Email Open Rates By Industry: See How You Stack Up | Sales
As a sales professional, you’re sending emails all day, every day. Hopefully you have some idea of what your open rate is — but do you know how you rank against the rest of your industry?
What if you’re below average and have room to improve?
Maybe your current rate is 20%. With a few changes, you increase to 30%.
Let’s do some quick math.
For every 100 emails, you get 10 booked meetings. Of those meetings, you typically close three deals.
If you booked 15 meetings instead, you could close four or five additional deals. That’s the difference between missing your quota and handily beating it.
Find out how your email open rate compares to your industry.
To help you identify how good your open rate is, the HubSpot team analyzed open rate data from 25,000,000+ emails across 28 industries.
Here are some interesting findings from the data:
- Out of the 28 industries, Marketing and Advertising companies have the lowest email open rates.
- Arts & Entertainment, Construction, Human Resources, Legal & Government, and Real Estate have the highest open rates.
- The overall average open rate across all industries is 32%.
As a bonus, after you find out your benchmark we provide the tips and tools for you to improve your open rate by up to 11%.
Email Click-Through Rate Statistics and Best Practices
It’s all well and good to talk about improving email click-through rates — but how is it actually done? Here are some statistics and best practices to help you optimize your email click-through rate and communicate better with your prospects.
- 15% of marketers surveyed say their company still does not regularly review email opens and clicks; only 23% say they have integrated their website and emails to track what happens after a click. (MarketingProfs, 2016)
- As the number of images in an email increases, the clickthrough rate of the email tends to decrease. (HubSpot, 2014)
- 11 a.m. ET has the highest clickthrough rate for email sends. (HubSpot, 2015)
- Emails that included the first name of the recipient in their subject line had higher clickthrough rates than emails that did not. (HubSpot, 2014)
- 56% of brands using an emoji in their email subject line had a higher open rate than those that did not. (Forbes, 2017)
- Emails that included the first name of the recipient in their subject line had higher clickthrough rates than emails that did not. (HubSpot, 2014)
- Recipients are 75% more likely to click on emails from segmented campaigns than non-segmented campaigns. (MailChimp, 2017)
- Emails that display incorrectly on mobile may be deleted within three seconds. (Campaign Monitor, 2018)
- Almost every report on email open rates concludes that mobile is responsible for at least 50% of all opens. (Campaign Monitor, 2018)
- 35% of business professionals check email on a mobile device. (Convince & Convert, 2018)
Frequently Asked Questions About Email Subject Lines
How do I improve my email open rates?
The lowest-hanging fruit is personalizing your subject line so it’s unique to the specific prospect. For instance, if your recipient’s LinkedIn profile says they love sailing, your subject line might read “Fellow sailing enthusiast // question about Company X” or “This is naut(ical) your typical sales email.” Corny? Yes. Effective? Also yes.
What are best practices for email subject lines?
- Keep it short and sweet: Fewer words makes it easier to understand.
- Tailor it to the specific person you’re emailing: Research, research, research. Include a phrase or piece of information to show that your email is relevant.
- Tell them what to expect if they open your email: If they know what to expect — and it’s what they want — they’ll be more likely to open the email.
- Don’t use all caps or overuse exclamation points: An outreach email is never life or death, so a subject line that says “IMPORTANT!!!” will only hurt your credibility and make you seem desperate.
What are examples of great email subject lines?
Not to beat a dead horse, but personalization is key — so rather than copying and pasting these examples, use them as inspiration.
- “Aja, thought you’d be interested in new data on Google rankings”
- “Cal Poly connection”
- “My favorite part of your recent article”
- “Identified some content opportunities for you”
How do I personalize subject lines?
Personalize your subject lines by using the recipient’s name, mentioning their company, mentioning someone they know, or referring to a personal tidbit about them.
Average Email Open Rate
From a sample of over 25 million emails, the average open rate across all industries is 37%.
Email Open Rates by Industry
- Arts and Entertainment: 47%
- Auto: 35%
- Beauty and Fitness: 40%
- Biotech: 37%
- Business and Industrial: 41%
- Software: 28%
- Computers and Electronics: 35%
- Construction: 45%
- Design and Development: 39%
- Event Services: 35%
- Finance: 40%
- Healthcare: 33%
- Hospitality: 40%
- HR: 44%
- IT: 38%
- Insurance: 38%
- Internet and Telecom: 40%
- Jobs and Education: 32%
- Legal and Government: 44%
- Management Consulting: 40%
- Marketing and Advertising: 25%
- Media: 32%
- Non-profit: 28%
- Professional Training and Coaching: 36%
- PR and Communications: 28%
- Real estate: 42%
- Shopping: 41%
- Travel: 28%
What is the average email open rate for arts and entertainment companies?
From a sample of over 174,000 emails, the average open rate for the arts and entertainment category is 47%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: entertainment, fine art, gambling and casinos, media production, motion pictures and film, museums and institutions, newspapers, performing arts, photography, or sports.
What is the average email open rate for autos and vehicles companies?
From a sample of over 119,000 emails, the average open rate for the autos and vehicle category is 35%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: automotive, aviation and aerospace, or shipbuilding.
