Understanding the concept of email open rates is essential in digital marketing. 

These email marketing benchmarks measure the success of email marketing campaigns. They help refine strategies to engage better with your target audience. 

This blog will dive into what makes up a good email open rate. We'll explore factors influencing these rates and provide practical advice on enhancing your email marketing efforts. 

Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just starting out, mastering the art of email open rates is essential for optimizing your digital marketing performance.

Why trust us? Well, Superhuman is an email company, so we know a thing or two about open rates for emails 😀

What is an email open rate?

An email open rate is a key metric used to measure the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns. 

It is a form of engagement rate representing the percentage of recipients who open an email compared to the total number of emails sent. 

Understanding this rate is crucial to track email performance. It indicates how well your emails resonate with your email recipients. 

High open rates suggest that your subject lines are engaging and that your email list is well-targeted and interested in your content. 

Conversely, low open rates may signal the need for improvements in these areas, like email subject lines. 

Constantly optimizing your email marketing strategy ensures your messages capture the attention of your email subscribers.

What is a good open rate for email?

A good email open rate usually falls between 17% and 28%, depending on your industry. To get a clear picture, it's best to check out the average, lowest, and highest open rates in your field and see how your numbers stack up. That's how you'll know if you're on track.

What are the factors that influence email open rates?

Many factors contribute to email open rates in email marketing campaigns. 

The subject line of your email plays the most significant role in this. A catchy or intriguing subject line can significantly boost the likelihood of your emails being opened. 

It shouldn't only be catchy, though. The relevance of the subject line to your subscriber base is equally important. The content of your email must meet the expectations set by your subject line. 

It shouldn't be your average email. It should be engaging and valuable to your audience.

Another critical factor is email deliverability. This ensures that your emails reach subscribers' inboxes instead of getting lost in the spam folder. 

Good deliverability depends on compliance with a clean email list, a solid sender reputation, and email marketing best practices. 

Understanding and optimizing these elements will help you achieve higher open rates. It will also make your email marketing efforts more effective and reach your target audience more efficiently.

Great subject lines lead to higher open rates. That leads to higher conversion rates. 

What are industry benchmarks for email open rates?

You must understand industry benchmarks for email open rates. It is essential for any marketer aiming to evaluate their email campaign's success. 

Different industries exhibit average open rates due to their unique audience engagement levels and content relevance.

For instance, ecommerce often sees moderate open rates as consumers receive numerous promotional emails. This means creating standout content, a must for higher engagement. 

In contrast, nonprofit organizations may experience higher open rates, mainly when communicating impactful stories or urgent appeals to their subscribers. 

They are typically more engaged and supportive of the cause. The healthcare industry also tends to have higher open rates. This is attributed to the critical nature of the information shared. Such as patient care communications or health updates, which recipients are more likely to open promptly.

What constitutes a "good" open rate can significantly differ across industries. An excellent open rate exceeds the average by a margin that reflects successful engagement strategies such as personalized subject lines, timely delivery, and highly relevant content. 

Marketers should aim to meet and surpass these averages by continuously optimizing their email strategies to align with subscriber expectations and behaviors.

How to improve email open rates

Improving email open rates can significantly impact the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns. 

Here are some additional strategies you might consider:

• Timing: Send your emails at the right time. The best email time can vary depending on your audience. Mid-week mornings are typically a sweet spot for many industries. Still, analyzing your data is crucial to determine when your audience will most likely open emails. Superhuman allows you to send your email at the perfect time, and even customize delivery based on the recipient's time zone. Just hit Cmd+Shift+L and type yoru preferred time and timezone. 
• Use A/B testing: Is your subject line effective? Run A/B tests, which allow you to send two email variations to a small segment of your email list and measure which performs better. 
• Segment your lists: Tailor your messages to specific segments of your audience. This personalization goes beyond just using the recipient's name. Segment your email list based on demographics, past purchase behavior, or engagement level to create more relevant and personalized messages.
• Keep your list fresh: Regularly update and clean your email list to remove inactive subscribers who do not engage with your emails. This not only helps improve your open rates but also your overall deliverability.
• Optimize for mobile: With more and more users checking their email on mobile devices, ensure your emails are mobile-friendly. This includes a user-friendly design, large, readable fonts, and easy-to-spot CTAs.
• Avoid spam filters: To ensure your emails reach the inbox, avoid words and phrases that trigger spam filters, like “act now,” “earn money,” and “buy now.” Also, encourage your subscribers to add your email address to their address book. With Superhuman AI, you can jot down a few phrases, and we’ll turn them into a full email — making sure to match the voice and tone of emails you’ve already sent. Got a well-performing email from the past? We can mirror that.
• Create catchy preview text: The preview text appears next to the subject line in many email clients and can be used to provide a teaser of the email content. If the preheader complements the subject line effectively, this can encourage readers to open the email. In Superhuman, you can see when people read your email, and on what device, allowing you to get a better understanding of what’s working well (and what isn’t), then adjust your campaigns accordingly. 
• Offer incentives: Give subscribers a reason to open your emails by offering exclusive content, special discounts, or access to new products before anyone else.

What is a click-through rate?

A click-through rate (CTR) measures how many people clicked on a link or call to action in your email compared to how many received it. Email clicks and CTR are key indicators of how engaging and effective your email content is for your audience. 

Conversely, a bounce rate in email marketing can represent a lack of engagement. It can be measured in many ways, like the rate of users who open an email but fail to click on a link. More severe is the unsubscribe rate, which represents the percentage of subscribers who opt out of email marketing altogether.

What is a good click-through rate for email?

A solid click-through rate for email usually hovers around 2.5% to 5%. 

However, like open rates, this can vary widely depending on your industry average. It's wise to dive into the specifics of your sector to see how your rates compare. This gives you a better benchmark for measuring your email campaign's success.

What is a click-to-open rate (CTOR)?

The click-to-open rate (CTOR) is a metric that shows the percentage of recipients who clicked on a link or action within an email out of those who opened the email. It precisely measures the effectiveness of the email content, indicating how compelling your message and design are once the email is opened.

What is a good click-to-open rate for email?

A good click-to-open rate (CTOR) for email typically falls between 6% to 20%. This range indicates that the email content is engaging and relevant to those who opened it. 

However, like many email metrics, the ideal CTOR can vary based on the industry and the specific goals of your email campaign. It's beneficial to compare your CTOR against benchmarks within your particular sector to understand how your campaigns perform relative to industry standards.

How do CTRs and CTORs contribute to a good email open rate?

CTR and CTRO metrics are vital for assessing how well your email campaigns convert interest into action. 

While a good email open rate gets your foot in the door, solid CTRs and CTORs indicate that your messages are being opened and successfully engaging recipients to take the desired actions. 

This holistic view helps marketers refine their strategies, from optimizing subject lines to tailoring the content and CTAs better to meet the needs and interests of their audience.

The bottom line

Marketing professionals and teams need to be diligent about boosting email open rates by crafting compelling subject lines, ensuring content relevance, and achieving solid deliverability to captivate their audiences effectively. 

Tracking click-through rates (CTRs) and click-to-open rates (CTORs) provides invaluable insights, and marketing teams should work to share these insights and collaborate on refining campaigns for even better engagement.

High-performing marketing teams move faster and collaborate more effectively with Superhuman, the fastest email experience ever made. Try Superhuman now.