Why did my email open rate suddenly drop and what can I do about it?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog shares that decreased open rates often stem from deliverability issues, poor subject lines, or sending to outdated lists. They recommend cleaning your email list, testing subject lines, and ensuring proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog explains that a sudden drop in email open rates can be due to various factors, including changes in email client algorithms, increased competition in the inbox, and list fatigue. They suggest strategies like re-engaging inactive subscribers, improving email relevance, and optimizing send times.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests that deliverability problems are often caused by the sender IP address being added to a blocklist. Check your sender reputation and remove any spam traps from your list.
Email marketer from EmailToolTester shares that it's important to track where people are opening the emails, mobile vs desktop. Understanding the trend may show if there's rendering issues on particular devices.
Email marketer from Litmus states that the move towards privacy from Apple, Google and others are affecting the accuracy of open rates and suggest you don't rely on this metric to measure the success of your emails.
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog responds by stating that segmentation and personalization are key. A sudden drop could mean your message isn't resonating with your audience anymore. They suggest segmenting your list based on behavior and tailoring content to specific interests to improve engagement.
Email marketer from Warrior Forum responds that low open rates might be caused by too many emails being sent too close together. Try spacing them out over the course of a few days, or sending less frequently.
Email marketer from StackExchange says that to always ensure you are sending wanted emails, offer double opt-in and only send to the people that click the confirmation link. This ensures that the people on the list actually want the emails.
Email marketer from Gmass explains that Google and Yahoo are now requiring one-click unsubscribe links. Ensure these are available in the emails to ensure good sender reputation.
Email marketer from Email Geeks says that an ESP not supporting Google/Yahoo requirements is not competent and the DBL listing reinforces that. It's likely not directly the sender's problem, but it isn't helping.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that with multiple major issues against them, other advice is irrelevant until those issues are addressed.
Expert from Word to the Wise responds that a sudden drop in open rates may indicate a deliverability issue, potentially caused by changes in inbox placement. She recommends checking if you are landing in the spam folder or promotions tab and troubleshooting from there.
Expert from Spam Resource advises that sudden open rate drops can be attributed to changes in email client filtering or increased competition in the inbox. He says to review sender reputation, authentication protocols, and engage subscribers to confirm you're reaching the intended audience.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests it's time to switch email platforms due to the numerous issues.
Expert from Email Geeks states that the DBL listing is potentially affecting the prefetching at Gmail.
Expert from Email Geeks mentions that the failure to comply with Yahoo/Google requirements could be affecting prefetching.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from DKIM specifies to ensure all emails are signed with DKIM. If this is broken, it can have drastic results on the deliverability of emails as the signature cannot be verified.
Documentation from Google explains that using Google Postmaster Tools can provide insights into your domain's reputation and deliverability. A drop in open rates may correlate with a decrease in sender reputation, which can be monitored through these tools.
Documentation from Yahoo specifies certain email requirements for emails to not be marked as spam. These include ensuring DKIM, SPF and DMARC are configured correctly, you have a good sender reputation and are sending wanted emails.
Documentation from RFC specifies that a SPF record can fail if emails are not being sent from the right server IP address. It is critical to ensure that sender IP is in your approved SPF record.