Why is my email open rate below the industry average?

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Why is my email open rate below the industry average?

DarylMaguire95
Excursionist
30 0 9

I send weekly emails to my 3,000-subscriber list, but my open rate is only 15%, which is lower than the average benchmark of 20–25% for ecommerce. My subject lines often include discounts, but engagement remains low.

What changes should I make to improve open rates? Are there better approaches to crafting subject lines or sending emails at optimal times?

My thanks in advance you guys

Accepted Solution (1)

DaisyVo
Shopify Partner
3794 412 499

This is an accepted solution.

Hi @DarylMaguire95 

I totally get how frustrating it can be when your email open rates are below the benchmark. A 15% open rate suggests there’s room for improvement, so let’s dive into some actionable tips to help you boost engagement. From my perspective, here’s what you can do:

1. Rethink Your Subject Lines

  • Avoid Overusing Discounts: Subject lines with discounts can feel repetitive or even spammy if overused. Try incorporating curiosity or urgency instead. For example:
    • Instead of “20% Off Our New Collection!”, try “Your Exclusive Perk Awaits 🎁 or “Trending Now: What Everyone’s Loving This Week”.
  • Personalize Them: Use the subscriber’s first name or location (if relevant). For instance, “Alex, Ready to Refresh Your Style?” feels more personal.
  • Experiment with Emojis: They can grab attention, but don’t overdo it. Pick emojis that match your brand tone.

2. Segment Your Audience

  • Sending weekly emails to all 3,000 subscribers might not resonate with everyone. Divide your list into smaller groups based on behavior or interests. For example:
    • Recent buyers: Send them “thank you” or exclusive updates.
    • Dormant subscribers: Use a re-engagement campaign like “We Miss You! Here’s Something Special”.

3. Optimize Timing

  • Test different send times to see when your audience is most active. For ecommerce, mornings around 9–11 a.m. or evenings after 7 p.m. often work well, but it depends on your audience.
  • Use tools like Shopify Email Analytics or Mailchimp’s A/B testing to find the sweet spot.

4. Ensure Deliverability

  • Check for Spam Triggers: Words like “free,” “guaranteed,” or “act now” can land your email in spam. Clean up your copy.
  • Authenticate Your Domain: Make sure your emails are coming from a verified domain (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC settings are key).

5. Add Value Beyond Discounts

  • People open emails when they’re intrigued or feel they’ll gain something valuable. Share useful tips, new arrivals, or even behind-the-scenes content. For example:
    • A mini styling guide for your products.
    • A story about how a best-seller was created.

6. Use a Preheader Wisely

  • The preheader text is your second chance to hook someone. Instead of “Can’t see this email? View online”, say something like: “You’ll love what we’ve curated for you!”.

7. Test, Analyze, and Iterate

  • Run A/B tests for subject lines, send times, and email formats. Use the insights to refine your approach.

Quick Example: Email Subject Line Update

Before: “20% Off This Weekend Only!”
After: “This Weekend’s Best-Seller is Yours at 20% Off 🎉

Closing Thoughts

Improving open rates takes a mix of testing and understanding your audience. The key is to keep evolving your strategy and staying authentic while offering real value.

If you need any other assistance, I am willing to help.

Best regards,
Daisy

Please let us know if our reply is helpful by giving it a Like or marking it as a Solution!

Avada SEO & Image Optimizer - The #1 SEO solution

View solution in original post

Replies 2 (2)

EstherBui
Excursionist
276 39 42

Hi @DarylMaguire95 

 

Here are several best practices to improve your campaign open rates: 

 

1.  Create engaged segments : Engaged segments are key to successful email marketing. They inform you of whom you should communicate with and update automatically with subscribers who meet the conditions you set according to the recency and frequency of their engagement. As you add conditions to make segments more specific, you will also gain insight into how to target them with relevant content that will receive higher open rates.

 

Ex: Your segment criteria should include: those either opened or clicked recently, or subscribed to your list recently. We suggest adding conditions to include anyone who opened or clicked your emails within the last 30 days, as well as people who subscribed to your list in the last 15 days as a starting point.

 

Then, evaluate the performance of your segment and adjust the time range to either widen your audience or shrink it to a more engaged group. If your open rates are above 20%, expand this segment to include those who have engaged with your emails in the last 60 days rather than 30 days. But if your open rates fall below 20%, tighten the timeframe (i.e., to 14 days) until you identify your core engaged audience. Also, your segment criteria should align well with your brand's typical sending schedule; if you are a daily sender, then your segment will look different from someone who sends once a week.

 

2. Craft targeted subject lines:

 

Remove all unnecessary contents. Instead, send content that your audience wants to receive and use subject lines that entice them to open without sounding spammy.

