Open rate is the first thing most people check after a send — and the most misunderstood. A “good” rate depends on your industry and list, and the way opens are measured changed in recent years. Here’s how to read the number, and what actually moves it.
Across industries, healthy open rates typically land somewhere in the 20–40% range, with engaged niche lists going higher. But privacy features (like Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection) now pre-load images and inflate opens, so treat the number as a trend to improve, not an exact truth. Watch clicks alongside opens for a clearer picture.
1. List health. A smaller list of people who want your email beats a big stale one. Remove dead addresses and re-engage or drop the never-openers.
2. Subject lines. Specific, short, honest. This is the single biggest controllable factor.
3. Sender name & reputation. Send from a recognisable name, stay consistent, and avoid spammy content so inboxes trust you.
4. Relevance & segmentation. The more targeted the email, the more it gets opened. Send the right thing to the right segment.
5. Timing & frequency. Show up consistently at a time your audience opens — not too often, not so rarely they forget you.
BrandBits reports the open and click rate for every campaign, so you can see which subject lines, segments and send times lift your numbers — and keep a clean, healthy list that inboxes trust.