Email Open Rates: Statistics & Strategies to Increase Yours in 2024

What Is Email Open Rate?

Your email unfastened complaint is nan percent of recipients that opened your email. For example, if you nonstop an email to 100 people, and 25 of them unfastened nan email, your email unfastened complaint is 25%.

This metric lets you measurement nan occurrence of email campaigns and understand nan factors that make subscribers prosecute pinch your email content.

These factors tin see taxable lines, sender names, and nan clip of time you nonstop nan emails.

How to Calculate Email Open Rates

To cipher nan unfastened complaint for an email campaign, you request to cognize a fewer numbers:

• Emails sent: The number of group you sent nan email to
• Emails bounced: The number of emails that weren’t delivered
• Unique opens: The number of individual group who opened nan email

Plug these metrics into this unfastened complaint formula:

Email Open Rate = Unique Opens / (Emails Sent - Emails Bounced) x 100

For example, let’s opportunity you sent a trading email to 1,000 people, 100 of them didn't get delivered, and 450 of your recipients opened it. Your email unfastened complaint would beryllium 450 / (1000 - 100) x 100 = 50%.

Email Open Rates vs. Click-Through Rates

Your email click-through complaint (CTR) tells you nan percent of recipients who clicked astatine slightest 1 nexus successful your email retired of those who opened it. Along pinch unfastened rate, your email CTR tin bespeak really good you’re engaging your audience.

Here's what you tin study from these email marketing metrics:

• Email unfastened rates thief marketers understand really to seizure subscriber interest. For example, immoderate email taxable lines whitethorn beryllium amended astatine opinionated retired successful nan inbox and getting subscribers to read.
• Email click-through rates thief marketers understand really to punctual subscribers to return action wrong nan email itself. For example, immoderate offers whitethorn beryllium much compelling and truthful amended astatine driving clicks to a landing page.

You mightiness besides measurement email click-to-open rate, aliases CTOR. This is simply a hybrid of nan 2 metrics above. Click-to-open rates show nan percent of email recipients who opened an email and clicked astatine slightest 1 nexus successful nan email.

How to Check Your Email Open Rate

Many email trading work providers automatically way email unfastened rates each clip you nonstop a run to your subscribers. They do this by adding a 1x1 pixel successful each email. When a subscriber opens your email, nan search pixel fires and counts an open.

To find your unfastened rate, cheque your dashboard. Here's an illustration from a Mailchimp dashboard:

Some email trading providers besides stock account-wide email metrics. Here's an illustration from a Klaviyo dashboard:

Why Your Email Open Rate Is Important to Track

Your email unfastened complaint tin show you a batch astir nan capacity of your campaign.

Think astir it this way:

If subscribers don't unfastened your email, they won't person an opportunity to publication your message. They won't person a chance to return adjacent steps either (like clicking a nexus aliases completing a conversion).

In different words, getting subscribers to unfastened your email messages isn't nan extremity goal. But it is nan first measurement toward successfully executing your email strategy.

To get a much complete image of your relationship and run performance, you should besides show email engagement metrics like:

• Click-through rate
• Conversion rate
• Subscribe/unsubscribe rates
• Bounce rate

What Is a Good Email Open Rate?

The mean email unfastened complaint is 34.23%, according to Mailchimp. However, nan meaning of a “good” unfastened complaint varies crossed different industries.

Email Open Rate Statistics by Industry

To comparison your unfastened complaint to nonstop competitors, you request email benchmarks for your industry.

Many awesome email work providers way unfastened complaint statistic crossed industries. According to GetResponse, nan industries pinch nan highest email unfastened rates are:

• Communications: 48.8%
• Nonprofits: 39.71%
• Publishing: 37.51%

And nan industries pinch nan lowest email unfastened rates are:

• Health and beauty: 27.73%
• Financial services industry: 26.5%
• Internet marketing: 21.9%

So, it’s important to comparison your email unfastened rates to others successful your industry. Because what mightiness beryllium classed arsenic “good” for 1 business could beryllium very different for a business successful a different niche. 

But speech from your industry, location are different factors that tin effect your email unfastened rates. Including immoderate important ones that you really person power over.

7 Factors That Affect Email Open Rates

1. Subject Line

In bid for subscribers to unfastened your email, it has to guidelines retired successful their inbox.

How do you make this happen?

Concise and applicable taxable lines tin help. Successful email taxable lines should:

• Speak successful a style and usage connection that resonates pinch your target audience
• Make it applicable to some what nan email is astir and what your subscribers are willing successful (don’t usage clickbait)
• Give subscribers a logic to click (like an breathtaking announcement aliases a time-sensitive offer)
• Don’t make them excessively agelong to guarantee they show successful afloat successful nan inbox (ActiveCampaign recommends 30-50 characters)

How do you show if taxable lines are nan origin of debased unfastened rates?

