Email Metrics and Benchmarks

To give context to reporting and metrics, let’s look at some benchmarks for email campaigns. Keep in mind that any email guidelines vary between email service providers and industries.

Generally, if you’re seeing an open rate of 20% or above for your email campaigns, that’s a great start! Below 15%, you should consider identifying inactive email addresses through a re-engagement campaign.

A re-engagement campaign helps you identify which subscribers are inactive, and allow some to self-select whether or not they’re still interested in your content.

As for click-through rates, this is a measure of how engaging your email content is. Click-through can be influenced by the relevance of your content, as well as email frequency and the relationship you have with your subscribers. Think about the email newsletters you really enjoy reading. You know the content is going to relevant and interesting to you, and you know it’s going to be delivered at a schedule you’ve come to expect.

Overall, if you have a click-through rate of 5% or less, it’s time to revive your email strategy. We recommend reviewing your content to make sure it’s relevant. Use personalization and a strong CTA. Keep in mind that a consistently low click-through rate is a poor signal to email providers like Gmail and Yahoo, and can actually impact your delivery rates as a result.

At 6% to 15%, you’re doing pretty well.

With a click-through rate of 16% or more, you’re an all-star! Keep delivering great content to your subscribers.