Email newsletter statistics: Data-backed proof of why newsletters still drive business growth

When businesses are looking for ways to grow while still maintaining their budget, the choice often falls to one of the most effective marketing channels for attracting customers: email marketing.

Do you know why a well-designed email marketing strategy works so well in 2026? It is direct access to your audience as you’re not dependent on algorithms or advertising. Also, this is a great way to increase sales. Repeat and personalized emails turn subscribers into loyal customers. And, importantly, the low cost per email and high ROI make email marketing very profitable, compared to other methods such as SMS marketing and ads.

But what do you need to succeed with an email marketing strategy? These factors are specific to the email: message relevance and value to the recipient, a strong subject line and supportive preheader, and quality email design. In this article, you’ll discover how to design email campaigns that attract your audience. You'll also get the insights from the latest email marketing statistics to help you understand what’s really driving growth in 2026.

Email newsletter statistics marketers need to know in 2026

In this section, we’ll examine general email marketing statistics and how global audiences interact with emails, demonstrating that email marketing remains one of the best tools for increasing sales.

1. Average open rate: 10.1-25%. It is already a good open rate for email marketing campaigns, and the growth potential lies in improving content, design, personalization, and segmentation.
2. Conversion rate: Email marketing stats show that the average email newsletter conversion rate ranges from 5.1% to 10%.
3. Click-through rate (CTR): According to the same HubSpot’s email marketing statistics, 10.1-25% is the average click-through rate.
4. Return on investment (ROI): Email marketing is a highly cost-effective channel for attracting audiences. For most companies, every $1 spent on email marketing generates between $10 and $36 in email marketing ROI. Top performers see $36 to $50 for every $1 spent.
5. Unsubscribe rate in email marketing: The percentage of unengaged subscribers is less than 0.25%.
6. Success of email marketing in the B2C sector: 59% of consumers say email marketing influences their purchase decisions.
7. Mobile email usage: A hard truth is that 75% of people delete emails that aren’t optimized for mobile devices.
8. Email marketing strategy in eCommerce: The email marketing channel contributes about 11.01% of total eCommerce sales, and this channel still holds ground in 2026. Email marketing helps consumer goods businesses engage customers after purchase and increase audience loyalty.
9. Worldwide email users: This number was about 4.6 billion in 2025, and can reach 4.8 billion of email users by the end of 2027.
10. Business adoption of email campaigns: In 2025, 58% of marketers included email marketing campaigns in their development strategies. In 2024, 46% of marketers used this channel.

Email newsletter open rate and CTR industry benchmarks and drivers

Take a look at how email marketing campaigns perform across different sectors:

• email marketing for authors (bloggers, online publishers, experts): Open rate 43.14%, click rate 2.75%;
• email marketing for eCommerce: Open rate 32.67%, click-through rate 1.07%;
• email marketing for consulting: Open rate 45.96%, click-through rate 2.41%;
• email marketing for health & fitness: Open rate 47.81%, click-through rate 1.45%;
• email marketing for non-profits (charity organizations): Open rate 52.38%, click-through rate 2.90%;
• email marketing for software & web apps: Open rate 39.31%, click-through rate 1.15%.

Of course, these email marketing metrics are approximate and can always be improved. How exactly this can be done, we will discuss next.

How email subject lines influence newsletter open rates

The line email recipients see first in their inboxes before opening their email directly influences their willingness to open it.

A few tips to make your subject lines attractive:

• avoid adding the term "Newsletter" to subject lines. Open rates decrease by 18.7% when the term “Newsletter” is added;
• keep email subject lines between 20 and 40 characters, as such marketing emails are 45% more likely to be opened;
• personalize subject lines. Remember that 47% of recipients are more likely to open your email if you add personalized subject lines that include their first name;
• if you need help with email marketing campaigns, explore ready-made email newsletter templates for subject-line ideas and inspiration.

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Email subject line statistics that show why your first impression matters

Preheader text impact on email open rate performance

We’re talking about a short paragraph that usually appears in gray font after the email subject line. The preheader is also visible in the inbox before the email is opened.

We recommend using the custom preheader instead of the auto-generated preheader since 23% of top email marketing campaigns use a custom preheader.

