Summary
Low Gmail click rates despite high email deliverability result from a complex interplay of factors spanning list quality, engagement practices, technical setup, and content strategy. Poor list hygiene, including fake sign-ups, spam traps, and unengaged subscribers (graymail), undermines sender reputation and leads to engagement-based filtering by Gmail. Technical issues like the lack of DKIM, rendering problems, and not using a dedicated IP can also impede click rates. Furthermore, irrelevant content, inconsistent sending, poor design, aggressive sales tactics, and a lack of mobile optimization all negatively impact engagement. Addressing these issues holistically is essential for improving Gmail click rates.
Key findings
- Poor List Quality: Fake sign-ups, spam traps, purchased lists, and unengaged subscribers (graymail) harm sender reputation and click rates.
- Engagement-Based Filtering: Gmail filters emails based on user engagement, prioritizing those with high open and click rates.
- Technical Issues: Lack of DKIM, rendering problems, and a non-dedicated IP impede deliverability and engagement.
- Irrelevant Content: Content that doesn't match audience expectations leads to low clicks.
- Poor Email Design: Unattractive design, unclear CTAs, and lack of mobile optimization deter engagement.
- Inconsistent Sending: Sporadic sending schedules lead to decreased brand recognition and lower click rates.
- Aggressive Sales: Overly pushy sales tactics discourage subscriber engagement.
Key considerations
- Improve List Quality: Implement double opt-in, regularly clean your list, and re-engage inactive subscribers.
- Optimize for Engagement: Create valuable, personalized content and use clear, compelling CTAs.
- Ensure Technical Setup: Implement DKIM, optimize for mobile, and ensure emails render correctly across devices.
- Maintain Consistent Sending: Establish a regular and predictable sending schedule.
- Avoid Aggressive Tactics: Focus on building relationships and providing value instead of pushy sales pitches.
- Segment Your Audience: Tailor your content to match the interests of your subscribers
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
Low Gmail click rates despite high deliverability can stem from various factors beyond reaching the inbox. Content relevance, sending consistency, email design, and user experience play critical roles. Mismatched content, inconsistent schedules, poor design, aggressive sales tactics, lack of personalization, mobile optimization issues, and rendering problems all contribute to lower engagement. List quality, including inactive subscribers and misleading subject lines, also significantly impacts click rates. Maintaining a clean, engaged list, providing value, and ensuring a seamless experience are essential for driving clicks.
Key opinions
- Content Mismatch: Content that doesn't resonate with the audience leads to low engagement.
- Inconsistent Schedule: Sporadic sending can cause subscribers to lose interest.
- Poor Design/CTA: Unappealing design and unclear calls to action reduce clicks.
- Aggressive Tactics: Pushy sales language deters engagement.
- Lack of Personalization: Generic emails fail to resonate with individual subscribers.
- Mobile Optimization: Emails not optimized for mobile suffer from low engagement.
- Rendering Issues: Display problems cause subscribers to delete emails without clicking.
- List Quality: Outdated or purchased lists damage sender reputation and clicks.
- Inactive Subscribers: Unengaged subscribers lower overall click rates.
- Misleading Subject Lines: Tricking users into opening emails backfires with low clicks and increased spam complaints.
Key considerations
- Audience Segmentation: Segment your audience and tailor content to specific interests to improve relevance.
- Consistent Sending: Maintain a regular and predictable sending frequency to keep your brand top-of-mind.
- Email Design & CTA: Ensure emails are visually appealing, easy to read, and feature a clear and compelling call to action.
- Provide Value: Focus on providing value, offering helpful information, or building a relationship, rather than aggressive sales pitches.
- Personalization: Use data to personalize content and offers to better address individual subscriber needs and preferences.
- Mobile Optimization: Optimize emails for mobile devices to ensure a positive user experience on all devices.
- Email Testing: Test emails across various email clients and devices to ensure they render correctly.
- List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive subscribers and spam traps.
- Opt-in Practices: Always use organically grown lists and ensure subscribers have explicitly opted in to receive your emails.
- Clear Communication: Avoid misleading subject lines and be transparent about the content of your emails.
