Cold Email Open Rate Statistics
The first step of a successful cold email is getting it opened by your target audience.
That is why knowing cold email open rate statistics can be helpful. Let's discover quick statistics about cold email open rates.
➤ As Gartner states in an article about sales development technologies, approximately 23.9% of cold sales emails are opened.
➤ According to B2BRocket’s article on B2B cold emails, the average B2B cold email open rate is 36% in 2023.
➤ As BreakCold's cold email open rate article expresses, an average open rate is around 40% to 60%.
➤ Also, a good email open rate is above 60%, and a bad open rate is below 40%.
Although it might depend on your audience, cold email campaign type, and industry, it can be said that cold email open rates range between 20-60%.
Cold Email Response Rate Statistics
Getting a response to your cold email is the second and most important step! If you are not getting any response, you might feel like your cold emails are vanishing into thin air.
Let's learn about the response and reply rates of cold email campaigns.
➤ According to Backlinko's email outreach study, 91.5% of cold outreach messages go unanswered.
Assuming that people get hundreds of emails, it is unsurprising that most are left unanswered and ignored.
➤ It is stated that only 8.5% of outreach emails get responses.
➤ Sending cold emails to multiple contacts can also affect your response rate, according to Backlinko.
Messages delivered to several contacts have a 93% higher response rate than those sent to one person.
➤ Backlinko also states that cold emails with links to social profiles in the sender's signature experienced a 9.8% increase in the average response rate.
Having a social profile on your signature shows that you are a real human being working on these emails instead of an automated email with a fake persona.
That way, people can feel they are talking to a real person and respond to your cold emails.
➤ The average response rate for cold emails is 1%, indicating that out of every 100 emails sent, only one recipient typically responds, as Clearbit states in an article about cold email rules.
Crafting effective cold emails to stand out in the crowd is crucial if you want to be among the 1% that gets responses.
➤ On the other hand, Belkins' cold email response rate article states that, on average, cold emails receive a response rate of 7%, while the typical open rate stands at 36%.
➤ Contacting 2 to 4 individuals from a single company gives the highest response rate, up to 7.8%.
If you haven't heard from the person you sent the email to, you can reach out to another person in the same company.
➤ However, sending emails to 5 to 10 contacts within a single organization reduces the response rate from 6.1% to 2.5%.
Although sending emails to up to 4 people in the same company is okay, sending to 5 to 10 people might look like you are trying too hard and spamming the company to get a response.
You need to find the sweet spot and send your emails to the optimum number of people to get a response without looking spammy.
➤ Sending cold B2B email sequences to a range of 240-499 recipients results in an average response rate of 10%.
➤ Belkins also gives detailed information about cold email response rates of different job titles.
Cold B2B emails are 23% more likely to be answered by C-level executives than employees who are not in the C-suite, with 6.4% and 5.2% response rates, respectively.
(Source: Belkins)
➤ Founders and CEOs have a notable response rate of 5.9%, while CFOs, in parallel, reply to 6.4% of emails.
➤ The lowest response rates are seen among product managers, engineers, and human resources managers.
➤ According to GMass' average cold email response rate article, targeted cold emails have the potential to achieve response rates averaging between 15% and 25%.
If your email is lengthy and lacks clarity, recipients are unlikely to invest the time to read it thoroughly or respond.
➤ Also, cold emails from 50 to 125 words tend to receive reply rates of approximately 50%, as GMass states.
Considering these, focus on creating clear and to-the-point cold emails to increase your response rates.
Cold Email Subject Line Statistics
Subject lines are crucial parts of cold emails. Your subject line can make or break your cold email's performance.
Let's get a better understanding of cold email subject lines with these statistics.
➤ Outreach emails featuring long subject lines demonstrate a 24.6% increase in the average response rate compared to emails with concise subject lines. (Source: Backlinko's email outreach study.)
➤ Backlinko also says that the ideal cold email subject line length is around 36 to 50 characters.
Adding a bit of context details about why you reach out can encourage people to open your cold emails.
Instead of saying, "So what?" your recipients can get a clear overview of why you contacted them through the subject line.
But, of course, don't go crazy and overwhelm your recipients with extremely long subject lines that are not engaging.
➤ Also, Yesware, in its article about cold email subject lines, states that in their examination of 1.2 million subject lines, they discovered that subject lines structured as questions achieve email open rates exceeding the average by approximately 10%.
➤ They also observed that subject lines with numerical figures receive an open rate 45% higher than the average.
You can use a classic yet effective subject line that includes "Quick question?" to grab your recipients' attention.
If you want to include numerical figures, you can explain your value proposition with numbers briefly or provide statistics.
➤ Outreach.io, in its article about adding a company name to the subject line, states they saw a 22% increase in open rates.
The company reports that adding a company name to cold email subject lines can have positive effects.
Their top-performing email subject line was: "Missing the mark at [company name]?" and achieved an open rate of 33.6%.
Meanwhile, the subject line lacking the company name was: "Missing the mark?" and achieved an open rate of 27.6%.
As adding the company name to cold email subject lines includes a touch of personalization, you can get better results.
Also, seeing their company name among the hundreds of emails, your recipients can wonder what's inside, open and engage with your cold email.
Cold Email Personalization Statistics
Personalization plays a big role in email marketing. Including your recipients' names and personalization elements in your cold email subject lines and content can have positive effects.
Let's see quick statistics related to personalization in cold emails.
➤ Backlinko reports in its email outreach study that emails featuring customized message content have a 32.7% enhanced response rate.
➤ Personalized subject lines increase response rates by 30.5%.
➤ As stated in Sopro's The State of Prospecting in 2024 report, using personal touch, assurance, empathy, exclusivity, social proof, and action words positively impacts cold approaches.
