Low Open Rates? Here’s Why Your Emails Aren’t Getting Read (and How to Fix It)

You spent time crafting the perfect email, hit send… and then crickets. Low open rates can be frustrating, but they’re also fixable.

If your emails aren’t getting read, it usually comes down to three key culprits:
✅ Weak subject lines
✅ Poor sender reputation
✅ Bad timing

Let’s break down each one and how you can turn things around.

1. Your Subject Lines Aren’t Pulling Their Weight

Your subject line is the gatekeeper of your email. If it doesn’t grab attention, your email won’t get opened, no matter how good the content inside is.

Signs Your Subject Line Needs Help:

❌ It’s too generic (e.g., "Our Latest Newsletter")
❌ It sounds spammy (too many caps, emojis, or gimmicky phrases)
❌ It doesn’t create curiosity or urgency

How to Fix It:

✔ Make it specific – Instead of "New Product Alert," try "This Sold Out in 48 Hours."
✔ Create curiosity – Instead of "Our Latest Blog Post," try "3 Tips for Better Sleep."
✔ Use personalisation – Adding a name or location can boost open rates.
✔ Keep it short & snappy – Aim for 4–7 words (emails with shorter subject lines tend to perform better).

👉 Test It: Use A/B testing to see what subject lines work best for your audience.

2. Your Sender Reputation Might Be Working Against You

If your emails are landing in spam or being ignored, your sender reputation could be the issue.

What Hurts Your Sender Reputation:

❌ Sending too many emails too quickly (especially to a cold list)
❌ High bounce rates (sending to invalid email addresses)
❌ Low engagement (if people don’t open or click your emails, inbox providers notice)

How to Fix It:

✔ Clean your list regularly – Remove inactive or invalid emails to reduce bounce rates.
✔ Warm up new email lists – Don’t blast thousands of emails at once. Slowly increase sending volume.
✔ Encourage engagement – Ask a question or invite replies in your emails.
✔ Authenticate your domain – Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to show inbox providers you’re legit.

👉 Check It: Use tools like Google Postmaster or Mail-Tester to monitor your sender reputation.

3. You’re Sending at the Wrong Time

Even the best emails won’t perform well if they land in an inbox when people aren’t checking their emails.

Signs Your Timing Is Off:

❌ You’re sending when your audience isn’t active
❌ Your open rates are consistently low, no matter the content
❌ Your audience is in different time zones, and you’re not segmenting by location

How to Fix It:

✔ Test different send times – Try sending emails in the morning (7–10 AM) or evening (6–9 PM) when people are more likely to check emails.
✔ Segment by time zone – If you have a global audience, sending emails at the wrong local time could be hurting your open rates.
✔ Use your data – Look at past campaign performance to see when your subscribers engage the most.

👉 Best Practice: Start with Tuesday–Thursday mornings and tweak based on your analytics.