Open Rate in Cold Emailing: How to Improve It to Optimize Your Performance?

You spend time crafting the perfect email, but… 0 opens, 0 responses, nothing. 😩

Ask yourself if your emails are even reaching the inbox. Only then can you blame your copywriting.

Deliverability, subject line, timing… We break down the real reasons behind a low open rate in cold emailing and provide an action plan.

What is the open rate in cold emailing?

It’s the percentage of emails opened compared to the number of emails delivered.

🔢 Open Rate (%) = (Number of Emails Opened ÷ Number of Emails Delivered) × 100

Why is the open rate crucial in cold emailing? It’s your first key performance indicator to monitor. If it’s low, the rest of your funnel collapses: no opens, no reads, no engagement, zero conversions.

Here’s what your open rate reveals about your campaign:

• Your deliverability: If your emails land in spam, they will never be opened.

• The effectiveness of your subject line: A weak subject line = fewer opens.

• Recipient trust: An unknown or suspicious sender = ignored email.

• The right timing: An email sent at the wrong time = lost in the inbox.

⚠️ Warning! A high open rate doesn’t guarantee a successful campaign. It should always be analyzed alongside other KPIs like CTR and response rate. A good cold email is one that is opened… but more importantly, one that drives action!

Example:

Campaign A: 10,000 emails sent, 40% open rate, but 0 responses and 0 clicks.

Campaign B: 10,000 emails sent, 25% open rate, but 15% response rate.

The subject line in Campaign A encourages opens, but the content fails to convert. Campaign B has fewer opens but a better-targeted message that generates responses.

💡 Mail Merge for Gmail Tip: Only emails where images are loaded or a link is clicked are counted as "opened." If a recipient blocks images, the open may not be recorded. Apple Mail Privacy Protection, for example, distorts open rates. Since iOS 15, Apple has masked real email opens by preloading images in emails received via Apple Mail.

What is a good open rate for email ?

General Guidelines

Don’t compare the open rate of a cold email to that of a standard newsletter. You’re reaching out to people who don’t know you yet, while marketing emails are sent to already engaged audiences.

According to a study by HubSpot, the average open rate is 22.04%. Generally, an open rate between 15% and 25% is considered good.

Open Rates by Industry

Here’s a table presenting average open rates by industry, based on cold email campaigns conducted with our tool, Mail Merge for Gmail :

The average open rate across these industries is 26.04% for the year 2024.

How to react if your open rate is too low?

The first thing to do is to assess the technical aspect. There’s no point in tweaking your copywriting if your emails aren’t even reaching inboxes. Our study shows that technical issues are widely underestimated.

Here are four key factors you absolutely need to consider:

1️⃣Authenticate your domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These protocols verify that you are a legitimate sender. Without them, your emails risk being marked as spam or even rejected.

How to set it up:

• Configure SPF to authorize your sending servers (via your DNS).

• Enable DKIM to digitally sign your emails and ensure their integrity.

• Implement DMARC to define an anti-phishing policy and monitor authentication failures.

🛠 Useful Tools: Google Postmaster, MXToolBox, DMARC Analyzer

2️⃣ Check if your emails land in the inbox, spam, or get blocked.

How to check:

• Send a test email using MailTester or GlockApps.

• Analyze the score and fix detected errors (authentication issues, risky content, blacklisted IPs).

• Monitor your bounce rates and adjust your strategy accordingly.

3️⃣ Monitor Domain/IP reputation & warm-up your domain.

How to monitor and improve your reputation:

• Check your reputation score using Google Postmaster Tools and Talos Intelligence.

• If your domain is new, do a gradual warm-up: start with 50 emails/day and increase progressively.

• Avoid sending too many emails at once, especially from a new address.

💡 Expert Tip : Mail Merge sends emails directly from your Gmail account and adds a sending delay between each email sent. These mechanisms prevent your emails falling into spam folders.

4️⃣ Avoid large attachments & shortened links.

How to prevent deliverability issues:

• Host documents online (Google Drive, Dropbox, your website) and share a direct link instead of attaching files.

• Avoid URL shorteners like bit.ly or tinyurl. Instead, use full URLs or trackable links from your own domain.

• Limit the number of links in your email (1 or 2 max).

