While the average email might only get opened 21% of the time, our deep dive into the latest data reveals how strategic tweaks—from personalized subject lines to perfectly timed automated messages—can skyrocket your open rates past 48% and deliver an impressive $36 return for every dollar spent.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, the average email open rate across all industries was 21.33%, with B2B sectors achieving 21.5% compared to B2C at 21.1%
- Retail industry email open rates averaged 17.86% in Q4 2023, peaking at 20.2% during Black Friday campaigns
- B2B email newsletters saw an average open rate of 24.14% in 2023, driven by personalized subject lines
- Click-through rates (CTR) for all industries averaged 2.35% in 2023, with images increasing CTR by 12%
- B2B email CTR reached 2.78% in 2023, highest for webinar invites at 4.1%
- Retail CTR averaged 2.41% in 2023, peaking at 3.8% for promotional banners
- Email conversion rates averaged 1.22% across industries in 2023, with retail at 1.8%
- B2B lead conversion from emails hit 2.1% in 2023 nurture campaigns
- E-commerce purchase conversions via email were 3.45% in 2023
- Email ROI averaged $36 for every $1 spent in 2023 industry benchmarks
- B2C email campaigns generated $42 ROI per dollar in 2023 retail data
- B2B email ROI reached $39 in 2023 for lead gen efforts
- Email engagement rates averaged 0.18% unique opens in 2023
- Forward rates for valuable content reached 2.1% in B2B 2023
- Unsubscribe rates stayed at 0.2% average across 2023 campaigns
Despite varied performance, personalized email marketing strategies consistently yield strong engagement and returns.
Click-Through Rates
- Click-through rates (CTR) for all industries averaged 2.35% in 2023, with images increasing CTR by 12%
- B2B email CTR reached 2.78% in 2023, highest for webinar invites at 4.1%
- Retail CTR averaged 2.41% in 2023, peaking at 3.8% for promotional banners
- Personalized CTAs lifted click-through rates by 14% to 2.9% average in 2023
- Non-profit CTR was 2.63% in 2023, driven by storytelling content links
- E-commerce product recommendation emails had 3.12% CTR in 2023 data
- Mobile-optimized emails boosted CTR to 2.8% from 1.9% in 2023
- Welcome series CTR averaged 5.2% in 2023, five times standard newsletters
- Software industry CTR hit 3.45% in 2023 for demo links
- Abandoned cart recovery emails achieved 4.7% CTR in 2023 e-commerce benchmarks
- Travel emails CTR was 2.9% in 2023, higher for destination guides at 4.2%
- Single CTA emails saw 3.1% CTR vs 1.8% multi-CTAs in 2023 tests
- Education sector CTR averaged 3.0% in 2023 for course promotions
- Q4 2023 CTR for retail rose to 3.5% during holidays
- Button-based links increased CTR by 28% to 2.6% in 2023
- Global CTR averaged 2.1% in 2023, US at 2.5%
- Re-engagement CTR reached 3.8% for win-back campaigns in 2023
- Food emails CTR was 2.7% in 2023 recipes sections
Click-Through Rates Interpretation
The data proves that in the relentless inbox war, the victors are those who tell a story with a picture, make one offer with a button, and, above all, know exactly what you left in your cart.
Conversion Rates
- Email conversion rates averaged 1.22% across industries in 2023, with retail at 1.8%
- B2B lead conversion from emails hit 2.1% in 2023 nurture campaigns
- E-commerce purchase conversions via email were 3.45% in 2023
- Cart recovery emails converted at 10.7% rate in 2023 benchmarks
- Non-profit donation conversions averaged 1.9% from emails in 2023
- Segmented lists boosted conversions by 15% to 1.5% average in 2023
- Personalized offers led to 4.2% conversion rates in retail emails 2023
- Welcome emails converted 9.3% of new subscribers in 2023
- Software trial signups from emails converted at 2.8% in 2023
- Travel booking conversions via email were 2.5% in peak 2023 season
- A/B tested emails increased conversions by 22% to 1.4% in 2023
- Education course enrollments converted at 3.1% from emails in 2023
- Holiday promo emails hit 5.6% conversions in retail Q4 2023
- Behavioral triggered emails converted 14% higher in 2023 data
- US email conversions averaged 1.6% vs global 1.1% in 2023
- Win-back campaigns converted 11.2% of lapsed users in 2023
- Food delivery signups converted at 4.1% via emails 2023
- Healthcare appointment bookings from emails converted 3.7% in 2023
Conversion Rates Interpretation
While these statistics prove the power of a well-targeted email, the real story is that a forgotten shopping cart still screams louder than most subject lines, converting at a staggering 10.7% because it perfectly taps into the universal human weakness of unfinished business.
