How can I improve Gmail open rates for my e-commerce emails?
Summary
What email marketers say7Marketer opinions
Email marketer from G2 answers that double opt-in to ensure that the user actually wants to be contacted via email.
Email marketer from Email on Acid answers that optimizing preview text can help highlight some of the emails key details to entice the email reader to increase opens.
Email marketer from Mailchimp shares that segmenting email lists based on customer behavior and demographics allows for sending more relevant content, leading to higher open rates and engagement.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that regularly cleaning your email list by removing inactive subscribers and those who haven't engaged in a while can improve your sender reputation and deliverability.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that A/B testing different elements of your email, such as subject lines, content, or calls to action, can help identify what resonates most with your audience and optimize for higher open rates and conversions.
Email marketer from HubSpot explains that sending emails at optimal times, when recipients are most likely to check their inbox, can improve open rates. Analyzing past data to determine these peak times is crucial.
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that improving subject lines by making them benefit-driven, creating urgency, and using personalization can significantly increase open rates.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource explains that one way to focus on engagement is through temporary suppression lists, where you suppress unengaged users for a time, then reintroduce them to the email flow to measure engagement.
Expert from Word to the Wise answers that improving ip reputation will result in better email marketing performance
Expert from Email Geeks explains that if emails are going to spam, the list, domain, and sending system needs to be overhauled. Step 1: stop sending to anyone who hasn’t opened the email in the last few weeks / months. Step 2: figure out why people who opted in are acting in ways that tell Google the mail is spam and fix it, then ramp up volume.
Expert from Email Geeks shares to diagnose delivery issues, create a new email address at Google and send a copy of the message to it. This will show Google's filtering decision. If it goes to spam, there are problems. Alternatively, use a commercial inbox tracking service.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from RFC explains that setting up an SPF record correctly to authenticate outbound email and ensure it is not marked as spam is important to maintain email deliverability and ultimately open rates.
Documentation from Google Support shares that adhering to Gmail's bulk sender guidelines, including proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and managing spam complaints, is essential for ensuring emails reach the inbox and maintain a good sender reputation.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains that implementing DMARC helps protect your domain from email spoofing and phishing attacks, which can negatively impact your sender reputation and deliverability. Setting up proper DMARC policies improves trust and open rates.