💡Expert Tip: With Mail Merge for Gmail, you can insert hyperlinks, lightweight attachments (under 5 KB), and even tables into your cold emails. 

Ways to improve your open rate

Let’s dive into the copywriting and marketing strategies that directly impact your cold email performance.

Copywriting strategies

Even if your email lands in the recipient’s inbox, they still need a reason to open it!

Personalization

Before reaching out, take the time to deeply understand your prospect: their challenges and pain points,their top priorities and objectives, their core values and decision-making mindset, their perspective on industry trends

Armed with these insights, you can craft a highly personalized cold email—tailored specifically to them, rather than sending a generic message.

👉 How to research effectively:

• Explore their LinkedIn profile and company website

• Review their posts, published articles, and interviews

• Assess their professional connections and industry influence

• Identify pressing challenges in their sector

💡Expert Tip: Of course, you can personalize your email content and subject lines using Mail Merge for Gmail. But simply modifying fields isn’t enough—you absolutely need to research your target audience to make your message truly relevant.

Writing compelling and engaging subject lines

This topic is so important that we dedicated an entire article to it! Our in-depth guide on B2B subject lines includes actionable templates and expert tips to help you nail those crucial few words. 

Key takeaways:

• Keep it concise—8 words max, with strong words at the beginning.

• Use keywords that matter to your prospect: pain points, competitors, priorities, or mutual connections.

• Simplicity wins—avoid fluff and get straight to the point.

Examples:

 "Loved your article on Christmas Marketing Strategies!"

"Quick fix for {{painPoint}}, {{firstname}}?"

Optimizing the sender name

An email from an unknown sender naturally leads to fewer opens. On the other hand, an identifiable sender builds trust and encourages recipients to open the email.

Best practices for sender names:

• Use a real first and last name instead of a generic email address.

• Test different sender formats (e.g., [email protected] vs. [email protected]).

• Avoid impersonal addresses like "no-reply@" or "contact@", which can reduce engagement.

Examples :

James Smith – [Company Name]

James from [Company Name]

[email protected]

💡 Expert Tip: With Mail Merge for Gmail, you can send cold emails directly from your Gmail address, allowing you to create a more personal and engaging sender identity.

Marketing Strategies

Finding the right timing & optimal sending frequency

There’s no ultimate secret formula—though we wish there were!

To achieve better results, follow these best practices:

• Test different time slots: Morning (8 AM – 10 AM) and afternoon (2 PM – 4 PM).

• Prioritize Tuesdays and Thursdays, as they often perform best.

• Avoid Monday mornings (inboxes are full) and Friday afternoons (people are checking out for the weekend).

These general recommendations should be adjusted based on your industry and audience behavior.

Segmentation

One of the biggest cold emailing mistakes is sending generic emails to your entire contact list.

To avoid this:

• Segment your list based on industry, company size, and prospect’s job title.

• Tailor your message and approach to each segment.

• Avoid blasting the same email to everyone without personalization!

Example:

C-Level Executives (CEO, VP, Founder): Use a short subject line and a direct approach.

Managers & Operational Roles: Focus on a specific problem and offer a concrete solution in the subject line.

Expert Insight: real-time email tracking

In cold emailing, sending the email is just the first step. Tracking your emails allows you to measure real engagement and refine your strategy.

An email opened but no response? Send a smart follow-up.

A prospect clicks on your link? They’re interested—reach out quickly!

Mail Merge for Gmail includes a built-in email tracking feature to help you monitor opens, clicks, and engagement in real time.

With Mail Merge for Gmail, get real-time insights on whether your emails have been opened—directly within Google Sheets.Activating tracking is simple: just check the "Track emails" option in the add-on before sending your campaign.

Your tracking status is displayed in your Google Sheet. As soon as a recipient opens an email, the status updates from "Sent" to "Read".

The tracking data refreshes automatically when you open Google Sheets. Need the latest status? Simply go to Menu → Extensions → Mail Merge for Gmail → 🔄 Refresh Tracking to update it instantly.

Conclusion :

It's now crystal clear: successful cold emailing goes beyond just writing emails. Without tracking, optimization, and strong deliverability, your messages might never see the light of day.

Mail Merge for Gmail lets you track email opens in real time, analyze performance, and optimize your campaigns.

Try our best-in-class tool to boost your cold email open rates today. Give your emails the visibility they deserve!