Marketer view
Email marketer from MarketingProfs shares that using outdated or purchased email lists will damage your sender reputation and lead to low click rates. Always use organically grown lists and ensure subscribers have explicitly opted in to receive your emails.
9 Oct 2023 - MarketingProfs
Marketer view
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign Blog suggests that a lack of personalization can lead to low click rates. Generic emails that don't address individual subscriber needs or preferences are less likely to resonate. Using data to personalize content and offers can significantly improve engagement.
9 Apr 2024 - ActiveCampaign Blog
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
Low Gmail click rates despite high deliverability are often attributed to issues with list quality and subscriber engagement. Addresses obtained through questionable means, such as offering unverified coupons, lead to disengaged or fake subscribers who ignore or mark emails as spam. This negative user behavior informs Gmail's engagement-based filtering, causing emails to be placed in lower-priority tabs or even spam, irrespective of initial delivery. Graymail, or emails subscribers opted-in for but don't actively engage with, contributes to this problem. Overall, poor list quality and low engagement significantly suppress click rates.
Key opinions
- Fake/Unengaged Subscribers: Incentivized sign-ups without verification lead to fake or uninterested subscribers.
- Engagement-Based Filtering: Gmail filters emails based on user engagement, impacting visibility and clicks.
- Graymail Problem: Subscribers who don't actively engage contribute to suppressed click rates.
- Poor List Quality: Addresses from questionable sources result in less interested recipients.
Key considerations
- Verify Sign-ups: Implement verification methods to ensure genuine subscriber interest.
- Monitor Engagement: Track engagement metrics to identify and address disengaged subscribers.
- Clean Your List: Regularly remove unengaged subscribers to improve overall list quality.
- Avoid Questionable Tactics: Refrain from using methods that incentivize sign-ups without genuine interest.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains engagement-based filtering at Gmail may be a cause. If recipients don't open or click on emails, Gmail may place subsequent emails in lower priority tabs (like Promotions) or even spam, despite the emails being technically delivered. This results in fewer opportunities for clicks.
13 Aug 2022 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Spamresource explains that one reason Gmail click rates are low despite high deliverability is poor list quality. This may include addresses obtained through less-than-ideal methods that result in recipients who aren't genuinely interested in the content.
30 Apr 2025 - Spamresource
What the documentation says
3 technical articles
Low Gmail click rates despite high deliverability are linked to sender reputation, email authentication, and list hygiene. While users marking emails as 'not spam' improves reputation, low engagement signals that content lacks value, hurting future deliverability and click rates. Lack of DKIM authentication can lead to aggressive filtering, lowering click rates. Landing in spam traps, even with high delivery, signifies poor list hygiene, damages reputation, and reduces visibility, thus decreasing click rates.
Key findings
- User Feedback Impact: Gmail users marking emails as 'not spam' can improve sender reputation, positively affecting deliverability and click rates.
- Low Engagement Signal: Low open and click rates signal to Gmail that content is not valuable, negatively impacting future deliverability and click rates.
- Authentication Importance: Lack of DKIM can lead to aggressive email filtering by ISPs, negatively impacting click rates.
- Spam Trap Consequence: Landing in spam traps signifies poor list hygiene, damages sender reputation, and ultimately reduces click rates.
Key considerations
- Encourage Positive Feedback: Encourage users to mark emails as 'not spam' if they find them valuable.
- Improve Engagement: Focus on creating valuable and engaging content to improve open and click rates.
- Implement DKIM: Ensure proper email authentication using DKIM to prevent aggressive filtering.
- Maintain List Hygiene: Regularly clean email lists to remove spam traps and unengaged subscribers.
Technical article
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools highlights that Gmail users can manually mark messages as 'not spam,' which can improve sender reputation over time. However, low engagement rates (opens and clicks) may signal to Gmail that the content is not valuable to recipients, potentially affecting future deliverability and click rates.
28 Sep 2022 - Google
Technical article
Documentation from RFC Editor explains that implementing DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is crucial for authenticating emails. While it primarily affects deliverability by proving the sender's identity, a lack of DKIM can cause ISPs to filter emails more aggressively, indirectly impacting click rates if messages land in spam or are heavily filtered.
24 Feb 2022 - RFC-Editor.org
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