Email click-through rate: how to increase it effectively

Apr 20, 2025

The latest updates* from Internet Service Providers (ISPs or email providers) clearly confirm a growing trend: respecting the recipient. And to measure this, ISPs rely on user behavior.

How email providers assess recipient satisfaction

Their analysis is based on a series of positive signals:
  • opens,
  • clicks,
  • reading time,
  • email forwards
But also negative behaviors:
  • spam reports
  • unsubscribes
  • deletes without opening
  • deletes immediately after opening
Providers analyze all interactions recipients have with your emails. This analysis forms the backbone of your sender reputation, beyond the technical best practices (SPF, DKIM, DMARC…).

Is open rate analysis a thing of the past?

The latest Apple Mail Privacy Protection (Apple MPP) update has made the open rate an obsolete metric. And let’s face it, it used to be every sender’s favorite indicator. As a reminder, Apple now generates automatic opens even before the recipient actually accesses the email. Some email platforms, like Mindbaz, allow you to identify what portion of opens come from Apple automation. But this metric has become unreliable. Read more: Check out our summary of the Apple MPP update, its impact, and what actions to take That’s why it’s essential to go beyond simple email opens. The more meaningful indicator that truly reflects your recipients’ interest is the click.

How can you generate engagement and clicks in your emails?

Before you can drive interactions and especially clicks, your message first needs to be opened.

Segmentation: the key to success

We keep coming back to it because it’s one of the cornerstones of your sending strategy. Knowing your database will allow you to send message types and subject lines that will catch your recipients’ attention. Even when communicating about the same product or service, user types aren’t always the same. If you want to catch their attention, use different messaging strategies. Furthermore, a deeper understanding of your audience helps reduce the number of inactive users. By capturing attention, you’ll limit the growth of inactive contacts, as lack of interest is one of the main causes of inactivity.

Prepare your email to generate clicks by increasing your open rate

To maximize your chances of generating opens, you first need to work on the parts of your email outside of the actual content. Specifically, this means:
  1. email deliverability best practices
  2. the sender name (or display name)
  3. the subject line and preheader
In their inbox, recipients first see:

Email deliverability best practices

These are numerous and vary depending on the email service provider. To help you, we’ve created a collection of content on email deliverability best practices, including an article gathering the top tips from our experts: Best practices to land your emails in the inbox If you’d rather dive deep into a specific deliverability topic, check out our dedicated resources.

Email sender: important notes for bulk senders

The display name is the alias you set for your email campaigns. It helps your audience identify who is sending the email. Email providers are becoming stricter with bulk senders. You can no longer use this field freely. Here are 3 key rules to remember:
  • Your email sender name must match the name used when the contact opted in
  • Do not use a brand name alone (if it’s not your company)
  • The sender name field is not a second subject line
+ More info in our article on display name and email deliverability

Your email subject line: your main hook for generating opens

While the display name reassures the recipient about who’s sending the email, the subject line gives them a reason to open it. 3 tips for a subject line that drives opens:
  • Write an impactful subject line with strong arguments
  • Personalize the subject line as much as possible
  • Play with formatting or style to grab attention
Find 9 examples of subject lines here:
The preheader allows you to add a second hook to drive opens and clicks. But to turn those clicks into opens within your email, there’s one key thing to remember: Your subject line must be consistent with the content of your email. Otherwise, you’ll create disappointment, trigger email deletions, or even get marked as spam.

The Content of Your Message to Encourage Clicks

The Hook: Make Them Want to Keep Reading

When designing your message, be sure to think about
  • the hook,
  • how you’ll spark curiosity and/or interest in your recipients.
If you already have one or more hooks in mind, I recommend building your message around them.

Call to Action: The Final Step Before the Click

To encourage recipients to click, you need to add what we call calls to action. These are buttons supported by a strong hook that lead users to click. Here’s a tip: build your email around multiple calls to action. You need to guide your readers and encourage them to take action several times and in different ways. A great graphic design is a strong starting point, but it should be built around multiple CTAs to maximize conversions. Since not all recipients read in the same way, you need to capture attention at different moments and places throughout your message.

When in Doubt: Run an A/B Test Campaign

To determine the type of message or the best way to position your calls to action, don’t hesitate to use A/B testing. Create two versions of your HTML, your calls to action, and even your subject lines, and send them to two sample groups. Based on how your recipients react, you’ll then send the winning version to the rest of your audience. Ultimately, engagement and clicks come from how interested your recipients are in your content. Even though diving deep into segmentation and message design takes time, it’s an investment that helps you build a solid sending strategy.