A low open rate does not always mean something went wrong. There are several common reasons it can happen, and most of them can be identified and fixed. Work through the checks below to find the likely cause.
Topics
- Your database may contain old or invalid addresses
- Your email may be going to spam
- Images may be too large
- You have recently switched to a new sending platform
- What is considered a good open rate?
- FAQ
Your database may contain old or invalid addresses
If your contact list is old, it may contain email addresses that no longer exist or have been deactivated. The platform will clean these out over time by removing hard bounces, but it can take a few campaign sends to work through a large list of stale contacts.
If you have recently imported a large list that has not been mailed in a while, expect the first few sends to have lower open rates as invalid addresses are cleared. Read more on How to clean your contact database
Your email may be going to spam
If your email is landing in guests' spam or junk folders, it will not show as an open even though it was delivered. Common causes include emails that are made up mostly of images with very little text, or content that triggers spam filters.
As a general rule, avoid sending emails that are all images and no text. Include enough written content alongside your visuals to give spam filters something legitimate to read.
See our article on why emails go to spam for more detail on this. Why are my emails going to spam?
Images may be too large
Large image files can cause emails to load slowly or display incorrectly, which affects engagement. Images wider than about 1,000 pixels are unnecessary since the email content area maxes out at 900 pixels wide. A guest's mail client still has to download the full image file even if it only displays at 900 pixels.
We recommend keeping images no wider than 1,000 pixels and no larger than 1 MB in file size. Saving images as JPG (rather than PNG) is an easy way to reduce file size without sacrificing quality.
You have recently switched to a new sending platform
When you start sending from a new platform, mail servers need a few sends to recognise it as a trusted sender on your behalf. It can take two to five sends for open rates to stabilise. This is normal and expected when setting up a new account.
If open rates are still low after several sends, the next step is to review your domain authentication setup. See our article on domain verification for more information. Set up your sending domain
What is considered a good open rate?
As a general benchmark once your account is established, an 18% open rate is considered average and a reasonable minimum to aim for. Anything above 22% is a strong result.
Keep in mind that database size affects this. A small, highly engaged list of 500 contacts will typically see much higher open rates than a large list of 500,000, where engagement is naturally more spread out.
For click-through rates, the average falls between 2% and 3%.
FAQ
My open rate dropped suddenly after a previously strong campaign. What happened? A sudden drop often points to a deliverability change rather than an engagement issue. Check whether any recent campaigns had unusually high bounce rates or spam complaints, as these can affect how your emails are treated by inbox providers going forward.
Does the platform count opens from preview panes or mail clients that auto-load images? Open tracking works by loading a tiny invisible image in the email. Some mail clients pre-load images without the guest actually opening the email, which can slightly inflate open rates. Conversely, some mail clients block image loading by default, which means opens may be undercounted. Open rate is best used as a directional signal rather than an exact measure.
Any questions? Reach out to us via email at support@meandu.com.