While many feel that email marketing is long dead and that putting messages in your customer’s inboxes doesn’t really generate buzz — the truth is very different. Email marketing statistics show that this form of promoting one’s business is more successful than ever. It’s conversion-rich and can be used for anything from keeping your existing customers informed and happy, to reaching out to potential clients. While we’re not saying that you should neglect other marketing channels, email remains highly effective and is tried and tested many times over.
You don’t believe us? Read on to see that email marketing is alive and kicking.
Email Marketing Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
- 86% of professionals prefer using email for business communication.
- The best time to send marketing emails is 11 am.
- Mobile devices account for 53% of all opened emails, with those same emails reopened again later by 23% of recipients.
- For every dollar spent on email marketing, the expected return is over $40.
- Emails are the primary source for lead nurturing for 87% of B2B marketers.
- A massive 81% of SMBs rely on email marketing to acquire customers.
- For top-performing marketers, the average opt-in rate is 4.77%.
- Email automation is the number one factor used by 66% of marketers to improve email effectiveness.
Email Marketing Stats Rundown
1. By 2022, the number of email users around the world is expected to surpass 4.3 billion.
Data point to the growth of email as a communication medium. In 2017, there were 3.7 billion users of email around the world. The same study forecasts that, by 2022, this number will exceed 4.3 billion users globally.
(Oberlo)
2. In the next four years, nearly 60 billion junk emails will be sent.
Junk mail-related email statistics confirm that internet service providers are increasingly implementing better spamming filters to keep customer inboxes clean of this ‘pest’. And while there has been improvement, nobody likes spam emails which is why marketers should start adapting to the way filters work to make sure their messages end up in the intended inbox space.
(Campaign Monitor)
3. Transactional emails comprise less than half of the 1.47 billion emails US companies send on average per month.
Email marketing stats reveal that a total of 1.47 billion emails are sent out by United States companies on average every month. While transaction emails comprise 41% of this number, marketing emails are actually more frequently sent in comparison – 59%. This just goes to show that US companies already know that email is here to stay and that it is rightfully called the backbone of modern marketing campaigns.
(Invesp)
4. 86% of professionals prefer using email for business communication.
When it comes to purely business purposes, email usage statistics suggest that email is the preferred medium of choice for communication compared to other channels. Email, favored by 86% of respondents, is followed by face-to-face communication with 60%. Phone calls come in at a close third, at 56%, whereas social and video are the mediums of choice for 39% and 38%, respectively. Lastly, messaging is the least favorite way with only 31%.
(Lyfe Marketing)
5. Almost 80% of American employees check their work emails outside of working hours.
If your company has an ongoing webinar or tradeshow campaign, emails are a good way to promote them. Statistics on email marketing confirm 49% of workers check their emails outside of normal working hours. Another 13% check their emails a few times within the hour and 11% check their inbox every hour. This could be related to the increase in mobile opens but interestingly, 9% of employees are constantly expecting a new email to reach them. This data is important for marketers as it shows customers are willing to read emails even if they do not receive them during working hours.
(Statista)
6. The best time to send marketing emails is 11 AM.
The latest email marketing effectiveness statistics show that the traffic peak happens in autumn and winter especially for events such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the day before Christmas Eve, December 23rd. Aside from those and if it’s not the holiday season, the best days to send emails are Tuesdays and Thursdays at around 11 AM. If your goal is to boost your email click-through rate, studies show that emails sent at 12 AM generate the highest CTR.
(Snovio Labs)
7. 58% of adults check their email as soon as they wake up.
Another thing we know, courtesy of email marketing statistics and metrics, is that the first thing 58% of adults are likely to do when they wake up in the morning is to check their email. Just imagine: a potential customer wakes up and the first email in their inbox is one from you, notifying them that you’re offering a discount on your products.
(WebFX)
8. Mobile devices account for 53% of all opened emails, and those same emails are reopened again later by 23% of recipients.
Smartphones and other mobile devices have a lot to do with the success rates of email marketing campaigns. Email marketing statistics show that more than one-half of emails sent out by marketers are accessed on mobile devices, most likely due to the convenience they provide, such as ease of access and mobility. At the same time, these same emails are reopened again later by 23% of recipients, once again confirming that there’s just no substitute for a well-crafted and precisely targeted email campaign.
(WPForms)
9. Webmail clients are used for opening 40% of all emails received.
People most commonly use webmail clients to access their received emails (40%), according to email usage statistics. A study by Litmus found that, among this percentage, the biggest share on the market belongs to Gmail (26.2%). The second and third places go to Yahoo! Mail (6.6%) and Outlook.com (2.4%), respectively.
