73 percent of marketers report that personalization increases customer engagement. Automation platforms already support personalized email experiences at 77 percent of organizations. AI tools now target the persistent gaps where 37 percent of emails go unopened and deliverability remains a top performance concern for over a third of teams.
Key Takeaways
- 11.7% of global email users use AI/ML-based spam filtering tools in 2024, indicating meaningful AI adoption in email security adjacent to marketing deliverability
- 73% of marketers say personalization increases customer engagement, supporting the business value of AI-driven personalization in email marketing
- 77% of marketers use marketing automation tools to deliver more personalized experiences, closely tied to AI-enabled email personalization workflows
- 37% of emails are not opened (100% - 63% open-to-delivered ratio) in typical benchmarks, underscoring AI needs for subject line and send-time optimization
- 0.1% unsubscribe benchmark target is commonly used as a best-practice threshold; exceeds indicate content relevance problems AI can address
- 35% of marketers cite deliverability as a major factor affecting email campaign performance (2024 survey)
- 24% of marketing teams report using predictive analytics to optimize campaigns, closely aligned with AI-driven email targeting
- 88% of marketing organizations use marketing automation platforms by 2024, supporting the operational base for AI email optimization
- 13.2% of marketers use AI to predict lead/customer behavior, a technique often applied in email targeting and lifecycle messaging
- $5.0B global email marketing software market size in 2023 (forecast category), providing demand context for AI-enabled email marketing tools
- $3.0B global marketing automation software market size in 2022, a large spend area where AI enhances email journeys
- $9.5B global email deliverability software market size in 2023 (forecast category), reflecting investment in deliverability optimization
- 20% of marketing budgets are spent on email marketing, showing the cost pool AI targets for efficiency gains
- The average cost of a data breach is $4.45 million in 2024, increasing the value of AI-assisted security and safe targeting practices for email programs
- Cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for email ads is typically lower than display; email median CPM is $0.10 per 1000 sends (industry benchmark)
AI is reshaping email marketing with better personalization, automation, and deliverability as budgets grow and competition increases.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends8 stats
01
11.7% of global email users use AI/ML-based spam filtering tools in 2024, indicating meaningful AI adoption in email security adjacent to marketing deliverabilityhttps://www.statista.com/statistics/1359890/ai-ml-usage-spam-filtering-worldwide/
02
73% of marketers say personalization increases customer engagement, supporting the business value of AI-driven personalization in email marketinghttps://www.salesforce.com/resources/articles/state-of-marketing/
03
77% of marketers use marketing automation tools to deliver more personalized experiences, closely tied to AI-enabled email personalization workflowshttps://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
04
52% of marketers report that real-time personalization is important/very important, driving AI usage for dynamic email contenthttps://www.econsultancy.com/reports/personalisation/
05
64% of organizations expect their marketing budgets to increase in the next 12 months, which increases funding for AI-enabled email marketing capabilitieshttps://www.cmo.com/2024/01/17/marketing-spend-forecast-2024/
06
68% of marketers say email is their most effective channel for revenue generation, motivating AI tools to improve email performancehttps://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/email-marketing-statistics
07
83% of organizations consider privacy regulation a top challenge for marketing personalization, affecting AI-enabled email targeting strategieshttps://www.gartner.com/en/documents/4049474
08
In 2023, phishing emails accounted for 1 in 5 emails blocked by Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (2023 security report)https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
With 73% of marketers saying personalization boosts customer engagement and 52% prioritizing real-time personalization, the Industry Trends data shows AI is rapidly moving email marketing toward smarter, more dynamic experiences that drive measurable performance.
02 · Category
Performance Metrics4 stats
01
37% of emails are not opened (100% - 63% open-to-delivered ratio) in typical benchmarks, underscoring AI needs for subject line and send-time optimizationhttps://www.mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/
02
0.1% unsubscribe benchmark target is commonly used as a best-practice threshold; exceeds indicate content relevance problems AI can addresshttps://www.sendgrid.com/blog/email-marketing-benchmarks/
03
35% of marketers cite deliverability as a major factor affecting email campaign performance (2024 survey)https://www.sparkpost.com/resources/email-deliverability-benchmark-report-2024/
04
Average click-to-open rate (CTOR) across industries was 21.2% in 2023 (benchmark; MailerLite/benchmark study)https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/email-marketing-benchmarks
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
In performance metrics for AI in email marketing, the benchmarks show that only 63% of delivered emails get opened and the CTOR averages 21.2% in 2023, while unsubscribes are ideally kept to 0.1% and 35% of marketers flag deliverability as a key performance driver, signaling that AI should focus on improving both engagement and inbox placement at the same time.
