What‘s a Good Open Rate? Email Benchmarks by Industry in 2024

How do your email open rates compare to others in your industry? Are you beating the average or lagging behind? Knowing the benchmark open rates for your specific vertical can help you better gauge your email performance and identify areas for improvement.

In this post, we‘ll share the latest data on average email open rates by industry in 2024. We‘ll also provide tips for improving opens based on your industry and explain how Apple‘s Mail Privacy Protection is impacting open rate tracking. Let‘s dive in!

Table of Contents

What is a Good Open Rate for Email?

Before we jump into the benchmarks, let‘s clarify how open rates are measured and what‘s considered a "good" open rate.

Email open rate is calculated by dividing the number of unique opens by the number of emails successfully delivered. For example, if you send 10,000 emails and 2,500 are opened, your open rate would be 25%.

So what‘s a good open rate to aim for? The average email open rate across all industries was 21.3% in 2024, according to a study from MailChimp. However, open rates vary quite a bit between different verticals, with some seeing averages as high as 28-29% and others as low as 15-18%.

Ultimately, a "good" open rate is one that‘s higher than the average for your specific industry. Beating industry benchmarks indicates your subject lines, preview text, and sender name are more effective than most at enticing people to open your emails. But you should also compare your open rates to your own historical performance to track improvement over time.

With that context in mind, let‘s look at how open rates break down by industry.

Average Email Open Rates by Industry

Here are the average email open rates by industry for 2024, based on data from email marketing platforms Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and HubSpot:

Industry Average Open Rate
Arts & Entertainment 29.1%
Media & Publishing 28.7%
Nonprofit 26.1%
Education 24.9%
Professional Services (B2B) 22.7%
Travel & Hospitality 20.6%
Retail & Ecommerce 19.6%
Healthcare 19.4%
Real Estate 19.1%
Software/SaaS 18.3%
Financial Services 18.2%
Consumer Packaged Goods 18.0%
Manufacturing 17.0%
Construction 16.6%
Automotive 16.2%

As you can see, there‘s a pretty wide range in average open rates between industries. Media, entertainment, and arts organizations see the highest open rates at around 28-29% on average. This makes sense, as audiences tend to be highly engaged with and excited to consume content in these categories.

Nonprofits also see higher-than-average open rates at 26%, likely due to their engaged donor/supporter bases. Education and B2B professional services fall in the mid-range at 23-25%.

At the lower end, industries like manufacturing, construction, automotive, and financial services see average open rates of 16-18%. This could be due to less compelling subject matter or because audiences find emails in these categories more promotional vs. value-adding.

B2B vs B2C Open Rate Benchmarks

It‘s helpful to look at open rate benchmarks through the lens of B2B vs. B2C as well. HubSpot‘s 2024 email marketing report found the following differences:

  • Average B2B email open rate: 22.1%
  • Average B2C email open rate: 19.7%

B2B companies tend to have somewhat higher open rates than B2C on average. This is likely because B2B audiences often have a higher need for and engagement with the content and tend to check email more regularly as part of their job.

However, the gap isn‘t huge, and there‘s much variation within each group. The benchmarks are most useful for comparing your own rates to your specific cohort.

Factors That Impact Email Open Rates by Industry

So what accounts for the differences in average open rates between industries? A few key factors come into play:

  • Audience demographics – Some industries tend to skew towards certain demographic groups that may be more or less likely to engage with email. For instance, the arts and nonprofits have very "email-engaged" audiences.

  • Email content – The inherent subject matter and value proposition of typical email content in each industry plays a big role. More broadly appealing, entertaining, or educational content tends to drive higher opens than dry or promotional content.

  • Email frequency – Companies in some industries like retail and media tend to email at a higher frequency, which can lead to lower open rates. But nonprofits get away with high frequency since their audiences are so engaged.

  • Personalization – Certain industries are more advanced in leveraging email personalization, which has been shown to boost open rates by 26%. We‘ll get into some industry-specific tips next.

  • Mobile optimization – With 63% of emails now opened on mobile devices, industries that tend to have strong mobile email experiences see better open rates. Media and entertainment companies tend to be leaders here.

Of course, individual companies can outperform their industry averages by implementing email marketing best practices around list management, subject lines, etc. More tactical tips on that shortly.

Tips to Improve Open Rates for Your Industry

Now for the good stuff – what can you do to boost your open rates and beat the benchmarks for your industry? Here are some tips:

Nonprofit

  • Segmentation is key. Nonprofits often have diverse audiences, so segment your lists based on donor level, programs they support, volunteering, etc. to send more relevant, personalized content.
  • Lean into storytelling. Your supporters connect emotionally with your mission, so use engaging stories in your subject lines and preview text to entice opens.
  • Showcase impact. Feature compelling stats or results you‘ve achieved in subject lines, like "We‘ve saved 10,000 lives this year! Open to see how."