(Finances Online)
10. Emails make the buying process 3X faster compared to social media.
A recent study by McKinsey & Company revealed that, compared to social media, the buying process is three times faster when taking place through email. Email marketing facts presented in the same study also put the effectiveness of emails 40 times higher than that of social media. Simultaneously and across all industries, emails have an open engagement rate of 22.68%; for the sake of comparison, the combined overall engagement of Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook is 0.58%.
(Monster Insights)
11. For every dollar spent on email marketing, the expected return is over $40.
There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t expect a solid email marketing ROI if you build a well-thought-through strategy. Email marketing ROI statistics indicate that if a marketer spends one dollar on email marketing, they can expect an average return of up to $42 which is actually more than expected, right? This data shows that there are not only multiple benefits to email marketing but also excellent returns that will help you keep your business steady and going.
(Oberlo)
12. 59% of marketers say emails have the best return on investment.
Emails are not just one of the oldest digital marketing tools for attracting the attention of potential customers but as email marketing facts show, almost six out of ten marketers consider them as the best way to see ROI. In fact, for a whopping 89% of marketers, emails are the main and most effective channel for generating leads. Then, when it comes to evaluating and analyzing data, emails are the number one most reliable source for marketers.
(WebFX)
13. Segmented campaigns yield an increase in revenue as high as 760%, according to marketers.
There’s a clever hack you can use to maximize the revenue from your marketing campaigns and statistics on email marketing show the way — instead of sending out a bulk email to all of the clients on your mailing list, put in just a bit more effort to generate segmented campaigns and divide your mailing list according to various criteria. This approach, discussed in a report by Campaign Monitor from 2019, takes just a bit longer to implement but generates a whopping 760% rise in revenue.
(Hubspot)
14. A significant 40% of marketers do not send targeted emails to clients.
Email marketing success rates tend to plummet unless marketers send targeted emails to clients. Statistics about email marketing originating from a study recently done by Lyfe Marketing, indicate that 40% of marketers cannot ignore this huge opportunity to capitalize on their campaigns. And as noted above, email list segmentation can result in much higher revenue than usual, and the process starts by prioritizing your clients’ identity. Generic emails just won’t do here; hyper-targeted emails are the way to go to make your email marketing campaigns more relevant.
(Lyfe Marketing)
15. Email marketing is used by a staggering 97% of businesses to convert prospects into buyers.
Most recent email marketing stats reveal that the majority of businesses rely on this type of marketing to boost their conversion rates. Why? 97% of marketers are well aware that 76% of subscribers decide to make a purchase just because they saw and read the email marketing message sent to them. So, in case you had any doubts about the overall performance of email marketing perhaps this has changed your mind.
(Disruptive Advertising)
16. The primary goal of 67% of email marketers is to boost engagement.
Boosting engagement, according to email marketing statistics and metrics, is the biggest obstacle to overcome for nearly half of email marketers worldwide, though slightly more of these professionals (67%) also see this as the initial goal of their campaigns. Other objectives include improving brand awareness for 59% of marketers, increasing lead generation (47%), boosting conversions (39%), increasing their list growth (20%), improving personalization (19%), and improving data list quality (16%).
(Business 2 Community)
17. Almost 17% of marketers struggle with poor coordination between other departments and channels.
Email marketing, as rewarding as it may be, is still a major challenge for marketers as they fail to provide enough evidence to make the case for it. Stats on email marketing show 16.4% of marketers are frustrated by poor coordination between departments, 14.4% are understaffed, 14.1% face limitations from their email service provider, and another 12.8% complain about the quality of their strategy and leadership team. Lack of quality data, inadequate tools for creating good emails, and low visibility into email performance and deliverability are a constant struggle for professionals who understand the true value of email marketing.
(Influencer Marketing Hub)
18. A massive 81% of SMBs rely on email marketing to acquire customers.
Statistics about email marketing and the extent to which small and midsize businesses benefit from it reveal some astonishing data. For a total of 81% of SMBs, email marketing is still the primary channel for acquiring customers, and for 80%, it is also the main source for retaining customers.
(Oberlo)
19. Sending only two emails a month results in the highest open rate.
With digital technologies, it’s incredibly easy to fall into the “more is more” trap, especially so during an email campaign. But, this is the ideal example of a situation where the opposite is true: emailing statistics show that less is more for sending out emails either to existing or potential customers. Research shows that companies that send only two emails to clients every month are the ones experiencing the highest open rates. Not stuffing your client’s inbox with promotional emails, therefore, has proven to be effective.
(Backlinko)
20. Emails are the primary source for lead nurturing for 87% of B2B marketers.
Almost 90% of marketers in North America rely on emails as the most efficient way to nurture leads. B2B email marketing statistics also confirm that partner emails are an excellent way to promote content for 51% of top B2B marketers. The same research found that 93% of B2B marketers operating in North America distribute content via emails and this is a technique used by both top successful and not so successful marketers.
