2025 Email Marketing Benchmarks: Real Data from 10,000+ Campaigns

Anne McClain Jr.

October 16, 2025•13 minute read

Email marketing benchmarks reveal that the average open rate across industries is 42.35%, with click-through rates averaging 2.62% and email marketing delivering $36-$42 for every dollar spent. Analysis of over 3.3 million campaigns shows automated emails generate 320% more revenue than standard campaigns, while welcome emails achieve 83.63% open rates and abandoned cart sequences convert at 3.33%. These benchmarks vary significantly by industry, with religion (59.70% opens) and hobbies (53.33% opens) leading engagement metrics.

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Understanding these benchmarks helps marketers gauge whether their campaigns perform above or below industry standards. However, the real value lies in the details below—where we break down performance by industry, email type, geography, and timing using data from MailerLite, GetResponse, Klaviyo, and other major email platforms analyzing billions of sends.

Keep reading for the complete breakdown of 2025 email marketing benchmarks by industry, campaign type, and actionable strategies to improve your metrics ⬇️

Understanding Email Marketing Benchmarks: What They Mean for Your Business

Email marketing benchmarks provide standardized performance metrics that allow businesses to evaluate campaign effectiveness against industry averages. These benchmarks matter because email continues to dominate digital marketing ROI, with 41% of marketers identifying it as their most effective channel—ahead of social media and paid search combined.

Why benchmarks changed in 2024-2025: Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection significantly impacted tracking accuracy, with 51.52% of email opens now coming from Apple devices that automatically pre-load email content. This means reported open rates appear higher than actual human engagement, making click-through rates and conversion metrics more reliable performance indicators.

The email marketing landscape in 2025 shows continued growth, with 4.6 billion email users worldwide sending 376.4 billion emails daily. This massive scale creates both opportunity and challenge—your emails must stand out in increasingly crowded inboxes while maintaining relevance and value.

2025 Email Marketing Benchmarks: Overall Industry Averages

Based on analysis of 3.3+ million campaigns from major email service providers, here are the core benchmarks every marketer should know:

Average Open Rates Across All Industries

The average email open rate in 2025 is 42.35%, representing a significant increase from previous years. However, this number includes Apple MPP inflated opens. More conservative estimates from different platforms show:

MailerLite (3.3M campaigns): 42.35% average open rate
GetResponse: 39.7% average open rate
Constant Contact: 39.7% average open rate
Campaign Monitor: 25-30% range depending on industry

Reality check: True human open rates likely fall between 25-35% when accounting for automated opens. Focus on engagement metrics beyond opens for accurate performance measurement.

Click-Through Rate (CTR) Benchmarks

Average click-through rates across industries: 2.62%

CTR ranges significantly by industry:

Highest: Hobbies (4.36%), Government (4.31%), Media (4.02%)
Lowest: Travel/Transportation (0.77%), Marketing/Advertising (1.11%), Restaurants (1.13%)

Click-through rate remains the most reliable engagement metric since it requires actual human interaction. Unlike opens, clicks cannot be inflated by privacy protection features.

Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR)

Average CTOR: 5.63%

CTOR measures how many people who opened your email actually clicked, revealing content effectiveness. Top-performing industries achieve CTORs above 10%, while underperformers see rates below 3%.

Why CTOR matters: A high open rate with low CTOR indicates strong subject lines but weak content. Conversely, low opens with high CTOR suggests deliverability or subject line issues but excellent email content.

Unsubscribe and Bounce Rates

Average unsubscribe rate: 0.89%
Average bounce rate: 2.33-2.48%

Unsubscribe rates below 0.5% indicate strong list quality and content relevance. Bounce rates above 3% signal list hygiene problems requiring immediate attention, as high bounce rates damage sender reputation.

Email Marketing Benchmarks by Industry: Complete 2025 Breakdown

Performance varies dramatically across sectors. Here’s the comprehensive industry breakdown:

Top-Performing Industries for Open Rates

1. Religion: 59.70% open rate
Religious organizations achieve the highest engagement due to passionate, committed audiences seeking updates on community events and spiritual guidance.

2. Hobbies: 53.33% open rate
Hobby-related emails combine high passion with actionable content, from craft tutorials to collecting tips.

3. Travel: 53.21% open rate
Despite economic uncertainties, travel emails maintain strong engagement through aspirational content and exclusive deals.

4. Non-Profit: 53.21% open rate
Mission-driven messaging and emotional connection drive exceptional open rates in the non-profit sector.

5. Government/Politics: 30.5% open rate
While lower than top performers, government emails achieve strong CTR (4.1%), indicating highly engaged recipients.

Industries with Highest Click-Through Rates

1. Hobbies: 4.36% CTR
Combining high opens with high clicks, hobby emails clearly resonate with audiences seeking actionable content.

