41+ email marketing statistics that will define 2025
Chiara, Arnold, Ruta, and Harmony from the Marketing Team
Email is the vinyl record of digital marketing. It’s timeless, trusted, and getting better with age. And the numbers are here to prove it.
This year’s email marketing metrics tell a surprising story of Gen Z open rates, ROIs that put social media to shame, and the truth about emojis.
Whether you’re a marketer, founder, or just someone who loves a good open rate, these numbers for 2025 are worth the scroll.
Core email marketing statistics
Is email marketing still effective? Let’s get a quick overview of how it stacks up alongside other digital marketing channels and how its usage and return on investment (ROI) are changing this year.
Email usage statistics
Global email user growth
Email is a vital part of the online world, with 4.37 billion people using email in 2023. Predictions suggest that the number of email users will hit 4.89 billion in 2027 (more than the current population of Asia)!
Percentage of people who use email monthly
75% of internet users access their email inbox at least once per month. To put this into perspective, it means that people are more likely to check their emails than to read the news or order a takeaway.
Daily email volume trends
Average email volume trends are skyrocketing. Predictions suggest that 376.4 billion emails will be sent daily in 2025, compared to just 281 billion in 2018. That’s a lot of emails.
Email client market share
As of February 2025, Apple dominates the email client market with a 50.20% share, followed by Gmail at 27.79% and Outlook at 8.10%. These three platforms together account for over 86% of all observed email opens, highlighting the importance of optimizing campaigns for each.
Demographic insights
What else can we find out about global email marketing audiences? Here are some quick pointers.
Age: Surprisingly, amongst working-age adults, 16 to 24-year-olds are the most likely to be using email, even more than their millennial counterparts. Seems like Gen Z is more classic than we give them credit for.
Gender: Men report using email slightly more than women, with 77.2% of males accessing email services, compared to 75.1% of females. (Only a 2.75% difference, but still!)
Region: According to MailerLite, Australia has the highest average open rates and click rates, at 46.34% and 2.35%, while Latin American countries have the lowest.
Email marketing ROI statistics
Average ROI benchmarks
According to a Litmus survey, marketers get a $36 return on investment for every $1 they spend. That works out at a 3,500% ROI, making email the best way to invest your marketing budget.
Email ROI compared to other marketing channels
Email marketing ROI is a clear winner compared to other marketing channels. While email offers a 3,500% ROI, Google Ads can only bring in 700%, and social media a mere 250%. Almost not worth the comparison!
ROI by industry and business type
Certain industries can expect more email marketing revenue than others. Email marketing ROI is highest for retail, e-commerce, and consumer goods. On the other hand, media, publishing, events, sports, and entertainment get a much lower ROI.
Engagement and performance metrics
When it comes to email marketing, opens and clicks are just the beginning. These metrics reveal how well email messages are landing in 2025 (and whether people actually care).
Email engagement statistics
Global average engagement rates
After analyzing over 3 million campaigns, MailerLite identified the following benchmarks for 2025:
Global average open rate: 42.35%
Global average click rate: 2%
Global average click-to-open rate (CTOR): 5.63%
Global average unsubscribe rate: 0.08%
Average open rates by industry
MailerLite also found that open rates can vary depending on the industry. Non-profit, religious, and hobby-related email newsletters have higher open rates, while travel, publishing and e-commerce have the lowest.
Average click-through rates (CTR) by industry
Click rates also vary depending on the sender's industry. MailerLite benchmarks showed that media, government, and hobby-related newsletters had the highest click rates, while travel, marketing and advertising, and restaurants had the lowest.
Click-to-open rates (CTOR) by industry
CTOR shows the percentage of email openers who clicked on the email. The MailerLite benchmarks for 2025 show that media, government, and hobby-related newsletters also have the highest CTOR. On the other hand, restaurants, marketing and advertising, and real estate had the lowest CTOR.
Unsubscribe rates by industry
Authors topped the chart for unsubscribe rates at 0.21%, followed closely by photo and video at 0.20%, and home and garden at 0.19%. On the flip side, nine industries reported a 0.00% unsubscribe rate. Among them were non-profits, travel and transportation, sports, manufacturing, and more.
Bounce rate benchmarks
Your email bounce rate refers to the percentage of emails that couldn’t be sent, which affects your overall deliverability. According to MailerCheck, the industry benchmark is 0.06%.
Email subject line statistics
Optimal subject line length
While the average email subject line length is 6 words, the best-performing ones are only 2-4 words. It seems that short and sweet is best when it comes to subject lines.
