Has your email open and engagement rates gone down? There may be a variety of reasons why these actions aren’t where you want them to be. We highlight 10 easy reasons below.
1. Subject & Preheader lacks enthusiasm
Be cautious of length and verbiage of writing a Subject Line. Desktop users see over 26 characters. Most mobile phones only display 3 to 8 words. Keep it simple and you should also consider keeping the title short and a good call to action.
Our team came up with some ideas and favorites:
Medical, Informative
- Researchers say it’s fatal. It’s all here!
- 7 Weight Loss Secrets | Click to find out!
- What’s In Your Salad? | After reading these facts, you’ll….
- Do what’s best for your teeth. | A product dentists R raving about.
News, Recent Stories
- It’s Actually Genius | Valley Mom chose to do with.
- What’s lurking behind there? | What the police found was chilling.
- Terrifying. | 16 local businesses were recently shut down.
- Flying Bikes R Here! | Almost. Tech company announce latest products and more.
Ecommerce
- So good, you’ll cry. | You don’t think it will have an impact.
- Only 5 Days left. | [firstname], Claim 50% Before Thursday.
- It’s a surprise | Shhh. We Won’t Tell Anybody.
- [firstname], have you seen this latest story.
- This is Unreal | [firstname] When you find out what we are giving out.
- #Breaking Now | Price drops to an all-time low.
- 8 New Trends You Can’t Miss This.
- Freebies before it’s over | Awesome stuff Here.
Restaurant, Food Industry
- 8 Must Have Deserts | If you haven’t tried, we can’t be friends.
- Look Inside | Yes, We have “Red” booths.
- Handpicked and Squeezed | Just for you – We did them this weekend!
- You’re Crying. | New onion, garlic and chicken dish leaves us all in tears.
- What to try, what to avoid, and more.
Not sure if your email subject line or preheader is short enough? We offer 54 different browser and application previews to test your subject/preheader lines and email content.
2. Did You Spell Check?
Did you send yourself a draft before you launched? A second set of eyes read through it? Studies show roughly 60% of people lose interest in businesses who have spelling & grammatical errors in their content. These seemingly minor errors can shape a customer’s opinion and challenge the trust they have in a company.
Grammarly and Hemingway Editor are two free platforms. I wouldn’t rely on Microsoft Word or your spell checker only. To be safe, it’s smart to have a fresh set of eyes read through your content and give their feedback.
3. Pass the Spam Check?
Once emails land in spam, the credibility is lost and could lose about 50% of possible opens. This could mean no sales! Spam Checks can be turned around.
ISP’s cannot read images and will assume it’s a “spammy” message. Don’t send large graphic images. Maybe choose separate images with some text content.
Buying an email list? The emails that you purchase can be spam traps, ruining your sending reputation and relationship with major ISP’s. We do not encourage or support businesses to purchase lists whatsoever. We can run your list anytime for a small fee.
Double check the spelling of each email subscriber if you enter the member manually. When Importing lists through an excel file, GreenMail scans and displays a bad address to you.
You shouldn’t use emails through @hotmail, @gmail or @yahoo?. Should choose your companies.com address. ISP’s scan from addresses and report Shouldn’t use untrustworthy emails to spam. Untrustworthy emails include noreply@nulldomain.com, 123456@nulldomain.com, name@nullgmail.com, and so forth..
4. You’re Email List Is Not Cleaned
We go through our database multiple times a year. Save inactive subscribers. Notice bounce rates. How old are your names? Maybe the database name is not your contact anymore for that company. Simple steps to clean up your email list:
Launch campaign and ask your inactive subscribers if they want to remain on your list.
Reach out to <strong>GreenMail Email Marketing</strong> to learn about our email verification services. We will run your lists through verification software to remove any spam traps, blacklisted emails, and more. Post “Sign-Up” forms on your Facebook, website and other social media pages your involved in.

5. Sending Irrelevant Emails = Disaster
Current Informative emails, Keep this month’s features and products emails fresh. Awareness emails are good. Emails that don’t hold a value or does not relate to customers is bad. Emails that are no value are annoying and inefficient. The more irrelevant emails you send equals more customers and prospects that want to unsubscribe. Make sure each email is relevant and personal for your database member.
6. Are Your Templates Mobile Responsive?
Mobile responsiveness is everything, Your website and email marketing must display to fit. According to Litmus Software, 56% of all email newsletters are opened on a mobile device. Are your emails optimized for a smaller device? Easy-to-read on a phone? Do your subscribers have to zoom in or double-tap just read your message? If your emails aren’t mobile-friendly, you could be losing potential sales.
What is “Mobile Responsive Design?”
Mobile responsive design, responsive design for short, is an approach to design that adapts and responds to various screen sizes. By changing the layout for smaller screens, you’re giving users the best experience possible. For users, emails that are mobile responsive are more convenient and easier to read on-the-go.
Mobile Responsive Email Marketing Software
Our templates are automatically mobile responsive and tested on every device to ensure perfection. Building a newsletter from scratch? No problem. Our drag and drop building blocks are also mobile responsive. You can test your emails on over 50 devices within our system here at GreenMail Email Marketing
7. !!! and ??? Not Always Friendly
Not everything is this exciting!!! Using multiple question marks???? – Really. Extra punctuation and emotions in subject lines are exhausting and annoying.
8. You’re Using a Throwaway Email
Over the last few years, ISP’s have made major changes in their processes. If you send your subscribers an email through a “no-reply” or junky@yahoo address, you have a higher chance of landing in the spam box. By sending a campaign from a throwaway address, you’re not only lowering your open rates but you’re also depersonalizing your email. Use your real email address (or at least something with the company @domain.com), so subscribers feel like they’re actually in communication with you.
9. Keep it Simple, Smart
You know your business and industry jargon, but your subscribers may not. Keep it simple and smart when talking to your customers – no need to overload them! From our experience, simple and generic is better. Don’t overcomplicate things. Write your content as if you’d be presenting it to your friends and family.
10. Your Campaigns Aren’t Data Driven
Every company is unique. Meaning, you should not base your email marketing decisions on industry standards or trends. Today’s leaders are using their data and analytics to make big decisions. Start improving your business’s email marketing strategy through data accumulation, analyzation, and action.
Data Driven Email Marketing
Have you studied your email marketing reports lately? With GreenMail Email Marketing, we provide detailed reports for each campaign and each member.
Member Reporting: Pick a few members who opened and clicked-through from the top ranking campaign. What previous emails have they opened? What actions did they take? Were there any campaigns that they opened more than once?
Campaign reporting: Compare your latest campaigns. What campaign had the most opens? Click throughs? What did that campaign contain that was different from the others?