2. Government: 4.31% CTR
Government emails achieve strong CTR despite moderate opens, indicating recipients who open are highly engaged.

3. Media/Publishing: 4.02% CTR
Content-focused industries naturally drive clicks as their emails serve as gateways to articles and resources.

4. Firearms/Weapons: 3.69% CTR
Niche passionate audiences drive exceptional click-through performance in specialized industries.

Lowest-Performing Industries

Travel/Transportation: 0.77% CTR
Despite high open rates, travel emails struggle with clicks, possibly due to research-phase browsing rather than purchase intent.

Marketing/Advertising: 1.11% CTR
Ironically, marketers struggle to engage their own audiences, likely due to oversaturation and

skepticism.

Automotive: 12.6% open rate, 1.2% CTR
Long purchase cycles and high-consideration products lead to lower engagement in automotive emails.

Complete Industry Benchmark Table

Industry	Open Rate	CTR	Unsubscribe Rate
Religion	59.70%	2.85%	0.34%
Hobbies	53.33%	4.36%	0.67%
Travel	53.21%	0.77%	0.89%
Non-Profit	53.21%	3.14%	0.41%
Government	30.5%	4.31%	0.28%
Media/Publishing	35.2%	4.02%	0.95%
Fashion/Beauty	28.4%	1.83%	1.12%
Food/Beverage	26.1%	1.65%	0.87%
Technology	22.4%	1.89%	0.76%
Automotive	12.6%	1.2%	0.68%

Email Campaign Type Benchmarks: Automated vs. Broadcast

Not all emails perform equally. Campaign type significantly impacts engagement:

Automated Workflow Performance

Automated emails vs. broadcast campaigns:

52% higher open rates
332% higher click rates
2,361% better conversion rates

Automated workflows trigger based on specific behaviors, delivering timely, relevant content that dramatically outperforms scheduled broadcasts.

Welcome Email Benchmarks

Average welcome email performance:

Open rate: 83.63%
Click rate: 8.5-12%
Conversion rate: 3.02%

Welcome emails achieve the highest open rates of any email type because recipients expect them immediately after subscribing. The 74% of consumers who expect welcome emails represent hot leads in peak engagement windows.

Best practices for welcome emails:

Send within 60 minutes of signup
Include clear value proposition
Set expectations for email frequency
Offer exclusive first-purchase incentive

Abandoned Cart Email Benchmarks

Abandoned cart sequence performance:

Open rate: 39.07-45%
Click-through rate: 23.33%
Conversion rate: 3.33%
Revenue per recipient: $3.65 average, $28.89 top 10%

Cart abandonment emails deliver the highest revenue per recipient of any automated flow. With 70% of online shoppers abandoning carts, these sequences recover 3-5% of lost sales on average, with some brands recovering over 6%.

Three-email sequences outperform single sends: Brands sending three cart recovery emails generated $24.9 million compared to $3.8 million for single-email campaigns.

Post-Purchase and Transactional Emails

Post-purchase email performance:

Open rate: 60-70%
Click rate: 6.4%
Conversion rate (for cross-sells): 2.13%

Order confirmation and shipping emails achieve 8x higher opens and clicks than marketing emails, presenting valuable cross-sell opportunities often underutilized by brands.

Browse Abandonment Benchmarks

Browse abandonment emails see 50.5% higher CTR than standard campaigns, capturing shoppers who showed interest but didn’t add items to cart. These emails often outperform cart abandonment in early-stage customer relationships.

Back-in-Stock Alert Performance

Back-in-stock emails achieve:

Open rate: 65.32%
Conversion rate: 22.45%

These inventory alerts convert exceptionally well because recipients actively requested notifications, indicating strong purchase intent.

Geographic Performance Differences: Regional Email Benchmarks

Email performance varies by region due to cultural differences, device preferences, and market maturity:

Regional Benchmark Breakdown

Oceania (Australia/New Zealand):

Open rate: 55.6% (highest globally)
Click rate: 2.35%
CTOR: 4.46%

Europe:

Open rate: 48-52% (strong performance)
Click rate: 2.2-2.8%
Low bounce rates indicating high list quality

North America:

Open rate: 46.34%
Click rate: 2.1-2.6%
Highest bounce rate (2.8%), suggesting aggressive list growth

Asia:

Open rate: 41.5%
Click rate: 4.0% (highest CTR globally)
CTOR: 14.4% (exceptional content engagement)

Latin America (LATAM):

Open rate: 30.67% (lowest globally)
Click rate: 1.09%
Highest bounce rate (3.1%)

Key insight: Asia shows lower opens but exceptional click-through performance, indicating recipients who engage are highly motivated. North American and European markets show balanced performance, while LATAM represents growth opportunity with current infrastructure challenges.

