We found a great quantitive report by MailChimp on open rates and wanted to share.
Updated March 2018
| Industry | Open Rate | Click Rate | Soft Bounce | Hard Bounce | Abuse Rate | Unsubscribe Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All non-labeled accounts | 21.09% | 2.61% | 0.61% | 0.39% | 0.012% | 0.23% |
| Agriculture and Food Services | 23.12% | 2.69% | 0.57% | 0.36% | 0.012% | 0.29% |
| Architecture and Construction | 23.13% | 2.55% | 1.39% | 0.91% | 0.014% | 0.35% |
| Arts and Artists | 26.03% | 2.66% | 0.57% | 0.34% | 0.012% | 0.29% |
| Beauty and Personal Care | 17.01% | 1.76% | 0.38% | 0.28% | 0.013% | 0.31% |
| Business and Finance | 20.47% | 2.59% | 0.63% | 0.46% | 0.010% | 0.21% |
| Computers and Electronics | 19.39% | 1.98% | 0.92% | 0.54% | 0.012% | 0.29% |
| Construction | 21.01% | 2.03% | 1.38% | 0.98% | 0.018% | 0.40% |
| Consulting | 18.96% | 2.15% | 0.88% | 0.58% | 0.011% | 0.28% |
| Creative Services/Agency | 21.59% | 2.51% | 1.02% | 0.70% | 0.012% | 0.37% |
| Daily Deals/E-Coupons | 14.92% | 2.30% | 0.12% | 0.07% | 0.005% | 0.10% |
| ecommerce | 15.66% | 2.07% | 0.31% | 0.19% | 0.011% | 0.24% |
| Education and Training | 21.80% | 2.48% | 0.54% | 0.37% | 0.009% | 0.20% |
| Entertainment and Events | 20.41% | 2.19% | 0.48% | 0.32% | 0.009% | 0.28% |
| Gambling | 18.47% | 3.15% | 0.42% | 0.42% | 0.013% | 0.14% |
| Games | 19.71% | 3.19% | 0.47% | 0.39% | 0.013% | 0.24% |
| Government | 26.52% | 3.65% | 0.49% | 0.34% | 0.006% | 0.13% |
| Health and Fitness | 20.06% | 2.18% | 0.41% | 0.33% | 0.013% | 0.37% |
| Hobbies | 27.35% | 4.78% | 0.33% | 0.19% | 0.013% | 0.23% |
| Home and Garden | 22.21% | 3.02% | 0.57% | 0.35% | 0.016% | 0.36% |
| Insurance | 20.99% | 2.09% | 0.75% | 0.72% | 0.016% | 0.25% |
| Legal | 21.14% | 2.71% | 0.75% | 0.54% | 0.010% | 0.22% |
| Manufacturing | 20.51% | 2.18% | 1.30% | 0.83% | 0.015% | 0.35% |
| Marketing and Advertising | 16.48% | 1.74% | 0.71% | 0.47% | 0.010% | 0.26% |
| Media and Publishing | 21.92% | 4.55% | 0.29% | 0.15% | 0.005% | 0.12% |
| Medical, Dental, and Healthcare | 21.09% | 2.25% | 0.69% | 0.59% | 0.015% | 0.29% |
| Mobile | 18.41% | 1.98% | 0.61% | 0.48% | 0.011% | 0.34% |
| Music and Musicians | 21.80% | 2.68% | 0.55% | 0.33% | 0.011% | 0.28% |
| Non-Profit | 24.11% | 2.57% | 0.50% | 0.35% | 0.009% | 0.20% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 18.95% | 2.39% | 0.69% | 0.55% | 0.010% | 0.20% |
| Photo and Video | 22.99% | 2.90% | 0.72% | 0.47% | 0.014% | 0.40% |
| Politics | 22.30% | 2.13% | 0.43% | 0.31% | 0.013% | 0.21% |
| Professional Services | 20.77% | 2.39% | 0.90% | 0.61% | 0.012% | 0.30% |
| Public Relations | 20.21% | 1.63% | 0.72% | 0.46% | 0.007% | 0.19% |
| Real Estate | 19.67% | 1.80% | 0.57% | 0.40% | 0.015% | 0.29% |
| Recruitment and Staffing | 19.33% | 1.81% | 0.51% | 0.47% | 0.008% | 0.28% |
| Religion | 25.33% | 2.92% | 0.24% | 0.15% | 0.007% | 0.13% |
| Restaurant | 20.26% | 1.06% | 0.37% | 0.22% | 0.011% | 0.28% |
| Retail | 19.36% | 2.24% | 0.35% | 0.24% | 0.011% | 0.27% |
| Social Networks and Online Communities | 21.13% | 3.16% | 0.38% | 0.23% | 0.008% | 0.22% |
| Software and Web App | 19.81% | 2.05% | 1.02% | 0.69% | 0.011% | 0.35% |
| Sports | 23.77% | 2.88% | 0.44% | 0.31% | 0.010% | 0.28% |
| Telecommunications | 20.27% | 2.20% | 0.96% | 0.69% | 0.010% | 0.24% |
| Travel and Transportation | 20.03% | 2.00% | 0.63% | 0.39% | 0.012% | 0.24% |
Open rates are one of the best ways to tell whether your email strategy is working. This number shows what percentage of your audience opens the emails you send them. If you have a great open rate, it usually means your subject lines resonate with your audience.
Here are a few examples of successful open rates:
- The most opened emails are related to hobbies, with an open rate of 27.35%.
- Emails sent by government entities come in second, with a 26.52% open rate.
- With a 26.03% open rate, emails about the arts and artists came in third.
- The average open rate for all industries we analyzed is 20.81%.
Another good way to check how well your emails are working is to take a look at the click rates. The click rate is a percentage that tells you how many successfully delivered emails got at least 1 click. This number shows whether or not your audience finds the emails you send relevant enough to click through for more.
Here’s what standard click rates look like:
- Hobbies also have the highest click rate, which is 4.78%.
- Media and publishing emails see the second highest click rate, at 4.55%.
- Government comes in third, with a 3.65% click rate.
- The average click rate for all industries we looked at is 2.43%.
Tips for Improving Your Stats
- When it comes to subject lines, being straightforward works best. So tell, don’t sell what’s inside. Read our tips on writing effective subject lines.
- If you want people to open your emails, you have to get past their spam filters first. And the best way to avoid spam filters is to learn how they work.
- Too many hard bounces is a sign of an old, stale list. Make sure you email your subscribers regularly (at least once a quarter), so that your list stays up to date.
- Soft bounces usually mean the recipient is “temporarily unavailable.” Maybe they’re on vacation, or their mailbox is full. You can keep those emails and try them again later, but Mailchimp auto-cleans soft bounces after 5 failed campaigns.
- Hard bounces mean an email address failed. Maybe it no longer exists, or maybe someone made a typo when they subscribed to a list. But hard bounces might also be spam filter—if you see an abnormally high number of bounces after a campaign, read your bounceback records for any messages or clues from spam filters.
For more information - https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/