While companies are looking for new ways to measure their email marketing success, such as engagement metrics, open rates remain one of the best ways to determine whether your email strategy is working. The definition of a “successful” open rate varies by industry. And if you’ve noticed that your open rate is low for your industry, it may be time to re-examine your email marketing strategy. Here are 5 strategies to help increase your email open rate:

1. Segment your email list

Segment your email list by demographic and send emails tailored for those specific segments. The chances of those emails increase because the recipient will be more likely to be interested in the content. For example, create a sub-list of subscribers that signed up through an ad targeting dog owners. You can send this sub-list to the email marketing campaign promoting your latest dog products.

2. Craft subject lines with care

Create catchy subject lines that pique interest. Know your audience and understand what subject lines will attract their attention, such as free offer announcements and other incentives. And if it aligns with your brand voice and company culture, the subject line may even be a joke or an unexpected question. You may even consider personalizing the subject line with the recipient’s name. Remember that the length of the subject line is crucial. If it’s too long, it will get cut off. The best practice would be to keep subject lines shorter than 90 characters.

3. Avoid getting caught by spam filters

Observe best practices when creating email content, especially the subject lines. Spammy language can get you tagged by spam filters. Avoid trigger words or misleading messages. Remember common spam filter triggers such as email content that contains poor grammar and spelling, too many links, suspicious CTAs, and questions asking for personal information.

4. Optimize for mobile

Each time you send an email campaign, you can expect that nearly half of your recipients will open the email on a mobile device. Ensure your emails are optimized for mobile. Be mindful of the subject line length. Using emojis in the subject line is also worth considering. Take note of the pre-header text, which will appear below the subject line when the email is viewed in the inbox. The pre-header text offers you the opportunity to support your subject line. And using the right language may incentivize the recipient to click the email open.

5. Keep your contact data clean

Regularly clean your contact data to ensure you don’t have any duplicate, invalid, or incorrect email addresses. You should also remove subscribers that do not open your emails three times in a row; likely, that person is no longer interested in receiving emails from your company. These email addresses add to your subscriber count, which impacts your open rate – giving you the wrong calculation.