In my opinion THE most important email marketing KPI is Open Rate. Open rate = (total unique opens ÷ total recipients) x 100. Of course there are many variables in your quiver in the pursuit of a great open rate: Overlap of contact’s interest in content; visual appeal; time of day; day of week; email client; from sender info; segmentation, etc..
According to a blog post on the Super Office Blog by Steven MacDonald the average open rate in 2020 across all industries was 21.3%. [1] This will vary by industry or market segment and it is important to note that in evaluation your particular open rate you compare it the relevant industry.
Lately I’ve been working in the accounting and finance arena.
· According to MailChimp, the open rate for their Business and Finance clients is 21.56%.
· Constant Contact reports a 14.25 open rate for Financial Services (accounting services, bookkeeping, advisor, insurance and brokerage, etc).
· Hubspot reports the average open rate for the finance category is 23%. It includes accounting, banking, capital markets, financial services, investment banking, investment management, venture capital, and private equity.
· ActivCampaign reports an overall average open rate for emails with an engaged email list should be between 20-25% and can be as high as 40%
Strategically it is important to know what your average industry open rate is for benchmarking your current email program.
But the bottom line is: No open, no workee!
[3] Loewenstein, G. (1994). The psychology of curiosity: A review and reinterpretation. Psychological bulletin, 116(1), 75.