Email marketing benchmarks give you a baseline to measure your performance. While every business is different, knowing how you compare to industry averages helps identify opportunities for improvement.
What is a Good Open Rate?
Average email open rates range from 15-25% depending on industry. However, Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) has made open rates less reliable since 2021. Focus on click rates and conversions as more accurate metrics.
What is a Good Click Rate?
Click-through rates (CTR) typically range from 2-3%. This is a better indicator of engagement than open rates because it measures actual action. High-performing emails can achieve 5%+ CTR.
What's an Acceptable Unsubscribe Rate?
Unsubscribe rates should stay below 0.5% per email. Higher rates suggest you're emailing too frequently, your content isn't relevant, or you're reaching the wrong audience. Some unsubscribes are healthy, as it cleans your list.
Factors That Affect Your Metrics
- List quality: Engaged subscribers vs. purchased lists
- Sending frequency: Too much = fatigue, too little = forgotten
- Content relevance: Personalized content outperforms generic
- Subject lines: The biggest lever for open rates
- Email type: Flows typically outperform campaigns
- Deliverability: Landing in spam tanks all metrics
How to Improve Your Metrics
- Segment your list and send relevant content
- A/B test subject lines consistently
- Clean your list of unengaged subscribers
- Optimize send times based on your data
- Focus on flows (welcome, abandoned cart, post-purchase)
- Make CTAs clear and prominent