Improving your email open rates is the single most effective lever for getting more clicks, conversions, and revenue from the list you already own. Below you’ll find 15 actionable, research-backed tactics I use in client accounts and my own projects — plus exactly how to implement each one in Brevo (formerly Sendinblue). I’ll include real benchmark context so you know what “good” looks like today and practical tests you should run next.
Key data points up front: Brevo’s 2025 benchmark shows an overall average open rate ≈ 31% and an overall click-through rate ≈ 3.6% across industries; industry medians vary widely (e.g., nonprofits and bloggers perform much higher). Use these as a baseline — your goal is to beat them.
Quick summary — the 15 proven tips
- Authenticate your sending domain (SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
- Use clear, recognizable sender names
- Master subject lines (short, specific, benefit-driven)
- Optimize preheader text to complement the subject
- Segment before you send (don’t blast everyone)
- A/B test subject lines and send times (continuous testing)
- Use Send-Time Optimization (Brevo’s “Send at best time”)
- Clean and warm your list; prune inactive addresses
- Personalize beyond the first name (behavioral tokens)
- Leverage curiosity + scarcity carefully (avoid spam triggers)
- Keep mobile-first subject length and preview in mind
- Re-engage inactive users with a dedicated flow
- Avoid spammy content and poor HTML practices
- Leverage transactional & triggered messages for high intent
- Monitor deliverability & iterate on data (RPR: revenue per recipient)
The rest of this article explains each tip with implementation steps, sample tests, and Brevo-specific notes.
Why open rates still matter (short case for attention)
Open rate is the gateway metric: if people don’t open, clicks and conversions can’t happen. Improving opens by a few percentage points compounds downstream: more opens → more clicks → more conversions → higher revenue-per-send. That’s why I measure revenue per recipient (RPR) alongside open rate — open rate improvements are only valuable if they translate into better RPR or engagement. Industry benchmarks give perspective: Brevo’s dataset shows strong variance by vertical (e.g., ecommerce vs. nonprofits), so compare yourself to similar peers.
Tip 1 — Authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) — non-negotiable
Why: Authentication increases inbox placement and reduces spam filtering.
How to implement in Brevo: Go to Settings → Senders & Domains, add your sending domain, and follow Brevo’s step-by-step to add SPF and DKIM DNS records. After propagation, Brevo will show the domain as verified. Test with seed lists (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) to confirm inbox placement.
Test: Authenticate one domain and compare inbox placement to an unauthenticated test send — you’ll often see double-digit improvements.
Tip 2 — Use a clear, recognizable sender name
Why: People open from names they trust. Personal or brand names outperform generic addresses (e.g., “Emma at Adzora” vs. “no-reply@company”).
How to implement in Brevo: When creating a campaign, set the “From name” to a real person+brand combination. Keep it consistent across campaigns to build recognition.
Test: A/B test “Brand” vs. “Person at Brand” sender names to see which has higher opens.
Tip 3 — Master subject lines: short, specific and benefit-led
Why: Subject lines determine opens. Use numbers, benefits, or curiosity — but avoid spammy words.
Practical formula: [Benefit] — [Urgency/Timeframe] or [Number] ways to [result]. Keep < 60 characters for desktop; < 40 is best for mobile.
Brevo action: Use Brevo’s A/B test campaigns to try two subject lines, then let the winner send to the remainder of the list.
Tip 4 — Optimize preheader text to complement the subject
Why: Preheader is the secondary “headline” that appears beside/under the subject in inboxes. Use it to clarify or add urgency.
How to implement: In Brevo’s editor, set the preheader (preview text) explicitly — don’t let it be auto-populated by the email body.
Test: Subject A + preheader 1 vs Subject A + preheader 2 to identify which combination drives more opens.
Tip 5 — Segment before you send (don’t blast everyone)
Why: Relevance beats frequency. Segmented sends produce higher open + click rates. Brevo’s benchmark shows industry differences — segmentation helps you match content to audience intent.
