Your open rate is an important performance metric to track, and not just to see how you compare to the competition.

While click-through rates, complaints, unsubscribes, and forwards all contribute to the effectiveness of an email marketing campaign, none of them matter if your emails are not opened in the first place.

Without a high open rate, even the best campaign will fail. That is why, in this guide, we will discuss what constitutes a healthy email open rate and how you can boost yours if it is less than optimal.

4 Reasons for a Low Open Rate

Your open rates may be significantly lower than the industry average. If this is the case, you may have a problem that requires attention. The following four reasons may explain why your email open rates are lower than they should be:

1. Subscribers who are not qualified. If you purchase an email list, you can anticipate open rates that are significantly lower than the industry average. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever purchase an email list! The same is true for lists that were acquired without adhering to proper subscriber qualification.

2. You have not segmented your list. If you send the same email to everyone on your list, you will never achieve the level of engagement you desire.

3. Numerous dormant subscribers. If you have a large number of inactive subscribers who haven’t opened your emails in a long time, this will hurt your inbox deliverability and cause your open rates to plummet.

4. Subject lines that are boring. If you truly want to increase your open rates, you must concentrate on writing compelling email subject lines.

These are the primary reasons for a low email open rate. Continue reading to learn how to permanently resolve these issues.

6 Tips for Increasing Email Open Rates

1. Identify and Qualify Your Subscribers

Prior to inviting someone to join your email list, ensure that they are qualified with a relevant lead magnet. Make no attempt to build an email list that is inclusive of everyone.

For instance, avoid giving away items that the majority of people would want, such as an iPad. Rather than that, give something away that only your target customers want, such as a free sample of your product.

Your objective is to build an engaged email list that is filled with high-quality leads. A small list that is engaged and interested is far superior to a large list that is uninterested in you or what you have to offer.

2. Segment Your Contact List

The majority of marketers send all of their emails to their entire list. This is a sloppy approach to email marketing, and it is ineffective.

Segment your list based on interests, purchase history, and location to ensure that your emails are actually opened. This way, your subscribers will be more engaged with the emails you send them and with your email list as a whole.

Indeed, segmented email campaigns outperform non-segmented campaigns by 14.31%.

3. Your Timing Must Be Perfect

It is important to send emails at the right time to maximize open rates. The best time to open an email is late afternoon, peaking at 3 p.m. Of course, you should examine your own statistics to determine when your subscribers are the most active.

4. Utilize both Direct and Curiosity Subject Lines

With a direct subject line, you inform the subscriber precisely what to expect in the email, and they open it because it contains information they truly desire. For instance, the subject line “How to Get 1000 Subscribers in 7 Days” is direct.

On the other hand, a curiosity subject line entices readers to open the email out of curiosity about what’s inside. For instance, the subject line “I can’t believe this just happened…” is intriguing.

In your email marketing campaigns, you should employ both types of subject lines. This way, you can keep your subscribers engaged and increase the likelihood that they will open.

5. Eliminate Dormant Subscriptions

As mentioned previously, if your list contains a high percentage of inactive subscribers, deliverability will suffer. Never be afraid to purge your email list of inactive subscribers.

If a subscriber hasn’t opened an email from you in the last six months or so, send them a win back email campaign in an attempt to re-engage them. If they do not re-engage with you, you will either need to unsubscribe them or move their email address to another list that you only email on rare occasions.

6. Develop Mobile-Friendly Subject Lines

Did you know that approximately 70% of email opens occur on mobile devices (depending on your target audience, product, and email type)?

Keep your email subject lines brief to ensure that they are opened on mobile devices. The sweet spot is between 6-10 words or 25 characters. Thus, they will be readable by mobile users as well. Additionally, before settling on subject lines, you should verify how they will appear on mobile.