 

Try to be clear, concise, and compelling. To optimize your subject lines, you should:

- Clear call-to-action (CTA): For instance, if your CTA pertains to a flash sale, make that obvious to engaged customers within your subject line and add a sense of urgency to the deal. Or if your CTA informs recipients of a recent change to your company that requires them to click into a link for more information or to update their account, be honest and informative, and cut out any unnecessary verbiage.

Be personal: Add a recipient's first name to your subject lines. This personalization leads to a boost in open rates 60% of the time. Also, you can align your content with specific information you have collected about subscribers (e.g., interests, local events, interests, etc.) or common hopes and pain points that resonate well with your audience.

Include a sense of urgency (if applicable):  Consider adding urgency like a time frame to a campaign offer like  "You have a X% discount that expires in 3 days" or "Our sale ends in 24 hours" 

 

3. Pick the right time to send


Your recipients likely live in different regions and in different timezones. Select the perfect timing that to send messages that suitable with your recipient's local timezone. If you don't, you risk sending too early or late at night, and your emails may be ignored.

4. Clean customer lists regularly

It is essential to clean your list regularly to remove any unengaged, fake, misspelled, or spam email addresses. It will increase your open rates as you weed out any contacts who should no longer receive your messaging and improve your deliverability. This action can also boost your sender reputation in some inbox providers, such as Gmail or Yahoo.

5. Monitor your performance

Consistently monitor the performance of your campaigns and keeping track of not only open rates, and check the deliverability metrics that affect your sender reputation as well.
If you see a dip in campaign open rates, then something is likely wrong with your email sends. You may need to readjust your messaging to resonate with your audience or update the conditions of your engaged segment. In either case, monitoring campaign outcomes allows you to avoid seriously damaging your sender reputation.

 

For more information, you can access to our Articles on how to improve the open rates here: https://help.avada.io/en/article/how-to-increase-campaign-open-rates-dj66vs/

 

I hope it helps. 

 

 

Esther

Please let us know if our reply is helpful by giving it a Like or marking it as a Solution!

DaisyVo
Shopify Partner
3794 412 499

This is an accepted solution.

Hi @DarylMaguire95 

I totally get how frustrating it can be when your email open rates are below the benchmark. A 15% open rate suggests there’s room for improvement, so let’s dive into some actionable tips to help you boost engagement. From my perspective, here’s what you can do:

1. Rethink Your Subject Lines

  • Avoid Overusing Discounts: Subject lines with discounts can feel repetitive or even spammy if overused. Try incorporating curiosity or urgency instead. For example:
    • Instead of “20% Off Our New Collection!”, try “Your Exclusive Perk Awaits 🎁 or “Trending Now: What Everyone’s Loving This Week”.
  • Personalize Them: Use the subscriber’s first name or location (if relevant). For instance, “Alex, Ready to Refresh Your Style?” feels more personal.
  • Experiment with Emojis: They can grab attention, but don’t overdo it. Pick emojis that match your brand tone.

2. Segment Your Audience

  • Sending weekly emails to all 3,000 subscribers might not resonate with everyone. Divide your list into smaller groups based on behavior or interests. For example:
    • Recent buyers: Send them “thank you” or exclusive updates.
    • Dormant subscribers: Use a re-engagement campaign like “We Miss You! Here’s Something Special”.

3. Optimize Timing

  • Test different send times to see when your audience is most active. For ecommerce, mornings around 9–11 a.m. or evenings after 7 p.m. often work well, but it depends on your audience.
  • Use tools like Shopify Email Analytics or Mailchimp’s A/B testing to find the sweet spot.

4. Ensure Deliverability

  • Check for Spam Triggers: Words like “free,” “guaranteed,” or “act now” can land your email in spam. Clean up your copy.
  • Authenticate Your Domain: Make sure your emails are coming from a verified domain (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC settings are key).

5. Add Value Beyond Discounts

  • People open emails when they’re intrigued or feel they’ll gain something valuable. Share useful tips, new arrivals, or even behind-the-scenes content. For example:
    • A mini styling guide for your products.
    • A story about how a best-seller was created.

6. Use a Preheader Wisely

  • The preheader text is your second chance to hook someone. Instead of “Can’t see this email? View online”, say something like: “You’ll love what we’ve curated for you!”.

7. Test, Analyze, and Iterate

  • Run A/B tests for subject lines, send times, and email formats. Use the insights to refine your approach.

Quick Example: Email Subject Line Update

Before: “20% Off This Weekend Only!”
After: “This Weekend’s Best-Seller is Yours at 20% Off 🎉

Closing Thoughts

Improving open rates takes a mix of testing and understanding your audience. The key is to keep evolving your strategy and staying authentic while offering real value.

If you need any other assistance, I am willing to help.

Best regards,
Daisy

Please let us know if our reply is helpful by giving it a Like or marking it as a Solution!

Avada SEO & Image Optimizer - The #1 SEO solution