Why are Gmail click rates low despite high email deliverability?

Summary

Low Gmail click rates despite high email deliverability result from a complex interplay of factors spanning list quality, engagement practices, technical setup, and content strategy. Poor list hygiene, including fake sign-ups, spam traps, and unengaged subscribers (graymail), undermines sender reputation and leads to engagement-based filtering by Gmail. Technical issues like the lack of DKIM, rendering problems, and not using a dedicated IP can also impede click rates. Furthermore, irrelevant content, inconsistent sending, poor design, aggressive sales tactics, and a lack of mobile optimization all negatively impact engagement. Addressing these issues holistically is essential for improving Gmail click rates.

Key findings

  • Poor List Quality: Fake sign-ups, spam traps, purchased lists, and unengaged subscribers (graymail) harm sender reputation and click rates.
  • Engagement-Based Filtering: Gmail filters emails based on user engagement, prioritizing those with high open and click rates.
  • Technical Issues: Lack of DKIM, rendering problems, and a non-dedicated IP impede deliverability and engagement.
  • Irrelevant Content: Content that doesn't match audience expectations leads to low clicks.
  • Poor Email Design: Unattractive design, unclear CTAs, and lack of mobile optimization deter engagement.
  • Inconsistent Sending: Sporadic sending schedules lead to decreased brand recognition and lower click rates.
  • Aggressive Sales: Overly pushy sales tactics discourage subscriber engagement.

Key considerations

  • Improve List Quality: Implement double opt-in, regularly clean your list, and re-engage inactive subscribers.
  • Optimize for Engagement: Create valuable, personalized content and use clear, compelling CTAs.
  • Ensure Technical Setup: Implement DKIM, optimize for mobile, and ensure emails render correctly across devices.
  • Maintain Consistent Sending: Establish a regular and predictable sending schedule.
  • Avoid Aggressive Tactics: Focus on building relationships and providing value instead of pushy sales pitches.
  • Segment Your Audience: Tailor your content to match the interests of your subscribers

What email marketers say
11Marketer opinions

Low Gmail click rates despite high deliverability can stem from various factors beyond reaching the inbox. Content relevance, sending consistency, email design, and user experience play critical roles. Mismatched content, inconsistent schedules, poor design, aggressive sales tactics, lack of personalization, mobile optimization issues, and rendering problems all contribute to lower engagement. List quality, including inactive subscribers and misleading subject lines, also significantly impacts click rates. Maintaining a clean, engaged list, providing value, and ensuring a seamless experience are essential for driving clicks.

Key opinions

  • Content Mismatch: Content that doesn't resonate with the audience leads to low engagement.
  • Inconsistent Schedule: Sporadic sending can cause subscribers to lose interest.
  • Poor Design/CTA: Unappealing design and unclear calls to action reduce clicks.
  • Aggressive Tactics: Pushy sales language deters engagement.
  • Lack of Personalization: Generic emails fail to resonate with individual subscribers.
  • Mobile Optimization: Emails not optimized for mobile suffer from low engagement.
  • Rendering Issues: Display problems cause subscribers to delete emails without clicking.
  • List Quality: Outdated or purchased lists damage sender reputation and clicks.
  • Inactive Subscribers: Unengaged subscribers lower overall click rates.
  • Misleading Subject Lines: Tricking users into opening emails backfires with low clicks and increased spam complaints.