Review taxable lines for your caller email campaigns. Check whether immoderate styles of taxable lines regularly execute worse than others. 

Later successful this article, we’ll talk really you tin trial different taxable lines astatine nan aforesaid clip to amended your email unfastened rate.

Preheaders springiness you an other opportunity to induce recipients to unfastened your email.

This matter displays aft aliases beneath nan taxable statement successful a emblematic email inbox. It builds connected nan taxable statement by offering much discourse aliases teasing nan connection aliases contented successful nan email.

Like nan matter aft nan taxable statement successful nan 3rd email below:

The characters that show dangle connected nan recipient’s instrumentality and email client. So support nan preheader arsenic short arsenic imaginable to summation nan chance it will show successful full. 

3. Sender Name and Email Address

It must beryllium instantly clear to nan recipient who sent nan email. Otherwise, they don’t person a logic to unfastened nan email. And they whitethorn not spot you.

Here’s really to animate spot and leverage marque recognition:

• Ensure your institution sanction (not your email address) shows arsenic nan sender name
• Keep your sender sanction accordant truthful subscribers admit it easily

4. Recipient's Email Address

Without valid subscriber email addresses, your messages will bounce alternatively of arriving successful inboxes. As a result, your emails will ne'er beryllium opened aliases read. This results successful little email unfastened rates.

The much emails you tin successfully deliver, nan much emails your subscribers tin perchance open.

An email verification tool tin validate addresses for you earlier sending. 

This type of instrumentality is particularly important for outbound email outreach erstwhile you don’t person lists of email addresses submitted by subscribers. And alternatively you request to find email addresses manually.

5. List Segmentation

Not each trading email has to spell to your full subscriber list. 

If you email subscribers who aren't willing successful your marque aliases engaged pinch your email content, your unfastened complaint will apt alteration complete time.

Segmenting your email database tin summation nan chance that your emails will scope engaged subscribers.

Here are immoderate ideas to conception your list:

• Location: Target subscribers successful a circumstantial region aliases metropolis if your contented is applicable to a peculiar area
• Interests: Send emails to subscribers based connected nan pages connected which they signed up to your email list, aliases possibly boxes they ticked erstwhile they joined
• Behavior: Send a typical connection to loyal shoppers aliases customers who haven’t bought successful a while

6. Email Timing

Send emails astatine nan astir convenient times for your business aliases nan perfect times for your subscribers. If you neglect to get nan timing right, your emails could get buried successful nan inbox, starring to little unfastened rates.

So, erstwhile is nan champion clip to email your subscribers? Overall, nan perfect times are Tuesday and Thursday astatine 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., according to Brevo.

But successful galore cases, it depends connected your industry. For example, nan champion clip for trading agencies to email is 4 p.m connected a Wednesday. The champion clip for B2B master services companies to email is Monday aliases Tuesday betwixt 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

7. Email Frequency

When you nonstop trading emails excessively often, subscribers whitethorn go little inclined to unfastened them. This is sometimes called email fatigue. But uncovering nan correct email wave will dangle connected factors for illustration your manufacture and your run goals.

Businesses thin to spot nan highest unfastened complaint erstwhile they nonstop 1 email per month, according to Omnisend.

But that doesn't needfully mean you should only email customers erstwhile per month. For example, Omnisend besides recovered that businesses thin to spot nan highest bid count erstwhile they email 10 to 19 times per month.

To find nan correct wave for your business, onslaught nan correct equilibrium betwixt unfastened complaint and different revenue-focused cardinal capacity indicators (KPIs). Like mean bid worth aliases bid count per email.

Strategies to Increase Email Open Rates

Incorporate these strategies and champion practices into your email trading strategy to amended your unfastened rates.

A/B Test Subject Lines

Use A/B testing to research pinch different taxable lines. Also known arsenic split-testing, this maneuver involves sending an email pinch 1 taxable statement to half your audience, and different email but pinch a different taxable statement to nan different half.

After sending nan emails and moving nan test, cheque your email analytics to spot which taxable statement has nan higher unfastened rate. Then, usage nan winning type to guideline taxable lines for early emails.

Email trading providers for illustration Klaviyo fto you trial taxable lines successful existent time. When nan trial is complete, nan level will automatically nonstop nan winning type to nan remaining subscribers.

Segment Email Lists

Create assemblage segments to get your trading emails successful beforehand of group who are astir apt to unfastened and prosecute pinch them.

When you target assemblage segments, you don’t email your full list. Instead, you email circumstantial groups based connected their demographics, past behaviors, aliases apt actions.

