How to increase email open rates — 10 tips for 2025

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Knowing how to increase email open rates is essential if you’re a marketer or business owner who wants to stand out in a crowded inbox. 

With markets becoming more and more oversaturated, businesses require a strategic approach beyond basic email marketing tactics. You’ll need to learn how to cut through the noise and capture your audience’s attention. 

In this post, we’ll cover 10 actionable tips to improve email open rates in 2025, along with some examples to inspire your next email marketing campaign. 

By learning how to increase the open rate in email marketing, you can turn passive subscribers into engaged readers, improve deliverability, and maximize your email marketing ROI.

Let’s get started.

What is the average email open rate?

The average open rate in email marketing for 2025 is 26.64% across all industries, according to Omnisend’s recent email marketing report. That said, email open rates can vary depending on the industry. 

For example, pet supplies companies had an average email open rate of 22.3%, while fashion and apparel businesses had an average of almost 10 percentage points higher at 32.1%.

Understanding email marketing benchmarks by industry is crucial for measuring the effectiveness of your campaigns. 

According to industry benchmarks, emails related to games, auto, and fashion and apparel have the highest open rates. Meanwhile, the smoking and vaping, antiques and collectibles, and holidays and seasonal industries have the lowest open rates. 

While these benchmarks can be useful for calculating ROI and measuring campaign success, solely relying on them isn’t the best approach. 

To achieve the best results, you need to analyze your audience’s behavior, preferences, and engagement patterns. Then, adjust your strategies based on those insights. You should also consider email timing, as different audience groups may have different email checking preferences. 

10 strategies to increase email open rates

Learning how to improve email open rates involves more than just creating catchy subject lines. The best email marketing examples will show that these are the things you must consider: 

1. Write compelling subject lines
2. Personalize your emails
3. Segment your audience
4. Optimize send times
5. Keep your email list clean
6. A/B test subject lines and content
7. Use engaging preheader text
8. Ensure mobile-friendliness
9. Avoid spam triggers
10. Use email automation for better targeting

1. Write compelling subject lines

Subject lines are the first thing your recipients see. They should be catchy enough to compel your audience to open your email. Though it’s not the only factor, writing eye-catching subject lines is arguably one of the most important tips on how to increase email open rates. 

A catchy subject line like “5 secrets to double your sales” outperforms a generic one like “Our monthly newsletter.” 

Some ways to create a compelling subject line include: 

• Keep it short and sweet, ideally under 50 characters
• Use numbers and emojis but sparingly
• Create a sense of urgency using words like “Today only” or “Limited time offer”
• Personalize by including the recipient’s name or other personal details
• Ask a question to pique your recipient’s curiosity

If you’re unsure about the effectiveness of your subject lines, use tools like subject line testers to give you insight. You can also let AI do the heavy lifting by using an email subject line generator to draft creative ones.

2. Personalize your emails

Email personalization can go a long way in making the customer feel valued and nurtured.

Beyond adding your recipient’s name to the email, email personalization involves tailoring the entire email experience based on individual preferences, past interactions, and demographic details. 

For example, leverage dynamic product recommendations, wherein if a customer recently browsed winter jackets, you can email them about your latest collection.

Here’s an example of personalization in action. Neighbor addresses the recipient by name and then, using the CTA, “See my storage matches,” invites them to view storage options tailored to their needs:

Get a quick overview of how to increase open rates on emails using personalization: 

3. Segment your audience

Segmentation is one of the most important things to focus on when understanding how to increase email open rate. In fact, according to a recent Litmus survey, 90% of marketers saw an improved campaign performance after segmenting their audience. 

You can group subscribers based on the following segments: 

• Demographics
• Location
• Behavior
• Psychographics

Segmentation helps you send more relevant, personalized messages that lead to higher engagement, better conversions, and improved customer loyalty. It also strengthens your email marketing funnel by allowing tailored communication at every stage.

Using email marketing automation tools like Omnisend can help save time in email segmentation. It offers features that allow you to identify audiences based on behavior, past purchases, demographics, and more. Then, you can send tailored emails to each segment.

4. Optimize send times

Timing is everything when it comes to email marketing. Getting the timing right can make or break your email marketing campaigns. Knowing when to send an email can directly increase email open rates.

Omnisend’s research reveals that emails sent at 8 PM tend to have the highest open rates, followed by 2 PM and 11 PM. Conversely, emails sent at 4 AM often perform the worst.

Tuesday has the highest email open rates at 11.36%, while Saturday has the lowest.

However, the best time to send emails also depends on your audience. For example, professionals may check their emails mid-morning, while younger audiences might check in the evening.

Omnisend’s automation tools let you schedule emails based on audience activity, so you’re not guessing when to send. Features, such as Send Time Optimization and Time Zone Optimization (TZO), adjust send times for maximum impact.

5. Keep your email list clean

According to ZeroBounce’s 2025 Email List Decay Report, at least 25.74% of an email list decays within just one year, with 24% being invalid emails. Maintaining a clean email list is one of the most effective ways to increase email open rates. 

