How to Increase Email Open Rates by 37% (With These 5 Tools)

Open Rate Optimization Strategy Comparison

Strategy	Potential Impact	Implementation Difficulty	Cost	Best For
Subject Line Optimization	+15-25%	Low	$	Quick wins
Send Time Optimization	+20-30%	Medium	$$	Sustained improvement
List Segmentation	+25-40%	High	$$	Long-term results
Deliverability Improvement	+15-50%*	Medium	$$$	Fixing major issues
Personalization	+10-20%	Medium	$$	Engagement boosting

*Impact varies greatly depending

Strategies to Increase Email Open Rates Without New Tools

While the right tools can dramatically improve your results, implementation strategy matters just as much. Here are crucial tactics to pair with your tools:

1. Clean Your List Regularly

Inactive subscribers hurt your deliverability and skew your metrics. Implement a sunset policy:

1. Identify subscribers who haven’t opened emails in 3-6 months
2. Send a re-engagement campaign
3. Remove those who remain inactive

Expert Insight: “List hygiene is the most underrated factor in email marketing success. A list of 5,000 engaged subscribers will outperform a list of 20,000 with poor engagement every time.” – Brian Dean, Founder of Backlinko

2. Master the Subject Line Formula

The perfect subject line combines four elements:

• Specificity: Clear indication of what’s inside
• Curiosity: A reason to want to know more
• Benefit: What the reader gains by opening
• Brevity: 41-50 characters for optimal results

Example Transformations:

• Weak: “March Newsletter”
• Strong: “5 SEO Shortcuts I Discovered This Week [Template Inside]”

3. Optimize Preview Text

Many marketers focus on subject lines but neglect the 35-140 characters of preview text that appear beside or below it in most email clients. Use this space strategically to complement—not repeat—your subject line.

4. Segment Based on Engagement Levels

Create different content approaches for different engagement levels:

• Highly engaged subscribers: Can receive more frequent emails
• Moderately engaged: Need higher value content with stronger hooks
• Low engagement: Require re-engagement campaigns with exceptional value

5. Test, Measure, Refine

The path to 37% higher open rates requires systematic testing:

1. Test one variable at a time
2. Gather statistically significant data
3. Implement winning approaches
4. Begin testing the next variable

How BloggingPro Used Tools and Strategy to Increase Email Open Rates by 43%

Michael Chen, the founder of BloggingPro, implemented a comprehensive open rate optimization strategy with impressive results:

Starting Point:

• 15,000 subscribers
• 18% average open rate
• Revenue directly attributable to email: $4,200/month

Actions Taken:

1. Cleaned list, removing 2,000 inactive subscribers
2. Implemented ConvertKit for advanced segmentation
3. Used SubjectLine.com to optimize all email headlines
4. Set up Seventh Sense for individualized send time optimization
5. Created topic-based segments with tailored content. This same segmentation logic is also covered in our Ultimate Guide to Monetizing Your Email List in 2025

Results After 90 Days:

• 13,000 subscribers (after list cleaning)
• 26% average open rate (+43% improvement)
• Revenue directly attributable to email: $7,800/month (+85%)

The key insight: Even though his list size decreased, total opens increased from 2,700 to 3,380 per campaign, resulting in more traffic and revenue.

Expert Insights on Email Open Rate Optimization

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs: “The emails that get opened in 2025 are the ones that feel like they were written by a friend who knows exactly what you need. Segmentation and personalization aren’t just tactics—they’re requirements for relevance.”

Neil Patel, Co-founder of NP Digital: “I’ve analyzed thousands of email campaigns across multiple industries. The difference between average and exceptional open rates often comes down to three factors: audience quality, subject line testing, and sending time optimization. You can apply these same principles to Pinterest campaigns too—check The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Pinterest SEO in 2025“

According to research from Litmus, a leading email marketing platform, “Brands that implement sophisticated personalization see an average of 20% higher email revenue than those that don’t.” You can read their complete Email Marketing Benchmarks report for more authoritative insights on open rate trends.