Here are immoderate segments to see creating for your list:

• Location
• Past acquisition behaviour (spend frequency, mean bid worth etc.)
• Engagement
• Interests
• How acold on they are successful your marketing funnel

This is what creating segments looks for illustration successful Klaviyo:

Personalize nan Subject Line

Marketing emails don't each person to sound nan same. With move personalization, you tin see civilization contented successful each email to guarantee it resonates pinch your subscriber list.

Here are immoderate taxable statement personalization options to consider:

• Add subscribers' first names aliases institution names
• Mention a merchandise nan subscriber precocious purchased
• Feature an arena nan subscriber signed up to attend

Here’s really a personalized taxable statement looks successful a emblematic email dashboard:

Above, nan email draught displays what are known arsenic merge tags wrong Mailchimp. But different email trading providers whitethorn usage their ain variations of move tags. 

In this example, nan email will automatically show nan recipient’s first sanction and nan applicable arena erstwhile it arrives successful subscribers’ inboxes, based connected accusation your subscribers person provided.

Find Topics That Resonate pinch Your Audience

Keep subscribers engaged (and unfastened rates high) by penning emails connected topics they attraction about.

Use Semrush's Topic Research instrumentality to get ideas for much engaging contented and debar moving retired of ideas for your email newsletter.

Start by entering a wide taxable and an optional domain. Then click "Get contented ideas."

You'll past get a database of ideas related to nan main topic. Along pinch estimated hunt volumes.

To attraction connected trending topics, toggle nan "Trending subtopics first" switch.

Click nan "Show more" nexus connected immoderate paper to spot a afloat database of headlines, questions, and related searches to animate your emails. Clicking nan icon pinch nan “+” to nan correct of each thought allows you to adhd it to your favorites.

Once you person a database of your favourite ideas, you tin usage them to scheme your email trading campaigns astir topics your assemblage is willing successful to amended your unfastened rates.

Create Compelling Email Content

When subscribers unfastened your emails, nan adjacent measurement is to prosecute them. The much they prosecute pinch your email content, nan much apt they'll beryllium to spot your marque and unfastened early emails.

Use the AI Writing Assistant to constitute amended contented faster. 

From nan main dashboard, prime "All Tools." Then, participate "email" successful nan hunt barroom to find each nan AI email adjunct tools. Select "Email Subject Lines" to create optimized taxable lines. 

Input specifications astir your target audience, merchandise name, and merchandise description. Then, take a reside of sound and productivity level from nan database of options.

You tin get up to 8 ideas astatine a time, which you tin toggle pinch nan “+” and “-” buttons astatine nan bottommost left. Then click "Generate" to spot a database of options.

Hover complete immoderate of nan taxable lines you want to usage and click nan "Copy" button. Then, paste them into your email trading platform. Make immoderate applicable changes for your circumstantial target assemblage to guarantee they’re personalized to amended unfastened rates.

The AI Writing Assistant tin besides write cold email templates and invited emails. To make a invited email, spell backmost to nan database of “All Tools” and hunt for “email” for illustration you did previously. Then prime "Welcome Email" from nan list. 

Enter your assemblage and merchandise details, and click "Generate." As before, you tin hover complete nan ones you for illustration and click “Copy.”

As pinch nan taxable statement generator, you tin tweak nan transcript to guarantee it’s applicable to your target audience.

You’ll find nan AI Writing Assistant successful nan Semrush App Center.

Optimize When and How Often You Send Emails

Understanding erstwhile and really often you should nonstop emails to your assemblage is apt going to require immoderate experimentation. 

It’s going to beryllium overmuch easier if you already person information to activity with. But if not, usage nan manufacture benchmarks we discussed earlier arsenic a unsmooth guide.

If you do person information from past campaigns, find what monthly wave correlates pinch nan highest:

• Open rate
• Click-through rate
• Conversion rate
• Other important metrics (like number of orders per email campaign)

Then, usage this wave to guideline your email trading strategy.

If your email trading supplier offers time-based A/B testing, research pinch 2 different times to nonstop your emails. You whitethorn want to commencement by utilizing times adjacent to aliases including those that benchmarks propose are nan champion for your industry.

Split-test timing regularly to guarantee you're ever reaching your assemblage astatine nan optimal time.

Elevate Your Email Marketing Game

Increasing email unfastened rates requires ongoing search and testing. To build a successful email trading campaign, you request to beryllium unfastened to experimenting pinch caller strategies.

When you optimize for higher unfastened rates, you tin often spot your click-through rates and moreover conversion rates summation too. Because creating much targeted email campaigns tin lead to amended capacity overall.

If you’re unsure wherever to start, usage Topic Research to find topics that will drawback your target audience’s attention. Try it for free today, pinch a Semrush free trial.