Why did my email open rates drop after a template redesign, but click rates remained the same?

Email marketer from SuperOffice explains that the subject line and preheader combination are the first things the recipient sees in their inbox. If the new design has caused a change here, this may influence the users decisions whether to open the email.

Email marketer from Hubspot shares that even without A/B testing, changes in template design can be interpreted as such by mailbox providers. An abrupt change could temporarily affect your sender reputation and deliverability, impacting open rates while click rates hold steady among those who receive the email.

Email marketer from Customer.io shares that the content of an email is not the only thing that can influence deliverability - even changing the design and layout of your email can impact the placement of your email within the inbox.

Email marketer from Email on Acid notes that the new template may be inaccessible to some users, particularly those with disabilities or using older devices. If the new design does not follow accessibility guidelines, some recipients may not be able to view or interact with the email effectively, lowering open rates. Those that can still see the emails are still engaging.

Email marketer from Sendinblue suggests that if the new template design resulted in changes in the subject line's presentation, or if the subject line is now perceived differently in relation to the email content, this could affect open rates. Click rates remaining consistent implies those who do open still find the content valuable.

Email marketer from Reddit explains that the redesign could inadvertently trigger spam filters due to changes in code structure, new keywords, or different image-to-text ratios. This could reduce inbox placement and therefore open rates, while those who bypass the filters are still clicking.

Marketer from Email Geeks asks how click rates are calculated - on the basis of opens or on the basis of sent - because calculating based on opens would mean the click rate does not change even though the open rate drops.

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign tells that the content in the preview pane (above the fold) will influence the users decisions of whether to open the email. Make sure the core message is still easily visible and the template has not disrupted this.

Email marketer from Litmus explains that the new template might not render correctly across all email clients. If a significant portion of your audience uses an email client that struggles with the new design, it could lead to lower opens as recipients may delete the email without fully viewing it, while the engaged portion of your audience still clicks through.

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor states that users may be experiencing email fatigue, causing them to be less likely to open emails. The consistent click rate may represent only the most interested or engaged segment.

Email marketer from Mailjet shares that if your email template redesign involves heavier use of images and recipients have image blocking enabled by default, this could lead to lower open rates as the tracking pixel (often an image) won't load to register an open. Click rates could remain stable as users actively engaging will click despite the images not loading initially.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests using a Statistical Significance calculator against the raw numbers to confirm the changes are significant and to check if reporting is done after a fixed point each time.

Expert from Email Geeks says that mail clients that pre-cache images might only look for images in some number of k at the front of the email on the assumption that the important stuff is above the fold.

Expert from Email Geeks states that open data is horribly handled and is mostly false.

Expert from SpamResource.com explains that changing your layout can have a big impact on filtering, especially with new templates. You might be hitting new filters or exceeding the limits of ones you were already close to. Even slight changes in text-to-image ratio or the use of certain formatting can make a difference.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests that if the tracking image is at the bottom and the template size is large, opens can vanish at Gmail if the template size goes over the threshold. However, if the message is less than 100k, it is unlikely to be the issue.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that a sudden template change could affect your sender reputation. ISPs often track how recipients interact with your emails over time. A drastic change in template, even if it's visually appealing, might be interpreted negatively if users suddenly engage less, leading to deliverability issues and, consequently, lower open rates. Consistent clicks may reflect a core group of loyal recipients not impacted.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests checking if the handler/URL of the tracking image was changed, and if the image is lost due to message truncation in Gmail. He also suggests breaking down the numbers by recipient MX (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.).

Expert from Email Geeks raises the point that new images in a new email template could mean that a new email has to be open longer to get the tracking pixel open because nothing is cached.

Expert from Email Geeks shares that any change can be treated as bad by ISPs, affecting deliverability.

Documentation from IETF explains that the new template might inadvertently expose issues with your email authentication setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Changes in sending patterns or server configurations could trigger stricter filtering. This primarily affects deliverability and open rates, leaving click rates among delivered emails relatively unchanged.

Documentation from Microsoft explains that Outlook uses the Microsoft Word rendering engine, which has specific HTML/CSS support limitations. If the new template relies on unsupported code, emails might not render correctly, leading to lower open rates. Click rates can remain unaffected from the proportion of users who can still see the email and engage with it.

Documentation from Google explains Gmail’s image caching policy which means that images are routed through Google's proxy servers. If the template redesign has changed the image structure or hosting, it could temporarily affect how quickly images load, leading to some delayed or missed open tracking.