Email Marketing Benchmarks: How Do Your Campaigns Compare?

Email marketing is an essential tool for businesses looking to nurture buyers & clients. However, not all email campaigns are created equal, and it can be challenging to determine whether your email marketing campaigns are performing as well as they should, or could, be. 

This is where email marketing benchmarks come in handy. Understanding your specific industry benchmarks and tracking metrics can help you evaluate your campaigns and identify areas for improvement. In this blog, we’ll explore email marketing benchmarks, what they mean, and how you can use them to improve your campaigns’ performance. 

Terms to Know

Before we dive into industry benchmarks and tracking metrics, let’s define the essential email marketing terms you need to know.

• Open Rate: The percentage of email recipients who open your email. 

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of email openers who click on a link within your email.

• Conversion Rate: The percentage of email recipients who complete a specific action or make a purchase after clicking on a link within your email.

• Bounce Rate: The percentage of emails that couldn’t be delivered to subscribers’ inboxes.

• Unsubscribe Rate: The percentage of recipients who clicked the “unsubscribe” button in your email.

General Industry Benchmarks

Industry benchmarks provide you with a starting point to evaluate and compare your email marketing campaigns’ performance. While these benchmarks may differ depending on your specific industry, you can use them as a reference point to understand how your campaigns are performing.

According to data collected from studies by Campaign Monitor and Klaviyo, the following are average benchmarks for email marketing campaigns in 2023:

• Open rate: 20-40%

• CTR: 1.4-1.8%

• Conversion rate: 2-5%

• Bounce rate: Below 2%

• Unsubscribe rate: Less than 0.5%

Metrics to Track to Compare to Industry Benchmarks: 

Now that you’re familiar with the industry benchmarks, you need to know which specific metrics to track. Tracking these metrics will help you evaluate your campaigns’ performance and make data-driven decisions to improve them.

1. Email list growth rate:

Growing your email list is important for the success of your email marketing campaigns. Tracking your email list growth rate will help you identify whether you’re adding subscribers at a healthy rate or lagging behind.

2. Open rate: 

Your email open rate tells you how many subscribers are opening your email to view and engage  with your content. If your open rate is lower than your industry benchmark, it could be a sign that your subject lines need improvement, or your emails aren’t reaching your subscribers’ inboxes.

3. Click-through rate:

Your click-through rate shows you how many subscribers are clicking on your links and visiting your website. If your CTR is lower than your industry benchmark, it could indicate that your email content isn’t engaging enough or that your links aren’t relevant to your subscribers.

4. Conversion rate: 

Your conversion rate shows you how many of your subscribers are taking action or making a purchase after clicking your links. If this rate is low, it could mean that your call-to-action (CTA) isn’t compelling or that your landing page needs improvement.

5. Bounce rate: 

Your bounce rate indicates how many emails couldn’t be delivered to subscribers’ inboxes. If your bounce rate is higher than your industry benchmark, it could mean that your email list needs cleaning. 

6. Unsubscribe rate: 

Your email’s unsubscribe rate tells you how many subscribers are opting out of your email list. If your unsubscribe rate is high, it could mean that your emails aren’t relevant, or you’re sending too many emails.

Investing in Expert Strategists to Improve Your Metrics

While tracking metrics is essential, it can be overwhelming to understand what they mean and how to improve them. Working with email marketing experts and investing in the optimization of  your email marketing strategy can help ensure you’re sending campaigns that perform well and yield maximum conversions. 

At Strategy Maven Agency (SMA), we take pride in our team of experts. They are skilled in crafting emails that are specifically tailored to your target audience. Our goal is to deliver exceptional results that not only meet but exceed industry benchmarks. With our expertise, you can expect email campaigns that truly resonate with your audience and drive meaningful engagement.

You can book a free consultation with us to learn more about how we can take your email marketing efforts to new heights.

Conclusion 

Email marketing is a crucial component of a successful eCommerce marketing strategy; understanding email marketing benchmarks and tracking your email campaigns’ metrics is essential to success. By tracking your email list growth rate, open rate, CTR, conversion rate, bounce rate, and unsubscribe rate, you can determine how your campaigns are performing in comparison to your competitors and make data-driven decisions to improve them. Working with email marketing experts like SMA can improve your metrics by providing you with targeted email marketing strategies that yield results.