Key considerations

  • Audience Segmentation: Segment your audience and tailor content to specific interests to improve relevance.
  • Consistent Sending: Maintain a regular and predictable sending frequency to keep your brand top-of-mind.
  • Email Design & CTA: Ensure emails are visually appealing, easy to read, and feature a clear and compelling call to action.
  • Provide Value: Focus on providing value, offering helpful information, or building a relationship, rather than aggressive sales pitches.
  • Personalization: Use data to personalize content and offers to better address individual subscriber needs and preferences.
  • Mobile Optimization: Optimize emails for mobile devices to ensure a positive user experience on all devices.
  • Email Testing: Test emails across various email clients and devices to ensure they render correctly.
  • List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive subscribers and spam traps.
  • Opt-in Practices: Always use organically grown lists and ensure subscribers have explicitly opted in to receive your emails.
  • Clear Communication: Avoid misleading subject lines and be transparent about the content of your emails.
Marketer view

Email marketer from MarketingProfs shares that using outdated or purchased email lists will damage your sender reputation and lead to low click rates. Always use organically grown lists and ensure subscribers have explicitly opted in to receive your emails.

November 2024 - MarketingProfs
Marketer view

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign Blog suggests that a lack of personalization can lead to low click rates. Generic emails that don't address individual subscriber needs or preferences are less likely to resonate. Using data to personalize content and offers can significantly improve engagement.

January 2025 - ActiveCampaign Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email on Acid Blog responds that rendering issues can significantly reduce click rates. If an email doesn't display correctly in various email clients or devices, subscribers may simply delete it without clicking anything.

July 2023 - Email on Acid Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit shares that overly aggressive sales tactics or pushy language can deter clicks. Subscribers are more likely to engage with emails that provide value, offer helpful information, or build a relationship, rather than those that feel like constant sales pitches.

April 2023 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that low click rates despite high deliverability can be due to a mismatch between content and audience expectations. If the content doesn't resonate with subscribers or doesn't deliver on the promises made during signup, they are less likely to click. Segmenting your audience and tailoring content to their specific interests can improve engagement.

August 2023 - Neil Patel's Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor Blog emphasizes the importance of re-engaging inactive subscribers. Low click rates could be due to a significant portion of the list being unengaged. Implementing re-engagement campaigns or sunsetting inactive subscribers can improve overall engagement metrics.

December 2024 - Campaign Monitor Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from HubSpot Blog shares that inconsistent sending schedules can negatively impact click rates. If emails are sent sporadically, subscribers may forget who you are or lose interest. Maintaining a regular and predictable sending frequency helps keep your brand top-of-mind and encourages engagement.

May 2021 - HubSpot Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailchimp Knowledge Base responds that poor email design and a lack of a clear call to action (CTA) are common reasons for low click rates. Emails should be visually appealing, easy to read, and guide recipients towards the desired action with a prominent and compelling CTA.

December 2021 - Mailchimp Knowledge Base
Marketer view

Email marketer from Quora shares that using misleading subject lines to trick users into opening emails can backfire. While it might increase open rates, it often leads to lower click rates and increased spam complaints, ultimately harming sender reputation.

September 2021 - Quora
Marketer view

Email marketer from StackOverflow shares the importance of using a dedicated IP address, especially for large volume sends. This helps to build and maintain a positive sending reputation, which can influence inbox placement and subsequently click rates.

November 2023 - StackOverflow
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus Blog states that emails that are not optimized for mobile devices can suffer from low click rates. With a significant portion of emails being opened on mobile, ensuring a responsive design is crucial for a positive user experience and encouraging clicks.

July 2021 - Litmus Blog

What the experts say
4Expert opinions

Low Gmail click rates despite high deliverability are often attributed to issues with list quality and subscriber engagement. Addresses obtained through questionable means, such as offering unverified coupons, lead to disengaged or fake subscribers who ignore or mark emails as spam. This negative user behavior informs Gmail's engagement-based filtering, causing emails to be placed in lower-priority tabs or even spam, irrespective of initial delivery. Graymail, or emails subscribers opted-in for but don't actively engage with, contributes to this problem. Overall, poor list quality and low engagement significantly suppress click rates.

Key opinions

  • Fake/Unengaged Subscribers: Incentivized sign-ups without verification lead to fake or uninterested subscribers.
  • Engagement-Based Filtering: Gmail filters emails based on user engagement, impacting visibility and clicks.
  • Graymail Problem: Subscribers who don't actively engage contribute to suppressed click rates.
  • Poor List Quality: Addresses from questionable sources result in less interested recipients.