Best Days and Times to Send Emails: 2025 Data

Email timing impacts performance, though differences are often smaller than marketers expect:

Best Days for Open Rates

Monday: 42.8% average open rate (highest)
Starting the workweek, professionals clear inboxes and engage with business-related content.

Tuesday: 42.5% average open rate
Consistently strong performance across industries makes Tuesday a safe default.

Wednesday-Thursday: 41.5-42% average open rate
Mid-week maintains steady performance without standout advantages.

Friday: 39.8% average open rate
Slight decline as attention shifts to weekend planning.

Saturday-Sunday: 35-37% average open rate
Weekend sends see lower volume but maintained click rates, suggesting engaged subscribers browse leisurely.

Best Days for Click-Through Rates

Tuesday: 2.73% CTR (highest)
Tuesday narrowly leads click performance, making it the optimal all-around send day.

Monday: 2.68% CTR
Strong click performance accompanies high opens.

Wednesday-Friday: 2.5-2.6% CTR
Consistent mid-week performance.

Weekend: 2.4-2.5% CTR
Lower volume but maintained engagement suggests quality over quantity.

Optimal Send Times

Data shows minor variations by hour:

Best performing time windows:

9-11 AM local time: Catches morning inbox checks
1-3 PM local time: Post-lunch engagement window
8-10 PM local time: Evening browsing (especially for B2C)

Critical factor: Use recipient timezone segmentation rather than sending at one fixed time. Emails received overnight often get buried under morning influx.

Email Marketing ROI Benchmarks: Return on Investment Data

Email marketing delivers exceptional returns compared to other channels:

Average ROI Across Industries

Overall average ROI: $36-$42 for every $1 spent

This translates to 3,600-4,200% return on investment, making email the highest-ROI marketing channel available.

Industry-Specific ROI Performance

Top-performing ROI by sector:

Tourism: $53 per $1 spent (5,300% ROI)
Retail/Ecommerce: $45 per $1 spent (4,500% ROI)
Media: $45 per $1 spent
Marketing/Advertising: $42 per $1 spent
Software: $40 per $1 spent

Elite performers: 18% of companies achieve email ROI exceeding $70 per $1 spent (7,000% ROI), demonstrating the ceiling for sophisticated programs.

ROI by List Size

Larger lists benefit from email’s scalability:

Under 500K subscribers: $39 per $1 spent
500K-10M subscribers: $42 per $1 spent
Over 10M subscribers: $46 per $1 spent

Why size matters: Email marketing costs scale minimally with list growth. Once infrastructure and content creation are covered, additional sends cost pennies, improving ratios for larger operations.

ROI by Email Frequency

Optimal sending frequency: 5-8 emails per month

This cadence achieves $48 per $1 spent, balancing engagement with audience fatigue. Daily sends can achieve higher absolute revenue but also increase unsubscribe rates.

B2B vs. B2C Email ROI

B2B email marketing:

Slightly lower open rates (15.14% vs. 19.7%)
Higher click rates (3.18% vs. 2.09%)
59% of B2B marketers rate email as most effective prospecting channel
42% identify email as their best-performing channel overall

B2C email marketing:

Higher open rates but lower clicks
59% of consumers say emails influence purchase decisions
52% made direct purchases from emails in past year

Personalization Impact on Email Benchmarks

Personalization dramatically improves performance across all metrics:

Subject Line Personalization

Personalized subject lines increase opens by 26%

Simply including recipient names or locations in subject lines significantly boosts open rates. However, overuse reduces effectiveness—reserve personalization for high-value campaigns.

Content Personalization Results

Personalized email content delivers:

6x higher transaction rates
760% more revenue than generic broadcasts
10-14% improvement in CTR

Advanced personalization using behavioral data, purchase history, and preferences creates relevant experiences that drive conversions.

Segmentation ROI

Marketers using advanced segmentation see 760% increase in revenue

Segmented campaigns outperform broadcast sends because they deliver targeted content to specific audience subsets, improving relevance and engagement.

Behavior-based emails drive 3x higher engagement than scheduled blasts, demonstrating the power of triggering sends based on actions rather than calendar dates.

Mobile Optimization Benchmarks

Mobile devices dominate email opens, requiring mobile-first design:

Mobile Email Statistics

55-56% of all email opens occur on mobile devices
44.2% of holiday email opens happen on mobile
50% of users delete emails not optimized for mobile

Mobile Performance Impact

Emails optimized for mobile achieve:

15-20% higher open rates
Mobile-optimized CTAs see 24% higher clicks

Critical mobile requirements:

Subject lines under 40 characters for mobile display
Large, tappable CTA buttons (minimum 44×44 pixels)
Single-column layouts that don’t require zooming
Fast-loading images under 1MB total email size

How to Use These Benchmarks to Improve Your Email Marketing

Understanding benchmarks is valuable only when translated into action:

Step 1: Audit Your Current Performance

Compare your metrics to relevant industry benchmarks:

Is your open rate within 5% of your industry average?
Does your CTR meet or exceed industry standards?
Are your unsubscribe and bounce rates below benchmark thresholds?

