In marketing, it often feels like everything is always changing. Just as you master something (and start seeing results), the algorithm changes, search rewrites its rules, and AI content floods your inbox.
Email is one of the few channels that’s held its ground. Done well, it can still return between $36 and $45 for every $1 spent. But “done well” depends on what your benchmarks are.
The good news? There are seven tried-and-tested ways to help you stay ahead of the game and turn more opens into clicks, conversions and customers, despite how many times the rules may change.
Where we're at
Globally, email open rates continue to rise, yet click-to-open rates are falling. More people appear to be opening, but fewer are engaging or acting. And that gap is where much of email’s potential is quietly lost.
Global |
APAC |
|
|---|---|---|
Open rate |
55.4% | 47.6% |
Click-through rate |
3.7% | 1.8% |
Click-to-open rate |
3.7% | 2.8% |
Unsubscribe |
0.14% | 0.12% |
Source: Dotdigital Global Benchmark Report 2026
Part of the problem is that open rates aren’t what they used to be. Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection affects around 55–60 per cent of all opens, recording emails as opened automatically, whether anyone reads them or not. The result is inflated open rates that make your campaigns look healthier than they really are.
If opens are your main measure of success, you may be celebrating statistics that aren’t real.
At the same time, the rules have tightened. Gmail now requires bulk senders to keep spam complaints below 0.10 per cent. Anyone sending more than 5,000 emails a day must also have SPF, DKIM and DMARC authentication in place, along with one-click unsubscribe. We unpacked these changes in a previous blog: Big changes to email marketing: Yahoo and Google’s new updates.
SPF checks where an email came from. DKIM checks that it’s genuinely signed. DMARC tells the receiver what to do if it isn’t.
Making it easier to opt out has also had a big impact. MailerLite found that unsubscribe rates nearly tripled, from 0.08 per cent in 2024 to 0.22 per cent in 2025. This is because Gmail lets people unsubscribe without even opening an email.
Best practices to stay ahead in the email game
As promised, we’ve pulled together seven simple ways to ensure your email campaigns perform more consistently to drive results.
1. Measure what drives conversions, not vanity metrics
- Put your delivery rate (aim for 97% or higher), click-through rate, click-to-open rate, conversion rate, revenue per email and ROI ahead of open rate.
2. Protect deliverability
- Set up authentication, keep lists clean and watch spam complaint rates.
3. Segment your audiences
- When compared to whole list sends, segmented campaigns enjoyed 14.31 per cent more opens, 100.95 per cent more clicks, 9.37 per cent fewer unsubscribes and 3.90 per cent less abuse reports.
4. Personalise
- See Point 3, but also…
- Use people’s names. 71 per cent of consumers expect personalisation. In fact, 76 per cent get frustrated without it. Plus, personalisation usually increases revenue by 10–15 per cent.
- Brands that often or always use dynamic content perform better because they tailor it based on relevant interactions, such as browsing history, interests, or past purchases, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.
5. Build nurturing journeys
- Automated emails bring in 30 per cent of revenue from just two per cent of sends, earning 16 times more than a regular scheduled email ($2.87 per send, compared with $0.18).
- People who receive an automated email are 19 times more likely to act. While 76 per cent of sales can come from just two automated emails: the welcome email and the abandoned cart email.
6. A/B test every send
- Brands that always A/B test see a 13-point increase in ROI, yet only 12 per cent of marketers cite A/B testing as a key ROI improvement strategy. Don’t underestimate the power of testing and learning, especially when you can send the most effective version to your audience.
7. Listen to expert advice
- Brands that use advanced email analytics see a 43 per cent higher ROI.
- The right team of experts can see what’s working across your email marketing, from A/B testing and copywriting to templates and reporting, and turn those insights into a smarter marketing strategy.
- They’ll also know when email needs back up. In APAC, SMS click-through rates are around 18 times higher than email, making it a powerful partner in your nurture journeys.
Want more from your email marketing? Let’s turn your sends into stronger engagement and conversions. Talk to The Bubble Co. team today.