Liz Willits, Email Marketing Consultant: “Most content creators focus too much on growing their list and not enough on engaging the subscribers they already have. A well-crafted re-engagement campaign can recover up to 15% of inactive subscribers and boost overall open rates significantly.”

Frequently Asked Questions

How do Apple’s privacy changes affect email open rate tracking?

Answer: Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), introduced in iOS 15, preloads email content—including tracking pixels—which can inflate open rates by making it appear as if all Apple Mail users opened your emails. To adapt:

1. Focus on more reliable engagement metrics like clicks and conversions
2. Use click-to-open rates (CTOR) instead of just open rates
3. Segment Apple Mail users separately in your analytics
4. Test email content more heavily since open rate data is less reliable

Is it better to send plain text or HTML emails for higher open rates?

Answer: Both formats can achieve high open rates, but they work differently:

• Plain text emails often have higher deliverability and can feel more personal
• HTML emails allow for better tracking, branding, and call-to-action buttons

The best approach is a hybrid: HTML emails that look simple and personal, with minimal images, clean design, and plenty of white space. Test both formats with your specific audience to see which performs better.

How frequently should I email my list to maximize open rates?

Answer: Frequency depends on your content quality, audience expectations, and industry. However, research shows:

• Most successful bloggers and content creators email 1-3 times per week
• Consistency matters more than frequency
• Setting clear expectations during the signup process reduces unsubscribes

Consider segmenting based on engagement level, offering different frequency options to subscribers, and always prioritizing quality over quantity.

What’s more important: open rates or click rates?

Answer: While open rates indicate how effective your subject lines and sender reputation are, click rates reveal how compelling your content is. Both matter, but in different ways:

• Open rates measure the effectiveness of your subject line and send time
• Click rates measure the effectiveness of your content and offers

Ideally, track your click-to-open rate (CTOR): the percentage of email opens that resulted in clicks. This gives you a clearer picture of how well your content performs after someone opens.

How can I recover a list with poor open rates?

Answer: To rehabilitate a list with low engagement:

1. Segment inactive subscribers (no opens in 3+ months)
2. Send a targeted re-engagement campaign with exceptional value
3. Send a clear “last chance” email to still-inactive subscribers
4. Remove those who don’t engage with either campaign
5. Analyze common characteristics of those who remain engaged
6. Adjust your content strategy based on what your engaged subscribers prefer

This approach may shrink your list size initially, but will dramatically improve overall performance metrics and deliverability.

Conclusion: Your Path to 37% Higher Open Rates

Increasing your email open rates isn’t about finding one magical trick—it’s about implementing a systematic approach that encompasses the right tools, strategic content, and consistent optimization.

Every improvement you make—small or large—can increase email open rates and move your content business forward.

By leveraging the five tools discussed above—ConvertKit, MailerLite, SubjectLine.com, Email on Acid, and Seventh Sense—along with the complementary strategies, you can achieve significant improvements in how many subscribers actually see and engage with your content.

Remember that open rates aren’t just a vanity metric; they directly impact your ability to drive traffic, generate affiliate revenue, and build lasting relationships with your audience. Each percentage point improvement represents real people connecting with your content and brand.

If you’re just getting started with monetizing your blog, be sure to check out our guide on Best Affiliate Programs for Beginners in 2025: Start Earning Today. And if you’re completely new to blogging, our comprehensive resource How to Start a Blog and Make Money in 2025: A Complete Beginner’s Guide will walk you through everything you need to know.

Ready to implement these strategies? Start with one tool and one technique, measure your results, and build from there. Within 90 days, you could be seeing the kinds of dramatic improvements that transform not just your open rates, but your entire content business.

Want more insights like these? Join my Telegram channel “BloggingRevenue” for daily tips, case studies, and strategies to grow your content business through more effective email marketing and beyond.