Email open rate

Divide unique opens by the number of emails delivered (sent minus bounces), then multiply by 100. It is one of the main email marketing metrics, and still a useful one despite the privacy changes covered below.

Open rate = (Unique opens ÷ Emails delivered) × 100

Sent: 1,000   Bounced: 50   Delivered: 950   Unique opens: 285
Open rate = (285 ÷ 950) × 100 = 30%

Use unique opens, which count each recipient once however many times they open. Total opens count every open and inflate the number.

Open rates vary a lot by industry, audience and type of email.

B2B email consistently beats B2C benchmarks. Recipients signed up because of a real professional need, so they are a more engaged audience.

What works for B2B

• Send midweek

  Tuesday to Thursday, 10am to 2pm in the recipient’s timezone.

• Name the company or product

  A familiar name in the subject line gets recognized.

• Personalize by role

  Use job title, industry or company size.

• Speak to their problem

  Reference pain points specific to their role.

• Send less to cold lists

  One or two emails a month.

How B2B differs from B2C

• Decisions are more considered, so longer subject lines are acceptable.
• B2B audiences check email less on weekends.
• Recipients share inboxes with colleagues, which affects metrics.
• Unsubscribe rates are lower: 0.1-0.3% against 0.3-0.5%.
• Transactional email such as invoices and updates gets far more opens.

The subject line matters most. It should be specific and relevant, and create curiosity without being clickbait. Before that, people check who the email is from.

• Subject line

  Personal and specific beats vague. “John, your invoice is ready” is clear.

• Sender name

  “Acme” or “Ana from Acme” works better than noreply@acme.com.

• Send time and day

  B2B does best Tuesday to Thursday, 10am to 2pm. B2C varies, so test evenings and weekends. Avoid Monday mornings and Friday afternoons.

• List quality and segmentation

  Engaged subscribers open more. Inactive ones drag the rate down: re-engage or remove them.

• Deliverability and reputation

  Email in spam does not get opened. Authenticate with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and keep complaints low.

• Frequency

  Too often causes fatigue and unsubscribes; too rarely and people forget you. One to four marketing emails a week is typical.

• Mobile

  Over 60% of email is opened on mobile. Keep subject lines to 40-50 characters and write clear preview text.

• Write better subject lines

  Try questions, personalization, numbers and honest urgency. Keep them under 50 characters and A/B test.

• Personalize beyond first names

  Use behavior, past purchases, browsing history or location. “Products you recently viewed” beats a generic blast.

• Segment your audience

  Group by engagement, purchase history, demographics or interests. Segmented campaigns see 14-100% higher open rates.

• Write the preview text

  It sits next to the subject line. Use it to add context, not “View this email in your browser”.

• Clean your list

  Remove subscribers who have not engaged in 6-12 months. The list gets smaller, but open rate and sender reputation improve. Verify addresses before they get in.

• Test send times

  Send the same email at different times and see when your audience responds. Send time optimization can lift opens by 20-50%.

• Re-engage before removing

  Send a “Still interested?” email, perhaps with an offer. Remove those who still do not engage.

• Keep your sender name consistent

  People open names they recognize. Avoid changing it.

Since iOS 15, Apple Mail preloads every image and tracking pixel when a message arrives. An open is recorded whether or not the person ever sees the email, so open tracking is unreliable for Apple Mail users.

With opens less reliable, put more weight on click-through rate, conversion rate, reply rate and revenue per email. They show real engagement and return.