Understanding open rates
Last updated: April 14, 2025
Overview
An email's open rate is the percentage of a email's audience that opened the email (number of recipients who opened divided by number of recipients).
Keeping open rates healthy is critical to maintaining a good sending reputation.
Read on to learn about key steps you can take to set your emails up for great open rates!
Use relevant and personalized subject lines
Emails should be designed, from content to audience to schedule, with a specific audience in mind. When you try to appeal to too wide an audience with an email send, it usually backfires with low open rates because recipients aren't interested in generic content.
Keep these tips in mind when crafting subject lines:
Use personalization (with set defaults) and succinct, concise copy in your email subject lines. First names in subject lines can increase open rates, as do other personalized touches like appealing to recipients' specific interests.
Give recipients a reason to open your email with a focused call to action. Let them know what they'll get out of opening your email whether it's a sale, coupon, company update, etc.
If messages are actually time-sensitive, include language that promotes urgency (and consider using a countdown!) You may see increased open rates on messages that implore recipients to open before a deadline that doesn't actually exist, but you will lose your contacts' trust in the long run if youÂ
Send to engaged contacts
Contacts who have recently engaged with your content are much more likely to open more content in the future because they are interested in your messaging. If you're actively trying to increase open rates, you must send primarily to your engaged contacts.
For campaigns, see How to improve targeting with advanced segmentation for tips on creating segments that lead to great open rates.
For automations, check out our setup guides for detailed tips on optimizing each type of automation, and be sure to use the available automation logic and contact control tools.
Send at the right time
For campaigns, be mindful of your audience's time zones when sending campaign emails. You can use tools like Machine Learning Open Predictability and sending in recipients' local time zones to reach your contacts when they want to be reached. Consider sending at "odd" times, like 1:12 PM instead of 1 PM.
Ensure contacts aren't overwhelmed
Review your smart sending settings to ensure contacts aren't sent more messages than they want.
If contacts get overwhelmed by the number of messages they receive from your brand, they will be less likely to open and potentially more likely to unsubscribe.
Review reporting regularly
You should regularly review email reporting and adjust your email strategy accordingly. Check out the following guides for information on how to use report data to strategize:
📄 How to audit your Sendlane account