(Influencer Marketing Hub)
21. The average email marketing benchmark for email open rates stands at 17.92%.
The average email marketing benchmarks by industry for open rate are highest for non-profits at 20.39%, agriculture at 20.13% and unsurprisingly, government at 19.79%, email marketing statistics confirm. To give you a clearer image of these figures consider this: the average email open rate is 17.92%, the click to open rate is 14.10%, the email click-through rate is 2.69% while the bounce rate is 1.06% and the unsubscribe rate is 0.17%.
(Finances Online)
22. Newsletters as part of content marketing are used by 83% of B2B companies.
Newsletters are used across industries as a way to spread the latest news about the ongoing business activities but they are also an effective technique for boosting content marketing. According to B2B email marketing statistics, for an impressive 83% of B2B marketers newsletters are an integral part of their marketing program. Moreover, for 40% of marketers, newsletters are not only part of the content marketing strategy but they are critical to its success.
(Hub Spot)
23. For top-performing marketers, the average opt-in rate is 4.77%.
One of the metrics used to evaluate the success of an email marketing strategy is the opt-in rate or the percentage of site visitors who subscribe to your email list. Opt-in email marketing statistics indicate that the average email opt-in rate is 1.95% across all verticals. What this means is that of the 10 visitors visiting your website only about 2 will subscribe to your emails. For the top 10% of email marketers, however, the average opt-in rate is much higher and stands at 4.77%.
(Finances Online)
24. 59% of email subscribers unsubscribe because they receive too many emails.
A stellar email marketing strategy is not just about getting subscribers but also about keeping them. The latest stats on email marketing present the three most common reasons why people unsubscribe from an email list and the most common one cited by 59% of (un)subscribers is “I am getting too many emails”. Of course, it is up to you as a marketer to make sure your emails are relevant to your subscribers so they won’t choose to unsubscribe from yours. 43% say they’ve unsubscribed because they are receiving irrelevant information or do not recognize the brand.
(Backlinko)
25. Automation is used to send 47% of welcome emails.
Automation tools are introducing the new rules of email marketing and email marketing automation statistics prove that it is used by all marketers for all types of emails primarily for welcome emails. A solid 46% of promotional emails are sent via automation tools, 28% of transactional emails, 27% of invitations and reminders, and 26% of blog updates. Automation is also used to send 23% of upselling emails and 15% of event-triggered emails based on the customer lifecycle.
(Snovio Labs)
26. Email automation is the number one factor used by 66% of marketers to improve email effectiveness.
The most recent email marketing effectiveness statistics point to automation as the most widely used technique by a total of 66% of marketers in an attempt to improve the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. Going forward, one-third of marketers (37%) say they will be focusing on automated email campaigns, 32% believe personalization holds the key to a winning marketing strategy while 29% believe email segmentation is the best option to acquire and engage more customers.
(Influencer Marketing Hub)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is email marketing still effective?
Yes, email marketing is still very effective. Stats show that 269 billion emails were sent and received every single day in 2017 alone, with the number expected to shoot past 333 daily emails by 2022. At the same time and despite many claiming that the days of email are long gone, email campaigns are not only still going strong, but continue to be one of the most effective tools for online marketers when it comes to criteria such as engagement, email marketing ROI, reachability, email open rates, lead generation and so on.
How many marketing emails are sent per day?
A total of 1.47 billion emails are sent out by United States companies on average every month. While transaction emails comprise 41% of this total number, marketing emails are actually more frequently sent in comparison – 59%, which is 18 points more than transactional mail. A simple calculation reveals that 1.47 billion emails monthly, on average, translates into 49 million emails daily. With 59% of those marketing emails, we arrive at a figure of 28.91 million emails sent out by US companies, every day on average.
What can email marketing do for your business?
Email marketing is one of the quickest, simplest, most powerful and effective ways to better understand where your business stands, and then use the data (email addresses) provided to you by current and prospective clients to develop and grow your business. Basically, global email marketing statistics show that this method lets you strengthen your relationship with existing customers, and reach new ones. It allows you to market your business online and stay connected with your customers, inform them of discount offers, new products, and services, as well as remind them why you’re the best choice for them and the actual value you’re offering.
Wrapping it Up
While new forms of communication and marketing channels have taken the world by storm, the good old email has managed to hold its own. Moreover, automation will be steering the wheel of the future of email marketing and ensure campaigns become more hyper-targeted and effective. And as these email marketing statistics conclusively show, its easy personalization and higher customer interaction properties have only made it more resilient in the age of social media and short attention spans.