Step 2: Identify Your Biggest Gaps

Focus improvement efforts on metrics furthest below benchmarks:

If opens are low:

Test subject lines with personalization
Audit sender reputation and deliverability
Clean inactive subscribers
Optimize send times

If CTR is low despite good opens:

Improve email content relevance
Make CTAs more prominent and compelling
Reduce content complexity
Test different content formats

If both are low:

Audit list quality and acquisition sources
Verify proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Review content strategy for audience fit

Step 3: Implement Automation

Given automated emails’ 320% revenue advantage, prioritize:

Welcome series for new subscribers
Abandoned cart recovery sequences
Post-purchase follow-ups
Win-back campaigns for inactive subscribers
Birthday/anniversary emails

Step 4: Test and Optimize Continuously

Top performers continuously test:

Subject lines: A/B test different approaches weekly
Send times: Test optimal windows for your specific audience
Content format: Compare text-heavy vs. image-rich designs
CTA placement: Test button location and copy
Personalization: Measure impact of different personalization levels

Brands running A/B tests achieve $42 per $1 spent vs. $21 for those who don’t test.

Step 5: Focus on List Quality Over Size

Engagement metrics matter more than subscriber counts:

Remove subscribers inactive for 6+ months
Implement re-engagement campaigns before removing
Focus acquisition on quality sources
Use double opt-in to ensure genuine interest

Lists with 90%+ engagement rate outperform lists 10x larger with poor engagement.

Common Benchmark Misinterpretations to Avoid

Mistake #1: Treating Benchmarks as Goals

Benchmarks show average performance, not optimal targets. Top quartile performers often achieve 2-3x benchmark averages. Instead of matching benchmarks, aim to consistently improve your own baseline.

Mistake #2: Ignoring Industry Differences

Comparing fashion brand emails to government organization performance makes no sense. Always reference your specific industry benchmarks.

Mistake #3: Focusing Only on Opens

With Apple MPP inflating open rates, over-reliance on opens creates false confidence. Prioritize clicks, conversions, and revenue metrics.

Mistake #4: Not Accounting for List Makeup

B2B lists naturally see different engagement than B2C. Customer emails outperform prospect emails. Segment comparisons appropriately.

Mistake #5: Expecting Immediate Results

Email marketing success compounds over time. New programs need 3-6 months to establish sender reputation and audience behavior patterns.

Key Takeaways: 2025 Email Marketing Benchmark Summary

Core metrics to remember:

Average open rate: 42.35% (though 25-35% more realistic accounting for Apple MPP)
Average CTR: 2.62%
Average email ROI: $36-$42 per $1 spent
Automated emails generate 320% more revenue than broadcasts

Top-performing strategies:

Implement automated welcome and cart abandonment flows
Personalize subject lines and content using behavioral data
Send 5-8 emails monthly for optimal engagement
Optimize for mobile-first experiences
Test continuously and focus on incremental improvements

Most valuable campaign types:

Welcome emails: 83.63% open rate
Abandoned cart: $3.65 revenue per recipient
Back-in-stock: 22.45% conversion rate
Post-purchase: 8x higher engagement than campaigns

Geographic considerations:

Oceania leads open rates at 55.6%
Asia achieves highest CTR at 4.0%
Consider timezone segmentation for global sends

The bottom line: Email marketing remains the highest-ROI channel available to marketers in 2025. Success requires understanding benchmarks, implementing automation, personalizing content, and continuously optimizing based on your unique audience data.

Use these benchmarks as directional guides, not absolute targets. Your goal should be consistent improvement relative to your own baseline, measured against industry standards to ensure competitiveness. The brands achieving $70+ per $1 spent didn’t get there by matching averages—they continuously pushed beyond benchmarks through testing, personalization, and audience understanding.

Resources

All statistics and data in this report were sourced from the following authoritative platforms:

MailerLite 2025 Email Marketing Benchmarks (3.3M campaigns analyzed)
GetResponse Email Marketing Benchmarks Report 2024
Klaviyo 2025 Benchmark Report
WebFX Email Marketing Benchmarks Study
Omnisend Email Marketing Statistics 2025
ActiveCampaign Email Marketing Benchmarks
HubSpot Email Open Rate Study 2025
Moosend Email Marketing Benchmarks Report
Campaign Monitor Industry Benchmarks
Litmus State of Email Report
Smart Insights Email Statistics Compilation
OptinMonster Email Marketing Statistics
EmailMonday ROI Statistics Report
Statista Email Marketing Data
Constant Contact Benchmark Report

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