How to Improve GoHighLevel Email Open Rates

Open Rates Start with Deliverability

Low open rates in GoHighLevel usually aren't about content—they're about emails not reaching inboxes.

The math:

• Email lands in spam → 0% open rate
• Email lands in Promotions → 5-15% open rate
• Email lands in Primary → 25-50% open rate

If your open rates are under 10%, fix deliverability before touching anything else. Start with email authentication and consider switching to custom SMTP.

Quick Deliverability Check

1. Send a test email to your personal Gmail
2. Check which tab it lands in (Primary, Promotions, Spam)
3. Look at the email headers for authentication results

If it's not in Primary with passing authentication, see our GHL spam troubleshooting guide.

Infrastructure Fixes That Boost Opens

Switch to Custom SMTP

LC Email's shared infrastructure often has reputation issues affecting inbox placement:

Sending Method	Typical Open Rates
LC Email (shared IP)	10-20%
Custom SMTP (shared IP)	18-30%
Custom SMTP (dedicated IP)	25-40%

See our custom SMTP setup guides for Mailgun, SendGrid, and AWS SES.

Fix Authentication

Missing or failing authentication triggers spam filtering:

• SPF: Must pass
• DKIM: Must pass
• DMARC: Should be configured

Verify in GHL's Email Services that all records show green checkmarks. Test with Mail-Tester to confirm passes.

Improve Sender Reputation

Check your reputation in Google Postmaster Tools:

Reputation	Impact
High	Best inbox placement
Medium	Good, but room to improve
Low	Many emails filtered
Bad	Most emails to spam

If Low or Bad, focus on reputation recovery before expecting open rate improvements. See our reputation guide.

Practitioner note: I've seen agencies double their open rates just by switching from LC Email to Mailgun. No subject line changes, no content tweaks—just better infrastructure. Start there.

List Quality and Segmentation

Segment by Engagement

Sending to unengaged subscribers tanks your open rates:

Create segments:

• Hot: Opened in last 30 days
• Warm: Opened in last 60 days
• Cold: No opens in 90+ days

Send primarily to Hot and Warm. Cold subscribers drag down rates and damage reputation.

Remove Inactive Subscribers

Subscribers who haven't opened in 90+ days:

• Hurt your open rate average
• Signal to Gmail that your mail isn't wanted
• May include spam traps (abandoned addresses)

Either re-engage them with a specific win-back campaign or remove them entirely.

List Quality Metrics

Metric	Healthy	Problem
Bounce rate	Under 2%	Over 5%
Complaint rate	Under 0.1%	Over 0.3%
Unsubscribe rate	Under 0.5%	Over 2%

High numbers indicate list quality issues affecting deliverability and opens.

Subject Line Optimization

With deliverability fixed, subject lines matter. But they're often over-optimized.

What Actually Works

Short and clear: 30-50 characters performs best on mobile.

Specific over clever: "Your invoice #1234 is ready" beats "Something special for you!"

Personalization: Using first name adds 5-10% lift when done naturally.

Relevance: Subject should match email content exactly.

What Doesn't Work

Clickbait: Kills trust and trains recipients to ignore you.

All caps: Triggers spam filters and annoys readers.

Emoji overuse: One can work. Three looks desperate.

Spam triggers: "FREE," "Act now," "Limited time."

GHL Personalization Tokens

Use merge fields naturally:

Hi {{contact.first_name}}, your appointment is confirmed

Don't force it:

{{contact.first_name}}, DON'T MISS THIS!!!

Practitioner note: The best subject lines I've tested are boring. "Your receipt from Acme" outperforms "You won't believe what's inside!" every time. Clear beats clever.

Send Time Strategy

General Guidelines

Best days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Best times: 9-11 AM, 1-3 PM (recipient's timezone)

Worst days: Saturday, Sunday Worst times: Late night, early morning

Find Your Optimal Time

Test methodically:

1. Send same content to similar segments at different times
2. Track open rates for each send time
3. Identify patterns over multiple campaigns

Your audience may differ from averages. Test to find your best windows.

GHL Scheduling

Schedule campaigns for optimal times:

1. When creating the email, set specific send time
2. For automation emails, use time delays strategically
3. Consider timezone for geographically dispersed lists

Content That Gets Opened

From Name and Address

Use a recognizable sender:

Good: "John from Acme" [email protected] Bad: "Acme Inc" [email protected]

People open email from people, not companies.

Preheader Text

The preview text that appears after the subject line matters:

• Complements the subject line
• Doesn't repeat the subject
• Adds context that encourages opening

In GHL, this is the first text in your email body unless you specifically set a preheader.

Consistency

Consistent sending builds open habits:

• Same From name
• Same rough send times
• Expected frequency

Recipients who expect your email look for it and open it.

Measuring Real Open Rates

The Apple Problem

Apple Mail Privacy Protection pre-loads images, falsely registering opens:

• All Apple Mail users show as "opened"
• Your true open rate is lower than reported
• This affects 40-50% of recipients for many lists

More Reliable Metrics

Since open tracking is unreliable:

• Click rate: Real engagement signal
• Reply rate: Strongest engagement signal
• Conversion rate: Actual business impact

If click rates are healthy (2-5%), your emails are working regardless of inflated open rates.

GHL Stats Limitations

With custom SMTP, GHL's open tracking has gaps. Check your ESP dashboard for more accurate data:

• Mailgun: Analytics > Events
• SendGrid: Statistics > Overview
• AWS SES: CloudWatch metrics

Quick Wins Checklist

Infrastructure (biggest impact):

1. Using custom SMTP instead of LC Email
2. SPF, DKIM, DMARC all passing
3. Domain reputation is Medium or High

List (high impact): 4. [ ] Sending to engaged segments 5. [ ] 90-day inactive removed or re-engaging 6. [ ] Bounce rate under 2%

Content (moderate impact): 7. [ ] Subject lines under 50 characters 8. [ ] Personalization used naturally 9. [ ] From name is personal, not company

Timing (lower impact): 10. [ ] Sending mid-week 11. [ ] Sending mid-day 12. [ ] Consistent schedule

Work through these in order. Infrastructure fixes yield 10-20x the improvement of subject line tweaks.

If your open rates remain low after fixing infrastructure and you need expert diagnosis, schedule a consultation. I'll identify the specific factors limiting your inbox placement.

Sources

• Mailchimp: Email Marketing Benchmarks
• Campaign Monitor: Email Benchmarks Report
• Litmus: State of Email Report

---

v1.0 · March 2026