Best-performing keywords in subject lines
In its ultimate guide to subject lines, MailerLite identified keywords that often appeared in well-performing campaigns.
This list included, “welcome”, “ebooks”, “bargain”, “video”, “bonus”, “party”, “daily”, “updates”, “event”, “challenge”, “important”, “surprise”, “meeting”, “announcement”, “final”, “favorite”, “exclusive”, “discount”, “stream”, “confirmation”, “requirements”, “premiere”, “briefing”, “confirm”, “promotion”, “downloading”, “recording”, “congratulations”.
This list suggests that welcome emails perform particularly well, as do confirmation emails.
Worst-performing keywords in subject lines
In the same guide, MailerLite also found subject line keywords associated with the worst-performing campaigns.
These included, “missed”, “grab”, “easy”, “case”, “email”, “resending”, “post”, “game”, “forget”, “flash”, “rate”, “enter”, “loan”, “resend”, “resources”, “activities”, “article”, “unlimited”, “career”, “level”, “influencer”, “wicked”, “jump”.
This shows that resending campaigns needs to be done with care, rather than just saying “missed” or “resending”.
Mentioning dates in subject lines
MailerLite’s subject line data also showed that mentioning dates can improve open rates, particularly if the month name is referenced.
Mentioning numbers in subject lines
Numbers can also help improve subject line engagement—but only for certain industries. MailerLite found that online courses, SaaS platforms, and artists benefit from using numbers in the subject line, while other industries, such as musicians, have lower open rates when including a number.
To emoji or not to emoji? 👀
MailerLite recently studied how using emojis in subject lines impacts open rates, and the answer varies depending on your industry.
Here are a few examples of how using emojis affected open rates:
Consulting: +2.20%
E-commerce: -1.58%
Educational institutions: +6.30%
Retail: -8.18%
Travel and transportation: -6.80%
Computers and electronics: +9.42%
Personalized subject lines
If you want to stand out in the inbox, try calling someone by their name. Literally. Using someone’s name in a subject line increases opens by 26%. Personalization is key to catching your email subscribers’ attention.
Email frequency and timing statistics
Best days and times to send emails
What’s the best time to send an email? Emails sent on Mondays and Tuesdays see the highest open rates.
During the week, engagement peaks between 3 PM and 7 PM local time. On weekends, emails sent at 9 AM tend to get the most opens.
How email frequency impacts engagement
When analyzing email cadence and frequency, MailerLite found that emails sent multiple times per week had a lower open rate than those sent monthly or less.
However, the CTOR didn’t really change. Ultimately, as long as you’re sharing high-value email content, people will be keen to interact with it.
Audience-specific insights
Tailoring email campaigns to specific target audiences—be it B2B, B2C, or e-commerce—can significantly enhance engagement and conversion rates. Here’s everything you need to know.
B2B email marketing statistics
Key engagement trends for B2B audiences
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 71% of B2B marketers have used email newsletters as a distribution channel in the last year, and 50% of US-based B2B marketers feel it has the biggest impact. This makes it a popular choice in any B2B toolkit.
Preferred email types for B2B leads
Research from G2 suggests that new product and feature announcement emails have the highest click-through rates. These B2B emails tap into curiosity and offer immediate value, especially for engaged users who want to stay ahead of updates.
B2C email marketing statistics
Email ROI for B2C audiences
HubSpot’s 2025 marketers report found that email was the channel with the best ROI. This makes it a top priority for any B2C marketer.
Popular content types for B2C audiences
59% of people say that email marketing influences their buying choices, with over half buying via email at least once per month. But which campaigns are the most effective?
Welcome emails stand out in B2C campaigns, boasting open rates of 60% or higher. Additionally, personalized promotional emails and exclusive offers resonate well with B2C audiences, making them far more likely to click ‘Buy’.
B2C behavioral trends and buying triggers
Abandoned carts can account for 75% of lost sales, with reasons including extra costs and account creation requirements. However, behavioral triggers, such as abandoned cart emails, can make people 2.4 times more likely to complete a purchase.
E-commerce email marketing statistics
E-commerce email content types
MailerLite found that most e-commerce email campaigns sent fell into the regular campaign category, which also delivered strong results, averaging a 40.83% open rate and a 5.28% click rate. However, the standout in terms of engagement was RSS-to-email campaigns, which achieved an impressive 47.86% open rate and 6.53% click rate.
Post-purchase email effectiveness
After analyzing MailerLite customer e-commerce data, it was found that purchasing a specific product was the email marketing automation trigger that generated the most engagement, with 76.58% open rates and 28.43% click rates.