➤ On the other hand, Sopro reports that using message elements of urgency, solutions, comparison, pain points, buzzwords, and jargon can negatively impact your cold email efforts.
These elements seem like they are not personalized and are added only to grab attention instead of providing value.
💡 Apart from only adding names as a personalization element, you can also include certain details about your prospects to connect with them.
You can mention their specific work or content and show that you researched them and their works.
That way, your cold emails will look like they are uniquely created for each recipient instead of a template that is sent to everyone.
Best Time to Send Cold Emails Statistics
Knowing the best time to send marketing emails is crucial to optimizing your strategy and timing.
Although it may differ according to various factors, research shows there are suitable days and times to send cold emails.
Let's explore the best time to send cold email statistics according to various sources.
➤ Yesware, in its article about the best time to send email, says that people can experiment with sending cold emails on Mondays at 1 PM and 11 AM and Tuesdays at 1 PM and 11 AM.
➤ Apart from these, within the initial hour, 75% of emails are opened, with 42% resulting in replies. Moreover, within the first four hours, 93% of emails are opened, with 75% eliciting replies.
➤ The article also states that Monday and Tuesday emerge as the busiest days for email replies.
➤ According to Yesware, Friday is the worst day to send cold emails, so you can avoid sending your emails on Fridays.
The fact that it is the last weekday plays a big role in it being the worst for cold emails.
➤ On the other hand, Sopro's The State of Prospecting in 2024 report states that Friday is optimal for B2B email outreach.
Despite being commonly regarded as the least productive day, their data shows that it can be effective for B2B cold emails.
➤ When it comes to examining the hourly data, mornings prove to be highly advantageous for B2B emails.
As most people may check their emails first thing in the morning, sending cold emails in the morning can have positive effects.
➤ Overall, Sopro concludes that the best time to send a cold email is Thursday at 11 AM, and the worst time to send is Tuesday at 4 PM.
Cold Email Follow-Up Statistics
Writing a follow-up email after no response is essential to hear back from your prospects.
You can achieve your goals by sending effective follow-ups for your cold emails.
Here are the statistics related to cold email follow-ups that you can find useful.
➤ According to Belkins' cold email response rates article, response rates range from 49% to 220% after the initial follow-up.
➤ Also, the first reminder can elevate B2B response rates by as much as 50%.
➤ However, unlike the initial follow-up, the second follow-up email, technically the third email, brings 9% more responses.
➤ Apart from these, the third follow-up triggers a decline in responses by 20%.
➤ Sending the fourth email might not be useful according to the Belkins' data. The third B2B follow-up resulted in 20% fewer responses than the initial email.
➤ Sending the initial follow-up after three days leads to an increase of up to 31% in responses.
➤ It is also stated that the perfect time for following up cold emails is between 2 and 5 days after the opening of cold emails.
Pay attention to not sending a follow-up email immediately after you send your first email. By doing that, you can reduce the chances of getting a response from your prospect.
Overloading your prospects' inboxes with many follow-up emails is not ideal, and sending a follow-up email too soon might disturb them.
➤ However, according to Yesware's article on cold emailing, you can send up to seven follow-ups before experiencing a decline in the expected response rate to below 10%.
➤ Yesware also states that the initial follow-up email in a sales sequence typically achieves an average response rate of 21%.
➤ Also, a significant 70% of cold sales email sequences conclude after the first outreach without any need for follow-up messages.
Here are the Yesware's data on unanswered emails according to email number:
📌 Discover: 60 Follow-Up Email Subject Line Examples & Tips (2024)
General Cold Email Statistics
➤ According to Breakcold's article on cold email conversion rates, an average cold email conversion rate is 0,7%, while a good cold email conversion rate is 4,2%.
➤ In Statista's email marketing campaign types survey conducted in 2023 among marketers from various countries around the globe, newsletters emerged as the most favored form of email marketing campaigns, accounting for 16.8%.
The research revealed that cold emails were employed by 7.8% of respondents.
➤ When it comes to the ideal length for cold email messages, templates with 151-200 words strike a balance between providing persuasive content and keeping readers engaged. (Source: Sopro's The State of Prospecting in 2024 report)
➤ Cold emails featuring a targeted call-to-action tailored to grab the prospect's interest tend to outperform those with calls-to-action requesting a meeting arrangement. (Source: Gong's article on cold email CTA.)
➤ Also, it is said that you need to include a specific day and time to schedule a meeting with particular details.
Cold Email Statistics Infographic
We've included an infographic containing essential cold email statistics within this article! Feel free to incorporate it into your website and utilize it to showcase cold email statistics. 🤓
Wrap Up
That is all for our list of cold email statistics for 2024!
With these valuable insights and strategies, you can take your email outreach efforts to the next level.
Success in cold email marketing requires continuous learning, experimentation, and optimization. Depending on your recipients and audience, you can use these insights and apply various strategies for your cold email strategies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are Cold Email Statistics Important?
Exploring cold email statistics is crucial for assessing the success of your efforts.
By analyzing these statistics, you can understand how recipients interact with cold emails, identify areas for improvement, and optimize your strategies to achieve better results.
What is The Bounce Rate of Cold Emails?
According to QuickMail, the average cold email bounce rate is 2.17%, but this data may depend on various factors and industries. Knowing and comparing the average bounce rate for cold emails with your own can help you better understand your campaigns' performance.
What is A Cold Email Benchmark?
A cold email benchmark is a standard or reference point against which the performance of your email campaigns can be compared.
Benchmarks provide insight into industry averages and best practices, helping you evaluate the effectiveness of your campaigns.
How Can I Improve My Cold Email Open Rates?
To improve cold email open rates, focus on crafting compelling subject lines, optimizing send times, personalizing your messages, and maintaining a positive sender reputation. Testing different strategies and analyzing the results can help refine your approach.
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