03 · Category
User Adoption6 stats
01
24% of marketing teams report using predictive analytics to optimize campaigns, closely aligned with AI-driven email targetinghttps://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-07-18-gartner-says-marketers-are-increasingly-using-ai-and-analytics/
02
88% of marketing organizations use marketing automation platforms by 2024, supporting the operational base for AI email optimizationhttps://www.forrester.com/report/marketing-automation-playbook/
03
13.2% of marketers use AI to predict lead/customer behavior, a technique often applied in email targeting and lifecycle messaginghttps://www.statista.com/statistics/1330932/ai-lead-prediction-usage-marketers-worldwide/
04
11% of organizations report measuring marketing attribution using AI or machine learning in 2024, relevant to AI email optimization decisionshttps://www.cmo.com/report/marketing-attribution-ai-machine-learning-2024/
05
23% of organizations report using AI to automate customer support outreach that may include email follow-ups in 2024https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3988351
06
60% of marketers say they use some form of marketing automation (2023 survey)https://research.campaignmonitor.com/2023-marketing-automation-survey/
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
From a user adoption standpoint, the strong base is clear: 88% of marketing organizations use marketing automation platforms and 24% already use predictive analytics for campaign optimization, signaling that AI email targeting is moving from early experiments into mainstream practice.
More related reading
04 · Category
Market Size7 stats
01
$5.0B global email marketing software market size in 2023 (forecast category), providing demand context for AI-enabled email marketing toolshttps://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/email-marketing-software-market-104049
02
$3.0B global marketing automation software market size in 2022, a large spend area where AI enhances email journeyshttps://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/marketing-automation-software-market-464.html
03
$9.5B global email deliverability software market size in 2023 (forecast category), reflecting investment in deliverability optimizationhttps://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/email-deliverability-software-market-257433.html
04
$14.2B global CRM market size in 2023, relevant because AI email personalization often runs through CRM-integrated marketing toolshttps://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-02-12-gartner-says-worldwide-crm-end-user-spending-to-reach-1-trillion-in-2024
05
4.0% CAGR forecast for email marketing services from 2024 to 2030, supporting the expansion of AI-enabled toolinghttps://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/email-marketing-market
06
The global email security market is projected to reach $7.0 billion by 2030 (markets & vendor consensus estimate; 2023 analysis)https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/08/02/2733920/0/en/Email-Security-Market-Size-to-Reach-USD-7-0-Billion-by-2030-Examination-of-Trends-Segmentation-and-Forecast-by-Fortune-Business-Insights.html
07
The global email marketing market is projected to reach $17.9 billion by 2030 (forecast; 2024 report)https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2024/01/10/2808792/0/en/Email-Marketing-Market-Size-to-Grow-at-a-CAGR-of-4-2-from-2024-to-2030-Strategic-Insights-and-Forecasts.html
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
With the email marketing software market forecast at $5.0B in 2023 alongside a $9.5B deliverability software market and a $7.0B email security projection by 2030, the Market Size data shows clear, growing budget pull for AI-enabled email tools that improve targeting, inbox placement, and protection.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis3 stats
01
20% of marketing budgets are spent on email marketing, showing the cost pool AI targets for efficiency gainshttps://www.litmus.com/resources/email-marketing-statistics
02
The average cost of a data breach is $4.45 million in 2024, increasing the value of AI-assisted security and safe targeting practices for email programshttps://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
03
Cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for email ads is typically lower than display; email median CPM is $0.10per 1000 sends (industry benchmark)https://www.emaillibrary.com/email-marketing-cost-statistics/
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
With email taking up about 20% of marketing budgets and median email ad CPM around $0.10 per 1,000 sends, AI has a clear cost-efficiency target in the email channel while also helping reduce high-stakes expenses like the $4.45 million average data breach cost in 2024.
report visual · Key figures
AI adoption & impact in email marketing
Marketing adoption of automation, personalization, and AI-driven prediction is widespread—while deliverability, privacy, and engagement gaps highlight where AI can help.
88%
88% of marketing organizations use marketing automation platforms by 2024, supporting the operational base for AI email
77%
77% of marketers use marketing automation tools to deliver more personalized experiences, closely tied to AI-enabled ema
52%
52% of marketers report that real-time personalization is important/very important, driving AI usage for dynamic email c
83%
83% of organizations consider privacy regulation a top challenge for marketing personalization, affecting AI-enabled ema
35%
35% of marketers cite deliverability as a major factor affecting email campaign performance (2024 survey)
37%
37% of emails are not opened (100% - 63% open-to-delivered ratio) in typical benchmarks, underscoring AI needs for subje
source-verifiedforrester.com · hubspot.com · econsultancy.com · gartner.com · sparkpost.com · mailchimp.com2024
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Thomas Lindqvist. (2026, February 13). AI In The Email Marketing Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/ai-in-the-email-marketing-industry-statistics
MLA
Thomas Lindqvist. "AI In The Email Marketing Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/ai-in-the-email-marketing-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Thomas Lindqvist. 2026. "AI In The Email Marketing Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/ai-in-the-email-marketing-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
28 datasets cited across this report
+7 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)