Here are some email list cleaning best practices to take note of:

• Use double opt-in to confirm the interest of new subscribers
• Regularly remove bounced or invalid email addresses
• Set up re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers
• Make unsubscribing easy
• Monitor bounce rates and engagement metrics closely
• Regularly update subscriber information

Keeping your email list clean boosts deliverability and ensures you only reach the people who want to hear from you. 

It also helps you maintain accurate open rate marketing metrics, ensuring your performance data reflects genuine engagement. This helps you make informed decisions to optimize future campaigns.

6. A/B test subject lines and content

Not all emails perform the same, and guesswork can hurt your engagement. A/B testing helps you refine your email strategy by comparing different subject lines, content formats, and personalization techniques to see what resonates best with your audience.

You can start by testing subject lines, then go a step further and experiment with length, tone, emojis, and CTAs to be sure before you launch the email campaign. 

For example, you could compare a straightforward subject line like “Exclusive offer just for you” with a more playful one like “Guess what’s waiting inside?” to see which drives higher open rates.

Here are some key elements you can A/B test to help increase email open rates:

• Subject line and length
• Sender name
• Email copy
• CTA text and buttons 
• Email layout and design
• Personalization techniques
• Images and graphics
• Send times
• Preheaders

7. Use engaging preheader text

Your subject line grabs attention, but your email preheader can help you seal the deal, giving you one more shot at increasing your email open rate. This short snippet gives recipients a sneak peek into your email’s content, making it a powerful tool for how to increase email open rate. 

To craft an effective preheader text, keep it clear and concise. Also, make sure it complements your subject line. For example, you can pair “50% off today only” with “Hurry — the clock is ticking!”

Take a look at how this preheader complements LOFT’s Cyber Event. Notice how it draws attention to the sale’s main highlights, creating a sense of urgency and value for the reader:

8. Ensure mobile-friendliness

A responsive design is a must if you want your engagement rates to increase. Make sure your email is easy to read on any screen size and across all devices — mobiles, tablets, and desktops.

Check whether all the links are working, the buttons are easy to tap, and the images are optimized for faster load times. Also, ensure that the complete email is visible on a single screen, as failing to do so will lead to the customers scrolling sideways or up and down, which may irritate them.

According to ZeroBounce’s Email Statistics Report for 2025, 61% of people check their email primarily on mobile. This means that failing to optimize for mobile can cause you to lose out on these potential customers. 

Here are some ways to ensure the mobile responsiveness of your emails to help increase email open rate:

• Use email design that adjusts to various screen sizes
• Keep subject lines short to fit smaller screens
• Choose a single-column layout
• Increase font sizes for better readability without zooming
• Use large CTA buttons that stand out
• Compress images for faster load times
• Test emails on multiple mobile devices

9. Avoid spam triggers

Your carefully crafted email lands in a recipient’s inbox, perfectly timed and full of value, but then it’s sent straight to the spam folder. Frustrating, right? 

If you’re aiming to increase email open rate and you want your email to land in your subscriber’s inbox, you must avoid using spammy words and phrases like “Free,” “Act now,” or “Urgent.”

Overuse of exclamation marks, excessive capitalization, and certain symbols can also raise red flags for spam filters.

Instead, focus on crafting clear, engaging subject lines and content that provides real value to your audience.

You must also maintain a proper balance of text and images and ensure that your unsubscribe option is easily visible. This can help improve your credibility and prevent your emails from being marked as spam.

10. Use email automation for better targeting

Email marketing used to be tedious, expensive, and time-consuming. However, with the rise of automation tools, you can work smarter and automate certain tasks. Automation shouldn’t be overlooked when learning how to increase email open rate. 

Ascend’s State of Email Automation Report shows that 84% of email marketers have automated their campaigns to some extent.

Automation can significantly improve email open rates by making it easy for businesses to:

• Send personalized messages
• Deliver timely follow-ups to keep your audience engaged
• Segment your audience
• Test different subject lines
• Clean email list to remove inactive subscribers
• Analyze data to identify what boosts open rates

Omnisend’s automation tools can help you get started. You can easily set up automated emails that feel personal, relevant, and timely, helping you get better open rates and improve email marketing ROI.

Conclusion

Figuring out how to increase email open rates requires a deeper understanding of your audience, personalization, segmentation, and automation. 

That said, while open rates should be monitored for email campaign success, they’re not the only thing that matters. Success comes from looking at the bigger story — like how your audience engages with your content.

To stay competitive and continue growing your email list, it’s essential to continuously refine your strategy and keep your content fresh and relevant. 

Tools like Omnisend are a great way to collate all the information you need to create an effective email marketing campaign and maximize your open rates.

By implementing these tips, you’ll not only increase your open rates but also improve overall campaign performance. Adopt these strategies today, and watch as your email marketing efforts result in stronger connections with your subscribers.

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