Ecommerce & Retail

  • Personalize based on behavior. Use past purchase, browse, and cart abandonment data to craft ultra-relevant subject lines.
  • Create urgency. Subject lines highlighting limited-time sales, low stock alerts, and real-time offers can compel opens.
  • Spotlight benefits. Emphasize new products, exclusive deals, and valuable content subscribers will get from opening your emails.

Media & Entertainment

  • Use attention-grabbing headlines. Make your subject lines as intriguing and curiosity-inducing as the best news headlines or blog titles.
  • Tease exciting content. Give subscribers a taste of the entertaining, inspiring, or emotionally resonant content they‘ll find inside.
  • Optimize for mobile. Make sure your subject lines and preview text look great on small screens, as media has high mobile open rates.

Software/SaaS

  • Educate and inform. Boost opens by featuring educational content like industry reports, how-to guides, and thought leadership in subject lines.
  • Leverage social proof. Tease case studies and testimonials showing how you‘ve helped similar customers achieve results.
  • Offer value. Give subscribers a reason to open by featuring templates, tools, and resources they can use.

Again, while tactical factors like your subject lines, "from" name, and preview text have the biggest direct impact on open rates, taking a holistic approach to providing value to your specific audience is just as critical.

Apple MPP‘s Effect on Open Rate Tracking

One important caveat to mention is that email open rates have become less reliable as a metric since the introduction of Apple‘s Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) in late 2021.

In a nutshell, MPP automatically loads email content (including tracking pixels) for Apple Mail users, making it appear as though they opened the email even if they didn‘t. For companies with a high percentage of Apple Mail users on their list, this can significantly inflate open rates.

Litmus found that overall email open rates increased by 6% from 2020 to 2022 as a result of MPP. And with almost 60% of email opens happening on Apple devices, the impact is substantial for many brands.

Chart showing email client market share, with Apple iPhone and Apple Mail totaling nearly 60%
Image source: Litmus

As a result, email marketers should take current open rates with a grain of salt and put more emphasis on measuring downstream metrics like clicks, conversions, and unsubscribes. Isolating opens from MPP vs. true opens can also help provide a more accurate view.

Other Email Engagement Metrics to Track

While opens are the first sign of engagement, there are other important email metrics to track alongside open rate. These include:

  • Click-through rate (CTR) – The percentage of subscribers who clicked a link in your email out of total recipients. Shows whether your email content is compelling subscribers to take action. Aim for 2%+.

  • Click-to-open rate (CTOR) – The percentage of unique opens that result in a click. A good measure of how engaging your email content is. 20-30% is a solid target.

  • Conversion rate – The percentage of subscribers who took a desired action like making a purchase or filling out a form. The ultimate measure of email campaign success. Benchmark varies based on conversion type.

  • Unsubscribe rate – The percentage of subscribers who opted out of your emails. A high unsubscribe rate (>0.5%) indicates you‘re missing the mark with your audience.

  • Bounce rate – The percentage of emails that couldn‘t be delivered. Strive for <2% to avoid hurting your sender reputation.

  • Complaint rate – The percentage of subscribers who marked your email as spam. Aim for <0.1%.

  • Forward/share rate – The percentage of subscribers who forwarded or shared your email. Shows your content is so valuable that subscribers are compelled to share it.

Table showing breakdown of email marketing benchmarks across metrics
Table source: CampaignMonitor

By tracking this full range of engagement metrics and comparing to benchmarks, you can better diagnose issues and optimize every aspect of your emails for your audience.

Key Takeaways

Email open rates vary significantly by industry, with arts, media, and nonprofits seeing the highest open rates on average and manufacturing and construction the lowest. B2B companies also tend to have slightly higher open rates than B2C.

While beating benchmarks is a good goal, what makes for a "good" open rate is ultimately relative to your own past performance and subscriber engagement. List hygiene, great subject lines, and providing consistent value are the biggest keys to improving opens in any industry.

However, with Apple MPP inflating open rates, marketers should focus more on optimizing for down-funnel engagement and conversion metrics. Tracking opens is still worthwhile for measuring progress, but it‘s no longer the ultimate indicator of email success.

By understanding the nuances of email benchmarks for your specific vertical and taking a holistic, subscriber-centric approach to your email program, you can achieve elite open rates and deliver massive value to your audience.

For more email marketing best practices and ways to improve your open rates, grab this free email marketing planning template to master your email strategy this year.

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