People say it's important to know. At times I feel like my open rates are tanking, but then I look a bit closer, and I'm more than keeping up with the industry.
Email open rates by industry
I'm always curious to know how I'm doing against industry benchmarks. Take a look at this chart and compare to yours. Are your open rates higher or lower? What about the click-through rate?
This chart shows average email open rates and click-through rates (CTRs) by industry, based on data from Campaign Monitor:
| Industry | Average Open Rate | Average CTR |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, & Hunting | 24.79% | 3.17% |
| Arts and Entertainment | 20.55% | 2.84% |
| Automotive | 22.15% | 2.54% |
| Business and Finance | 20.05% | 2.53% |
| Computers and Electronics | 21.33% | 2.91% |
| Construction | 23.58% | 2.99% |
| Consulting | 18.68% | 2.32% |
| Education and Training | 22.35% | 2.88% |
| Government | 23.27% | 2.98% |
| Health and Wellness | 22.48% | 3.09% |
| Hospitality and Travel | 19.08% | 2.25% |
| Legal | 19.89% | 2.54% |
| Manufacturing | 22.83% | 2.88% |
| Marketing and Advertising | 18.51% | 2.14% |
| Media and Publishing | 20.25% | 2.30% |
| Nonprofit | 24.79% | 2.79% |
| Real Estate | 19.79% | 2.49% |
| Retail | 19.51% | 2.31% |
| Telecommunications | 19.83% | 2.47% |
| Other Services | 21.41% | 2.60% |
Please note that these are just averages and your own email open rates and CTRs may vary depending on various factors such as the quality of your email list, the relevance of your content to your audience, and the effectiveness of your email design and copy.
Five (5) Ways to Increase Open Rates
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Write compelling subject lines: Your subject line is the first thing your subscribers see in their inbox, so it's important to make it interesting and relevant. Use clear language and avoid vague or spammy-sounding words.
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Segment your email list: Segmenting your email list means grouping your subscribers based on factors such as their interests, behavior, or demographics. By sending targeted emails to specific segments, you can increase the relevance of your messages and boost your open rates.
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Optimize your preview text: Preview text is the snippet of text that appears below or next to your subject line in some email clients. Make sure to optimize this text by including a clear and concise summary of what your email is about.
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Experiment with send times: The best send time for your emails may vary depending on your audience and industry. Test different send times to see which ones result in higher open rates.
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Clean up your email list: If you have inactive or unengaged subscribers on your email list, it can hurt your open rates. Regularly clean up your list by removing subscribers who haven't opened or clicked on your emails in a long time. This can help you maintain a more engaged and responsive audience.
Three (3) Ways to Increase Click-Through Rates (CTRs)
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Use clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA): A CTA is the link or button that encourages readers to take action. Use clear and compelling language to entice readers to click. Be specific about what the reader will get by clicking the link and make it easy to find and click.
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Optimize email design: Make sure your email design is visually appealing and easy to read. Use whitespace, images, and bullet points to break up the text. The design should be consistent with your brand and easy to scan. Make sure to test your email design on different devices and email clients to ensure it looks good everywhere.
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Personalize content: Use personalization techniques to make the email content more relevant to the recipient. For example, you can use their name, past purchases, or behavior on your website to tailor the content. This makes the email more engaging and increases the likelihood of clicks. However, make sure to only use personalization when it makes sense and avoid overusing it, as it can come across as creepy or intrusive.
Make Your Content Stand Out
It's simple. Just use my funny holidays calendar to help you think of things to post. This doesn't have to be everything your posts are about. Of course not! But it does jiggle the brain when you get stuck on posting ideas.
June Monthly
- Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month
- Aquarium Month
- Candy Month
- Dairy Month
- Effective Communications Month
- Fight the Filthy Fly Month
- Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
- Great Outdoors Month
- National Accordion Awareness Month
- National Adopt a Cat Month
- National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month
- National Iced Tea Month
- Rose Month
- Turkey Lovers Month
June Weekly
- Week 1 Fishing Week
- Week 2 Email Week
- Week 1 National Gardening Week
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