Your preheader should not duplicate the subject line. Ideal length: 120-130 characters (for desktop); up to 50 characters (for mobile). According to email marketing stats, well-crafted preheaders complement subject lines, increasing open rates by 10-30%.

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Email preheader: The key to boosting open rates and engagement

Content and design elements that increase newsletter clicks

A good design improves the performance of email marketing campaigns. A total of 43% of Americans prefer marketing emails with a simple, easy-to-scan design and unobtrusive images.

To make an impression, your email should be clean, structured, the right size, and include attractive images, but that’s not all.

Here are other design and content elements, besides the email subject line and preheader, that increase email marketing campaigns’ performance.

Personalized email marketing campaigns are powerful tools to engage readers and customers. The median email marketing ROI for personalized email marketing is 122%. Personalized CTAs convert 202% better than generic calls to action.

Сonversion rate industry benchmarks and drivers for email newsletters

According to the Bloomreach email marketing platform, the top five industries by email conversion rate are: Grocery (7.9%), Fintech (5.8%), Media (4.16%), Furniture & Home Goods (3.03%), and Pets (2.77%). An optimized design, a thoughtful newsletter structure, email automation, and personalized email campaigns will help you improve this metric across all industries.

Content type also matters for conversion. Sender states that transactional emails or triggered marketing emails (sent in response to a user action/event) and automated emails with responses have higher CTRs (3.69-4.26%) and conversion rates than regular newsletters (2.13%).

Email marketing frequency and send-time data

• studies have found that marketing emails sent between 3 pm and 7 pm have the highest open rate;
• email users of mobile devices prefer quick browsing on the go, especially in the morning (11% of Americans check their email immediately after waking up) and in the evening. Recipients typically open their Gmail app or other inboxes from desktop devices during work hours;

And what about the frequency of email marketing? 

• on average, one email per week has an open rate of 33.8%. This is considered the highest rate. Two marketing emails have an average open rate of 30.1%. The open rate decreases with the increasing number of emails per week.

You need to be in constant contact with your customers, but it's important not to overwhelm recipients with email marketing.

Email opens and click-through rate on desktop vs. mobile devices 

• around 41-55% of all email opens occur on mobile devices. Desktop clients account for 16-29% of opens;
• 23% of recipients who open an email on mobile devices like Apple iPhone later open it again on a desktop. And those marketing emails have up to ~65% higher CTR.

What does this teach us? Optimizing for mobile devices is important for profitable email marketing campaigns. 

Email newsletters: Impact, insights, and future trends

Email marketing is a vital tool for businesses that want to grow, engage their target audience, boost customer retention, and scale the business.

Future trends in email marketing

• artificial intelligence (AI): According to email marketing statistics, 64% of marketers already use AI in email for marketing automation and personalization. By 2030, AI adoption may reach ~97%. AI boosts click-through rate (13.44% vs. 3% for non-AI email marketing campaigns) and revenue for every dollar spent;
• hyper‑personalization: Email marketers will tailor content and email marketing strategies based on behavior and preferences to boost engagement;
• interactive emails: Specialists will develop marketing strategies that include polls, quizzes, carousels, surveys, and gamified elements;
• mobile‑first and accessible design: For most recipients opening emails on mobile devices (41-55%), responsive and inclusive email design is essential;
• email privacy protection and segmentation: Marketing professionals will increasingly rely on data that email users allow to be collected, and send emails to micro‑segmented groups of subscribers to respect privacy while remaining effective.

Wrapping up

What are the takeaways of our article about email marketing statistics? Recent email marketing stats show that recipients want relevant, simple, and mobile-friendly emails that help them make decisions (e.g., subscribing or purchasing). They don’t open every direct mail, but they do actively respond to useful, personalized emails.

The success of email marketing campaigns depends on personalized content, adaptability for mobile devices, marketing automation, and segmentation with email marketing software such as Campaign Monitor, and, of course, design.

With our beautiful, ready-to-use newsletter email templates, for many marketers, design headaches will be a thing of the past! Sign in and, in just a few clicks, create email marketing campaigns that are a pleasure to open and read.