Email Marketing

35 Email Marketing Stats to Shape Your Strategy

September 15, 2020

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Even with the evolving landscape of digital marketing, email remains to be one of the most profitable and highly effective communication channels for businesses.

With The Data and Marketing Association (DMA) reporting that emails deliver an average ROI of $32, email simply has to be part of your campaigns, whether it’s for lead generation, customer success, or retention.

In this post, we round up 35 valuable email marketing statistics from around the web.

No email campaign is perfect, but constant progress can be achieved when you strategize with data.

Table of Contents

35 Email Marketing Statistics

35 Email Marketing Statistics

There were an estimated 3.9 billion email users in the world in 2019 and this number is forecast to grow to 4.3 billion by 2023.
Over 290 billion emails are sent and received each day, globally, per 2019 estimates.
16% of all emails get lost in transit and never make it to an inbox.
The most opened emails are hobby-related, reported to have an open rate of 27.35%.
The overall average open rate for email marketing is at 22.86%.
The overall average CTR for email marketing is at 3.71%
The average unsubscribe rate, according to the Mailchimp study, was 0.26%.
59% of marketers claim that email brings in the biggest ROI among all other channels.
Conversion rates for emails are higher than social media, direct traffic, and search.
In the last 12 months, marketers have seen a 78% increase in email engagement.
81% of businesses say that email is the main channel that drives customer acquisition for retention.
46% of email opens happen on a mobile device.
35% of business professionals read and respond to emails on a mobile device.
42.3% of consumers say they immediately delete an email if it isn’t optimized for mobile.
29% of all email mobile opens occur on Apple Mail, making it the most popular mobile client for reading emails. Gmail is a close runner-up with 27%.
93% of B2B marketers include email as a distribution channel for content.
83% of B2B companies distribute email newsletters as part of their content marketing campaigns.
40% of B2B marketers say newsletters are the most critical elements that will make or break their content marketing success.
64% of B2B marketers use a dedicated email marketing platform.
73% of millennials prefer to hear from businesses through email.
99% of consumers check their email every day.
80% of business professionals believe that email marketing can help improve customer retention.
60% of consumers prefer signing up for a brand’s email list for promotional offers compared to 20% who follow brands on social for deals.
59% of consumers claim that marketing emails influence their purchase decisions, while over 50% say that they end up buying from a marketing email.
56% of brands found that using an emoji in the email subject line results in a higher open rate.
Personalized subject lines provide a 26% boost in open rates.
47% of recipients open emails based on subject lines alone.
Marketers have found a 760% increase in revenue from segmenting email campaigns.
35% of marketers send out 3-5 emails per week.
The top three email marketing platforms in terms of deliverability are: SendinBlue (95.4%), Mailjet (94.6%), and ActiveCampaign (90.2%).
A/B testing the different parts of your emails can improve conversion rates by 49%.
The average marketing email contains 434.48 words and takes 3.3 minutes to read.
Emails sent on Tuesdays get the highest open rates of 18.3%.
Thursdays and Fridays get the highest click-to-open rates of 14.4%.
The three focus areas for marketers are advanced segmentation (for 47% of marketers), content personalization (37%), and behavioral targeting (39%).

General Email Marketing Stats

How does email perform as a marketing channel?

There were an estimated 3.9 billion email users in the world in 2019 and this number is forecast to grow to 4.3 billion by 2023. (Statista)
Over 290 billion emails are sent and received each day, globally, per 2019 estimates. (Statista)
16% of all emails get lost in transit and never make it to an inbox. (Email Tool Tester)
The most opened emails are hobby-related, reported to have an open rate of 27.35%. (Mailchimp)
The overall average open rate for email marketing is at 22.86%. (SaleCycle)
The overall average CTR for email marketing is at 3.71% (SaleCycle)
The average unsubscribe rate, according to the MailChimp study, was 0.26%. (Mailchimp)
59% of marketers claim that email brings in the biggest ROI among all other channels. (Emma)
Conversion rates for emails are higher than social media, direct traffic, and search. (Smart Insights)
In the last 12 months, marketers have seen a 78% increase in email engagement. (Not Another State of Marketing)
81% of businesses say that email is the main channel that drives customer acquisition for retention. (Emarsys)

Mobile Email Marketing Stats

Smartphones have made us more connected than ever. Here are a few statistics on how mobile has changed the way we engage with emails.

46% of email opens happen on a mobile device. (Litmus)
35% of business professionals read and respond to emails on a mobile device. (Convince & Convert)
42.3% of consumers say they immediately delete an email if it isn’t optimized for mobile. (Backlinko)
29% of all email mobile opens occur on Apple Mail, making it the most popular mobile client for reading emails. Gmail is a close runner-up with 27%. (Campaign Monitor)

B2B Email Marketing Stats

As the preferred mode of communication in professional settings, email plays a vital role in many B2B marketing campaigns.

93% of B2B marketers include email as a distribution channel for content. (Content Marketing Institute)
83% of B2B companies distribute email newsletters as part of their content marketing campaigns. (Imaginepub.com)
40% of B2B marketers say newsletters are the most critical elements that will make or break their content marketing success. (Content Marketing Institute)
64% of B2B marketers use a dedicated email marketing platform. (Content Marketing Institute)

B2C Email Marketing Stats

With consumers also preferring to be notified about businesses they follow through email, you may want to direct more of your efforts to this channel.

73% of millennials prefer to hear from businesses through email. (Adestra)
99% of consumers check their email every day. (DMA Insights)
80% of business professionals believe that email marketing can help improve customer retention. (Emarsys)
60% of consumers prefer signing up for a brand’s email list for promotional offers compared to 20% who follow brands on social for deals. (OptinMonster)
59% of consumers claim that marketing emails influence their purchase decisions, while over 50% say that they end up buying from a marketing email. (SaleCycle)

Email Marketing Best Practices

Spoiler alert: In 2023, personalization plays a great part in effectively communicating as a business.

56% of brands found that using an emoji in the email subject line results in a higher open rate. (Forbes)
Personalized subject lines provide a 26% boost in open rates. (Campaign Monitor)
47% of recipients open emails based on subject lines alone. (OptinMonster)
Marketers have found a 760% increase in revenue from segmenting email campaigns. (Campaign Monitor)
35% of marketers send out 3-5 emails per week. (Not Another State of Marketing)
The top three email marketing platforms in terms of deliverability are: Brevo (95.4%), Mailjet (94.6%), and ActiveCampaign (90.2%). (Email Tool Tester)
A/B testing the different parts of your emails can improve conversion rates by 49%. (Campaign Monitor)
The average marketing email contains 434.48 words and takes 3.3 minutes to read. (AWeber)
Emails sent on Tuesdays get the highest open rates of 18.3%. (Campaign Monitor)
Thursdays and Fridays get the highest click-to-open rates of 14.4%. (Campaign Monitor)
35. The three focus areas for marketers are advanced segmentation (for 47% of marketers), content personalization (37%), and behavioral targeting (39%). (Email Marketing Census 2019)

In Summary

All in all, we can see that email should definitely be given a spot in any marketing campaign. There’s no better way to directly reach your customers and take control of your content.

Another takeaway is the importance of optimizing emails for small screens as a vast majority of consumers switch to checking them on mobile devices. Optimizing for mobile includes keeping your messages direct and snappy, making CTAs conspicuous, and designing for readability.

Last, but definitely the step you want to do best – remembering that your customers are people with emotions. Email your customers like you would a friend, don’t be scared to drop emojis here and there, and segment your campaigns. Personalization goes a long way in 2023. When you’re stuck or unsure, A/B test and see what works well.

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