Strategic insights
Want your emails to do more than just land in inboxes? These strategic insights dive into effective email personalization, mobile device optimization, and smart planning so that every send counts.
Personalized email marketing statistics
The impact of targeted campaigns
When crunching its e-commerce numbers, MailerLite found that campaigns filtered to specific subscribers get a 36.69% higher open rate and 267.21% higher click-through rate than those without any personalization.
There are lots of ways you can create targeted campaigns, such as through segmentation, groups, location, re-engagement campaigns, and more.
Personalization: A top priority for email marketers
A Statista survey on email marketing professionals found that 55% of respondents wanted to make personalization their top priority. Additionally, around 65% of professionals use subject line personalization in over half of their email campaigns.
How dynamic content helps revenue
Using dynamic email content isn’t just a nice touch. It can boost revenue by up to 22%. From personalized product recommendations to location-based offers, dynamic elements make email marketing campaigns more relevant and more effective.
The power of interactive content
Email shouldn’t be a one-way conversation. Interactive features like embedded surveys can increase CTOR by 31.7%. Plus, using embedded surveys rather than a survey call-to-action (CTA) can bring 135% more overall clicks.
Mobile email marketing statistics
Smartphone usage worldwide
In January 2025, 65% of web page views were via mobile devices. For email marketers, it’s a clear signal to prioritize mobile-friendly content across all campaigns.
Open rates by device type
55% of emails are opened on mobile devices, making responsive email design a “must”, not a “nice to have”. Emails that aren’t optimized for smaller screens risk being deleted within seconds—or worse, ignored entirely.
Email marketing strategy statistics
Email automation usage
58% of respondents report automating their email marketing, and 48% of professionals want to automate their campaigns more, making automation a top priority for many teams this year.
Email automation success rates
In e-commerce, email campaigns are driving the majority of conversions, with 93% of orders attributed to campaign sends rather than automated flows.
However, automation plays a crucial role in e-commerce engagement, with average open rates of 47.82% and click rates of 16.88%—making them a valuable tool for nurturing and re-engaging subscribers.
Email list health
A study by MailerCheck found that only 67.8% of emails on average are valid, based on analysis of over 33,000 email lists. Common issues included catch-all addresses (13.9%), mailboxes not found (12.4%), and role-based or syntax errors.
Industry benchmarks
Curious how your email metrics stack up? These industry benchmarks show what “good” looks like across sectors.
Email marketing statistics by industry
MailerLite analyzed over 3 million campaigns to find the top email performance benchmarks for 2025. Here are some highlights.
Religious organizations have the highest open rates, averaging 59.7%.
Hobbies have the highest email click rates, averaging 4.36%.
Media has the highest CTOR, at 10.71%.
Authors have the highest unsubscribe rate, at 0.21%.
Fun and surprising email marketing stats
Not all email insights are serious. Some are just plain unexpected! Here are a few quirky facts about email behavior worth knowing.
Just for fun email marketing statistics
First impressions: 69% of people mark emails as spam based only on the subject line—no opens needed.
Simplicity for the win: While people say they prefer image-based HTML emails, A/B testing revealed that simpler, plain text emails performed better.
Early birds: More than half of people check their email before doing anything else online.
Legal snares: In some contexts, email can be considered legally binding, so choose your words carefully!
FAQs and expert insights
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about email marketing statistics. Let’s break them down.
How effective is email marketing?
Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach and convert audiences, delivering a much higher ROI than paid ads or social media.
What is the average ROI for email marketing?
The average email marketing ROI is $36 for every $1 spent, which is a 3,500% return. However, results will vary by industry, with retail and e-commerce seeing the highest ROI gains.
What is a good email open rate?
A good email open rate can vary by industry. But MailerLite’s 2025 benchmarks study found that the average open rate across all industries was 42.35%.
What email marketing trends should I watch in 2025?
There are several email marketing trends you should stay on top of this year, including:
Interactive content: This will increase engagement and bring in more data
Artificial intelligence: Marketers are creating email content faster than ever, thanks to AI email marketing
Transparency: Brands that use AI responsibly will stand out from the crowd
Ready to apply this knowledge? Why not get a free MailerLite account and bring it all to life? You’ll get an all-in-one platform to run automations, interactive content, and more.
Hi! I'm Megan, and I'm a freelance writer based in the heart of Paris (and never too far from a good croissant). I started my career at MailerLite, where I discovered the power of great email marketing, and it's a tool I still use for my own business today!
