emails, and even stuff as simple as whether you capitalise all the words or not.
Testing Tournament
One interesting approach is to run a series of different tests in a knock-out style tournament to find the strategy that works best for your audience. Depending on the thoroughness you desire, each test could be 5, 7, or 9 emails long.
- Test A: Curiosity vs statistics
- Test B: Rhetoric vs emotional language
- Test C: Shocking statements vs questions
- Test D: Humour vs benefits
- Test E (Semi-final): Winner of Test A vs winner of Test B
- Test F (Semi-final): Winner of Test C vs winner of Test D
- Test G (Final): Winner of Test E vs winner of Test F
Example Testing Round
Let’s bring this all to life by taking a look at how one round of this test might work. This theoretical test is being run by a company selling nutritional advice products such as books and nutritional consultancy services.
Company Name: NutriLife Solutions
Testing Objective: This round of testing is designed to compare the effectiveness of curiosity-based subject lines with statistics/numbers-based subject lines. NutriLife wants to determine which approach yields higher open rates for their audience.
Test length: Five emails
Email Number 1
| Email Content | An article explaining the benefits of incorporating superfoods into your diet. |
| Curiosity-Based Subject Line | “Nutritionists Claim This Superfood That Can Transform Your Health” |
| Statistics/Numbers-Based Subject Line | “Why 90% of Nutritionists Recommend Acai” |
| Results – Curiosity | 31% |
| Results – Statistics/Numbers | 22% |
| Winner | Curiosity |
Email Number 2
| Email Content | A promotional email offering a discount on a new eBook about balanced diets. |
| Curiosity-Based Subject Line | “Unlock the Secrets to a Balanced Diet with Our New eBook” |
| Statistics/Numbers-Based Subject Line | “50% Off Our Bestselling Balanced Diet eBook” |
| Results – Curiosity | 26% |
| Results – Statistics/Numbers | 31% |
| Winner | Statistics/Numbers |
Email Number 3
| Email Content | A case study showcasing a client’s success story after using NutriLife’s consultancy services. |
| Curiosity-Based Subject Line | “The Secret To How Sarah Dramatically Lost Weight and Regained Her Energy” |
| Statistics/Numbers-Based Subject Line | “Clients Lose an Average of 15 Pounds with Our Program” |
| Results – Curiosity | 34% |
| Results – Statistics/Numbers | 24% |
| Winner | Curiosity |
Email Number 4
| Email Content | Tips and tricks for effective meal planning to maintain a healthy diet. |
| Curiosity-Based Subject Line | “The New Meal Planning Hack You Need to Try Today” |
| Statistics/Numbers-Based Subject Line | “Plan Your Meals in 10 Minutes with Our Proven Method” |
| Results – Curiosity | 27% |
| Results – Statistics/Numbers | 23% |
| Winner | Curiosity |
Email Number 5
| Email Content | Invitation to a free webinar on improving gut health. |
| Curiosity-Based Subject Line | “Join Our Free Webinar to Discover the Key to Gut Health” |
| Statistics/Numbers-Based Subject Line | “Free Webinar: Improve Your Gut Health by 40%” |
| Results – Curiosity | 29% |
| Results – Statistics/Numbers | 29% |
| Winner | Tie |
Overall Results
Across the five emails tested by NutriLife Solutions, curiosity-based subject lines generally outperformed statistics-based subject lines.
Round Wins:
- Curiosity: 3
- Statistics/Numbers: 1
- Tie: 1
Average Open Rates:
- Curiosity: 29.4%
- Statistics/Numbers: 25.8%
Implications
Curiosity-based subject lines won in three out of the five tests and resulted in higher average open rates (29.4%) compared to statistics and numbers based subject lines (25.8%). This suggests that emails sparking curiosity are more effective at capturing the audience’s attention.
Although curiosity-based subject lines performed better overall, the statistics and numbers based subject line won in one test and tied in another. This indicates that while curiosity generally drives higher engagement, statistics and numbers can be powerful in certain contexts, such as promotions.
The consistent performance of curiosity-based subject lines highlights the importance of understanding and leveraging audience psychology. By continuing to craft intriguing and curiosity-driven subject lines, NutriLife Solutions can maintain and potentially improve its open rates.
Despite the clear trend favouring curiosity, these results may not be deemed as conclusive. Therefore an extended length of testing might be required. Additionally, market dynamics and audience preferences can evolve, so ongoing A/B testing remains essential to stay ahead.
Another approach might be to run an additional round of testing, pure curiosity vs subject lines that use both curiosity and statistical elements. For instance, combining a curiosity element with a compelling statistic in a single subject line could potentially maximise engagement.