Key considerations

  • Verify Sign-ups: Implement verification methods to ensure genuine subscriber interest.
  • Monitor Engagement: Track engagement metrics to identify and address disengaged subscribers.
  • Clean Your List: Regularly remove unengaged subscribers to improve overall list quality.
  • Avoid Questionable Tactics: Refrain from using methods that incentivize sign-ups without genuine interest.
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains engagement-based filtering at Gmail may be a cause. If recipients don't open or click on emails, Gmail may place subsequent emails in lower priority tabs (like Promotions) or even spam, despite the emails being technically delivered. This results in fewer opportunities for clicks.

September 2021 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Spamresource explains that one reason Gmail click rates are low despite high deliverability is poor list quality. This may include addresses obtained through less-than-ideal methods that result in recipients who aren't genuinely interested in the content.

May 2024 - Spamresource
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that a likely cause of low Gmail click rates despite good delivery percentages is that the email list may contain addresses that did not genuinely sign up. The practice of offering coupons in exchange for email addresses, without verifying ownership, leads to many users providing fake but deliverable addresses. This results in recipients marking the emails as spam or ignoring them, impacting engagement metrics. The expert suggests to stop this practice and ensure that only valid, confirmed opt-in addresses are added to the mailing list.

July 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that graymail (emails that subscribers technically opted-in for but don't actively engage with) can lead to suppressed click rates despite high deliverability. Gmail's algorithms learn from user behavior, and if users consistently ignore or delete graymail, future emails may be filtered or engagement may be reduced.

March 2025 - Word to the Wise

What the documentation says
3Technical articles

Low Gmail click rates despite high deliverability are linked to sender reputation, email authentication, and list hygiene. While users marking emails as 'not spam' improves reputation, low engagement signals that content lacks value, hurting future deliverability and click rates. Lack of DKIM authentication can lead to aggressive filtering, lowering click rates. Landing in spam traps, even with high delivery, signifies poor list hygiene, damages reputation, and reduces visibility, thus decreasing click rates.

Key findings

  • User Feedback Impact: Gmail users marking emails as 'not spam' can improve sender reputation, positively affecting deliverability and click rates.
  • Low Engagement Signal: Low open and click rates signal to Gmail that content is not valuable, negatively impacting future deliverability and click rates.
  • Authentication Importance: Lack of DKIM can lead to aggressive email filtering by ISPs, negatively impacting click rates.
  • Spam Trap Consequence: Landing in spam traps signifies poor list hygiene, damages sender reputation, and ultimately reduces click rates.

Key considerations

  • Encourage Positive Feedback: Encourage users to mark emails as 'not spam' if they find them valuable.
  • Improve Engagement: Focus on creating valuable and engaging content to improve open and click rates.
  • Implement DKIM: Ensure proper email authentication using DKIM to prevent aggressive filtering.
  • Maintain List Hygiene: Regularly clean email lists to remove spam traps and unengaged subscribers.
Technical article

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools highlights that Gmail users can manually mark messages as 'not spam,' which can improve sender reputation over time. However, low engagement rates (opens and clicks) may signal to Gmail that the content is not valuable to recipients, potentially affecting future deliverability and click rates.

October 2024 - Google
Technical article

Documentation from RFC Editor explains that implementing DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is crucial for authenticating emails. While it primarily affects deliverability by proving the sender's identity, a lack of DKIM can cause ISPs to filter emails more aggressively, indirectly impacting click rates if messages land in spam or are heavily filtered.

June 2021 - RFC-Editor.org
Technical article

Documentation from Spamhaus explains that landing in spam traps, even if delivery rates appear high, indicates poor list hygiene. Emailing spam traps damages sender reputation, leading to reduced inbox placement and lower click rates, as fewer legitimate recipients will see the messages.

October 2024 - Spamhaus