Engagement Metrics
- Email engagement rates averaged 0.18% unique opens in 2023
- Forward rates for valuable content reached 2.1% in B2B 2023
- Unsubscribe rates stayed at 0.2% average across 2023 campaigns
- List growth from signups was 23% annually via email referrals 2023
- Spam complaint rates under 0.1% for compliant sends in 2023
- Time spent on email content averaged 11 seconds per open in 2023
- 59% of consumers shared emails with others in 2023 surveys
- Retention rate from email nurtures hit 78% in 2023 B2B
- Bounce rates averaged 1.1% for clean lists in 2023
- 72% of consumers prefer email for brand communication 2023
- Interactive elements boosted engagement by 30% in 2023 tests
- Newsletter engagement 0.25% vs promos 0.15% in 2023
- Customer lifetime value increased 25% via emails 2023
- 41% opened every brand email received in 2023 loyalty data
- Video embeds raised engagement 2x to 0.35% in 2023
- Churn reduction by 7% through monthly emails 2023
- 64% of subscribers engaged weekly with brands 2023
- Preference center usage cut unsubs by 9% in 2023
- Average engagement score for top performers 0.45% in 2023
- Retail engagement peaked at 0.22% during holidays 2023
- B2B engagement from case studies 0.31% average 2023
- 68% retention boost from birthday emails 2023 data
- Low engagement lists cleaned reduced bounces 18% 2023
- Email frequency optimal at 2-3/week for 0.28% engagement 2023
Engagement Metrics Interpretation
Soberingly, email marketing in 2023 was a patient game of quality over quantity, where an average open is a sacred, fleeting moment that must be earned and instantly leveraged with genius content, because your subscribers are a loyal but brutally efficient jury judging your brand's worth in seconds.
Open Rates
- In 2023, the average email open rate across all industries was 21.33%, with B2B sectors achieving 21.5% compared to B2C at 21.1%
- Retail industry email open rates averaged 17.86% in Q4 2023, peaking at 20.2% during Black Friday campaigns
- B2B email newsletters saw an average open rate of 24.14% in 2023, driven by personalized subject lines
- Mobile devices accounted for 56% of email opens in 2023, boosting overall open rates by 3.2% for optimized campaigns
- Email open rates for non-profits reached 26.37% in 2023, the highest among sectors due to strong audience loyalty
- Subject lines under 60 characters yielded 23.1% open rates in 2023 tests, 12% higher than longer ones
- US-based email lists had 22.4% average open rates in 2023, compared to 19.8% globally
- Automated welcome emails achieved 48.2% open rates in 2023, four times the industry average
- E-commerce open rates improved to 18.5% in 2023 with emoji usage in subjects, up from 15.9%
- Q1 2023 open rates for software industry emails averaged 25.6%, influenced by lead nurturing sequences
- Personalized emails saw 29.3% open rates in 2023, 6.2% above non-personalized benchmarks
- Travel sector emails had 19.8% open rates in summer 2023, spiking to 28% for flash sales
- Average open rate for abandoned cart emails was 45.9% in 2023 e-commerce data
- Education industry newsletters averaged 28.5% opens in 2023 back-to-school campaigns
- Time-specific sends (8-9 AM) boosted open rates by 4.7% to 24.1% average in 2023
- UK email open rates averaged 20.9% in 2023, slightly below US due to GDPR impacts
- Re-engagement emails for inactive subscribers had 33.4% open rates in 2023
- Food & beverage emails achieved 22.7% opens in 2023 holiday seasons
- Overall industry open rate dipped to 20.8% in Q2 2023 due to inbox changes
- Healthcare emails saw 24.9% open rates in 2023, led by appointment reminders
Open Rates Interpretation
Despite the deluge of digital noise, email marketing proves it can still cut through—if you treat your audience less like a list and more like people who appreciate a relevant, well-timed, and personal nudge, preferably before their morning coffee.
ROI and Revenue
- Email ROI averaged $36 for every $1 spent in 2023 industry benchmarks
- B2C email campaigns generated $42 ROI per dollar in 2023 retail data
- B2B email ROI reached $39 in 2023 for lead gen efforts
- E-commerce revenue from emails was $0.40 per recipient in 2023
- Automated emails delivered 760% higher revenue than manual in 2023
- Email drove 20% of total e-commerce revenue in 2023 reports
- Black Friday emails generated $520M in revenue for brands in 2023
- Every $1 in email produced $38 revenue in non-profits 2023
- Travel sector email revenue per send was $0.52 in 2023 peaks
- Segmented campaigns ROI improved 14.3x in 2023 benchmarks
- Personalized emails ROI was $47 per dollar spent in 2023
- Education emails generated $0.35 revenue per recipient 2023
- Q4 email revenue attribution hit 25% of total sales in 2023
- Cart abandonment emails recovered 15% lost revenue in 2023
- Global email revenue growth was 12% YoY in 2023
- Re-engagement emails ROI at $29 per dollar in 2023 data
- Food & beverage email revenue per campaign averaged $12K in 2023
- Healthcare email ROI was $32 for patient retention in 2023
ROI and Revenue Interpretation
If email marketing were a stock, we'd all be billionaires, because these numbers prove that a well-crafted, automated, and personalized message is basically a money-printing press disguised as an inbox notification.
Sources & References
- Reference 1MAILCHIMPmailchimp.comVisit source
- Reference 2LITMUSlitmus.comVisit source
- Reference 3CAMPAIGNMONITORcampaignmonitor.comVisit source
- Reference 4HUBSPOThubspot.comVisit source
- Reference 5GETRESPONSEgetresponse.comVisit source
- Reference 6OPTINMONSTERoptinmonster.comVisit source
- Reference 7NEILPATELneilpatel.comVisit source
- Reference 8ACTIVECAMPAIGNactivecampaign.comVisit source
- Reference 9KLAVIYOklaviyo.comVisit source