How to implement in Brevo: Use Contacts → Segments to build dynamic segments based on behavior (opens, clicks), attributes (location, tag), or purchase history.
Test: Send the same message to an engaged segment vs. the full list and compare open/CTR and unsubscribe rates.
Tip 6 — A/B test subject lines and send times (continuous testing)
Why: Small lift in open rate compounds across campaigns. Subject line A/B testing is one of the fastest win experiments.
How to implement in Brevo: Use A/B Test campaign to test subject lines, sender names or content. Allocate a small test audience, let Brevo pick a winner, then send the winner to the remainder.
Test cadence: Run at least one A/B test per week for subject lines or send times until you find strong winners.
Tip 7 — Use Send-Time Optimization (Brevo’s “Send at best time” / Aura)
Why: Timing matters — different recipients open at different times of day. Brevo’s AI-powered Send at best time (Aura) analyzes historical engagement per contact and schedules sends at each contact’s optimal time, increasing open probability.
How to implement: In campaign settings, enable Send at best time for campaign or automation messages.
Note: This is particularly powerful for large, global lists with varied timezones.
Tip 8 — Clean and warm your list; prune inactive addresses
Why: Stale addresses and dormant accounts lower engagement and harm deliverability. Lower engagement → lower inbox placement.
How to implement: Use Brevo to filter contacts by last open/click date, run a re-engagement sequence, then remove hard non-responders. Also, warm new lists slowly by sending low-volume broadcasts and gradually increasing volume.
Test: Remove oldest 10–20% inactive non-openers and compare open rates next month.
Tip 9 — Personalize beyond the first name (behavioral tokens)
Why: Personalization that references behavior (last viewed product, city, purchase category) is more relevant than just using a name.
How to implement in Brevo: Use custom contact attributes and dynamic content blocks to insert product names, location or membership level. Tie these to segments for tailored subject lines (e.g., “New styles for you, {city}” or “Back in stock: {last_viewed_product}”).
Tip: Use dynamic subject personalization sparingly to avoid awkward mismatches.
Tip 10 — Use curiosity + scarcity, but avoid spam triggers
Why: Curiosity and scarcity can increase opens but overuse triggers spam filters or erodes trust. Avoid all caps, multiple exclamation marks, and spammy words (“free”, “guaranteed”) in subject lines.
How to implement: Craft curiosity subject lines that still deliver honest content (e.g., “How we fixed checkout drops by 23%” rather than “You won’t believe this!!!”).
Test: Measure any increase in spam reports after running curiosity-based subject lines.
Tip 11 — Keep mobile-first subject length and preview in mind
Why: 50–70%+ of opens happen on mobile. Shorter subjects (<40 chars) and clear CTAs in preheaders often perform better on phones.
How to implement: Preview campaign in Brevo’s preview panel and test on actual mobile devices before sending.
Tip 12 — Re-engage inactive users with a focused flow
Why: Some dormant subscribers will re-engage; others should be removed to protect deliverability.
How to implement: Build a 3-email re-engagement automation in Brevo: value reminder → incentive → final opt-out. Tag responders and remove non-responders after the sequence. This keeps your active list healthy and increases open rate metrics.
Tip 13 — Avoid spammy content and poor HTML practices
Why: Heavy images, missing text-to-image ratio, broken links, and too many external trackers raise spam scores.
How to implement: Use clean HTML templates in Brevo, include plain-text versions, avoid excessive images, and keep overall email size lean. Test with inbox seeding tools (Gmail, Outlook) to check spam folder placement.
Tip 14 — Leverage transactional & triggered messages for high-intent opens
Why: Transactional emails (order confirmations, shipping updates) have very high open rates — use them smartly to earn engagement.
How to implement: In Brevo, configure transactional emails via SMTP/API and include subtle cross-sell or educational content in the transactional footer (careful: keep transactional content primary).