What is the average email open rate for beauty and fitness companies?
From a sample of over 180,000 emails, the average open rate for the beauty and fitness category is 40%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: cosmetics or health, wellness, and fitness.
What is the average email open rate for biotechnology companies?
From a sample of over 90,000 emails, the average open rate for the biotechnology category is 37%.
What is the average email open rate for business and industrial companies?
From a sample of over 2.6 million emails, the average open rate for the business and industrial category is 41%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: architecture and planning, building materials, business supplies and equipment, chemicals, civil engineering, consulting, defense and space, environmental services, executive office, facilities services, furniture, glass, ceramics concrete, import and export, industrial automation, logistics and supply chain, machinery, maritime, market research, mechanical and industrial engineering, mining and metals, oil and energy, outsourcing and offshoring, package and freight delivery, packaging and containers, paper and forest products, pharmaceuticals, printing, railroad manufacture, recreational facilities and services, renewables and environment, research, textiles, translation and localization, transportation, trucking, railroad, utilities, warehousing, wholesale, or writing and editing.
What is the average email open rate for computer software companies?
From a sample of over 7.6 million emails, the average open rate for the computer software category is 28%.
What is the average email open rate for computers and electronics companies?
From a sample of over 348,000 emails, the average open rate for the computers and electronics category is 35%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: computer games, computer hardware, consumer electronics, electrical or electronic manufacturing, nanotechnology, semiconductors, or technology.
What is the average email open rate for construction companies?
From a sample of over 195,000 emails, the average open rate for the construction category is 45%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as construction.
What is the average email open rate for design and development companies?
From a sample of over 259,000 emails, the average open rate for the design and development category is 39%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: animation, design, or graphic design.
What is the average email open rate for event services companies?
From a sample of over 75,000 emails, the average open rate for the event services category is 35%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as event services.
What is the average email open rate for finance companies companies?
From a sample of over 877,000 emails, the average open rate for the finance category is 40%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: accounting, banking, capital markets, financial services, investment banking, investment management, venture capital, or private equity.
What is the average email open rate for healthcare companies?
From a sample of over 485,000 emails, the average open rate for the healthcare category is 33%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: alternative medicine, hospital and health care, individual and family services, medical devices, medical practice, mental health care, or veterinary.
What is the average email open rate for hospitality companies?
From a sample of over 92,000 emails, the average open rate for the hospitality category is 40%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: hospitality or restaurants.
What is the average email open rate for human resources companies?
From a sample of over 135,000 emails, the average open rate for the human resources category is 44%.
What is the average email open rate for information technology and services companies?
From a sample of over 2.3 million emails, the average open rate for the information technology and services category is 38%.
What is the average email open rate for insurance companies?
From a sample of over 213,000 emails, the average open rate for the insurance category is 38%.
What is the average email open rate for internet and telecom companies?
From a sample of over 533,000 emails, the average open rate for the internet and telecom category is 40%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: broadcast media, computer and network security, computer networking, internet, telecommunications, or wireless.
What is the average email open rate for jobs and education companies?
From a sample of over 965,000 emails, the average open rate for the jobs and education category is 32%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: civic and social organization, e-learning, education management, higher education, libraries, primary or secondary education, program development, or staffing and recruiting.
What is the average email open rate for legal and government companies?
From a sample of over 210,000 emails, the average open rate for the legal and government category is 44%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: alternative dispute resolution, government administration, government relations, international affairs, international trade and development, judiciary law enforcement, law practice, legal services, legislative office, military, political organization, public policy, public safety, security and investigations, or think tanks. Legal and government has the fourth highest email open rate, reflecting the importance and sense of urgency that naturally comes with this industry.
What is the average email open rate for management consulting companies?
From a sample of over 708,000 emails, the average open rate for the management consulting category is 40%.
What is the average email open rate for marketing and advertising companies?
From a sample of over 5.7 million emails, the average open rate for the marketing and advertising category is 25%. Marketing and advertising companies have the lowest sales email open rate.
What is the average email open rate for media companies?
From a sample of over 320,000 emails, the average open rate for the media category is 32%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: music, online media, or publishing.
What is the average email open rate for non-profit companies?
From a sample of over 180,000 emails, the average open rate for the non-profit category is 28%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: fundraising, non-profit organization management, philanthropy, or religious institutions.
What is the average email open rate for professional training and coaching companies?
From a sample of over 188,000 emails, the average open rate for the professional training and coaching category is 36%.
What is the average email open rate for public relations and communications?
From a sample of over 144,000 emails, the average open rate for the public relations and communications category is 28%.
What is the average email open rate for real estate companies?
From a sample of over 427,000 emails, the average open rate for the real estate category is 42%.
What is the average email open rate for shopping companies?
From a sample of over 312,000 emails, the average open rate for the shopping category is 41%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: apparel and fashion, arts and crafts, consumer goods, consumer services, food and beverages, luxury goods and jewelry, retail, sporting goods, supermarkets, or wine and spirits.
What is the average email open rate for travel companies?
From a sample of over 266,000 emails, the average open rate for the travel category is 28%. This category encompasses companies that self-identified their industry as: airlines and aviation or leisure, travel and tourism.