Result: Higher engagement in transactional flows can lift overall sender reputation and open rates.
Tip 15 — Monitor deliverability and use revenue-per-recipient (RPR) as your north star
Why: Open rates matter only if they lead to conversions. Track RPR and attribute revenue by campaign/flow. If a tactic raises opens but lowers RPR, stop it.
How to implement: Use Brevo’s reporting for opens and clicks; integrate with your analytics/ecommerce platform to measure revenue attribution. Brevo’s benchmark resources can help you contextualize performance by industry.
Short table: Tests you should run in the next 30 days
| Test | Why | Expected lift |
|---|---|---|
| Authenticate domain (SPF/DKIM) | Deliverability | +5–15% inbox placement |
| A/B subject lines weekly | Find winning tone | +10–25% opens |
| Send at best time (Aura) | Per-contact optimal timing | +5–12% opens |
| Segment vs full send | Relevance | +15–35% CTR, higher opens |
| Re-engagement + prune | Clean list & improve metrics | +3–10% open rate overall |
(Estimates are conservative based on cross-client testing and Brevo benchmark guidance.)
Common traps and how to avoid them
- Trap: Chasing open rate only.
Fix: Always tie changes to revenue or CTR; use RPR. - Trap: Using many curiosity subject lines that mislead.
Fix: Keep subject honest; ensure email content delivers on the promise. - Trap: Sending to a large, stale list.
Fix: Re-engage then prune. Warm IPs and domains when starting large sends. - Trap: Ignoring mobile previews.
Fix: Preview across devices; lean copy + one strong CTA.
Final checklist (what to do after reading this)
- Authenticate your domain in Brevo.
- Create 1 A/B subject-line test this week.
- Enable Send at best time on your next campaign.
- Build a re-engagement sequence and prune non-responders.
- Track RPR by campaign and stop tactics that increase opens but not revenue.
Closing thoughts
Improving open rates is both technical and creative work: you must fix deliverability foundation (SPF/DKIM/DMARC, list hygiene), then test creative elements (subject, preheader, sender name) and timing (Brevo’s Aura / send-time optimization). The best results come when these elements are combined into a continuous experimentation cycle and measured against real business outcomes (revenue per recipient), not vanity metrics alone.
Common Questions:
1. What is a good email open rate in 2025?
A “good” email open rate varies by industry, but in 2025 the average open rate across most sectors ranges between 25%–35%. Some industries such as nonprofits, education, and blogging often see higher results (35–45%). The goal is to consistently outperform your own previous benchmarks rather than chasing a universal number.
2. Why are my email open rates so low?
Low open rates typically happen because of:
- Poor subject lines
- Weak sender reputation
- Unauthenticated domain (no SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
- Sending to unengaged or outdated lists
- Ineffective segmentation
- Wrong sending times
- Emails landing in spam or promotions tab
Improving deliverability, segmentation, and subject lines usually produces the fastest improvements.
3. How can Brevo help increase my email open rates?
Brevo provides several features that directly improve open rates, including:
- Send-Time Optimization (Aura)
- A/B subject line testing
- Detailed segmentation
- Contact engagement scoring
- Domain authentication guided setup
- Real-time deliverability reporting
Using these features consistently can quickly raise open rates by 10–30%.
4. How often should I send emails to maintain good open rates?
The ideal frequency depends on your audience, but most businesses see the best results with:
- 1–2 emails per week for newsletters
- Event-driven sends for ecommerce
- Weekly or biweekly for B2B
Sending too rarely causes subscribers to forget you; sending too often leads to fatigue and unsubscribes. Testing is essential.
5. Do subject lines really affect email open rates?
Yes — subject lines are one of the top three factors influencing open rates. Short, benefit-driven, curiosity-based subject lines tend to perform best. A/B testing in Brevo allows you to identify the exact tone, length, and style that resonate with your audience.