What are the benchmarks for email open, click, and complaint rates to ensure good deliverability?

Key findings

1. Open rate targets: Many sources suggest that open rates between 20-25% are indicative of healthy engagement for promotional emails, though some benchmarks extend this range from 16% to 40% depending on the industry and list quality. Achieving at least 15% is often seen as a baseline for inbox delivery. For more insights on benchmarks, consider exploring average email metrics.
2. Click-through rate expectations: A good click-through rate (CTR) typically falls between 2% and 5%, though retail industries might see averages around 3.5%, and some industries can achieve up to 6.5%. This metric reflects how engaging your content is after an email has been opened.
3. Complaint rate threshold: Spam complaint rates are arguably the most critical metric. The consensus is to keep this rate well below 0.1%, with some deliverability professionals becoming concerned if it approaches 0.05%. Higher complaint rates can quickly lead to blocklisting and severe inbox placement issues.
4. Click-to-open rate (CTOR) importance: The CTOR (unique clicks divided by unique opens) can be more telling than individual open or click rates. A unique CTOR under 10% may indicate problems and could lead to blocks, while above 20% suggests strong content relevance and audience engagement.
5. Industry impact: While industry-specific benchmarks exist, mailbox providers generally do not factor your industry into their filtering decisions, except for sectors historically prone to fraud. They focus on your individual sending behavior and reputation.

Key considerations

1. Contextual analysis: Benchmarks are general guidelines. Campaign types (e.g., re-engagement campaigns) or targeted segments may naturally have lower engagement rates without necessarily indicating a deliverability problem. It's about understanding what's good for your specific program.
2. Trend monitoring: Monitoring whether your metrics are better or worse than yesterday or over a specific period is often more valuable than absolute comparisons to industry averages. Consistent improvement is a strong positive signal.
3. Individual vs. overall rates: While aggregate campaign metrics are helpful, individual subscriber engagement patterns are increasingly important. A subscriber who opens only 1 in 20 emails, even with a high CTOR, may signal a lack of interest in your overall program to MBPs.
4. Deliverability versus inbox placement: Deliverability encompasses all the steps to get an email to the recipient's server, including technical configurations and compliance. Inbox placement is the outcome, specifically whether the email lands in the primary inbox or the spam folder. While related, they are distinct, and good deliverability aims to optimize for inbox placement.

Key opinions

1. General open rate guidance: Many marketers aim for an open rate above 20% to maintain a healthy sending reputation. While promotional emails might typically see around 15% to reach the inbox, a higher rate indicates better engagement and targeting. Keeping an eye on your unique open rate (UOR) is particularly important, as distinct from total open rate (TOR).
2. Engagement versus list type: Marketers acknowledge that certain campaigns, such as re-engagement efforts, are expected to have lower open and click rates. These campaigns should be planned with different expectations, as they can drag down overall averages.
3. The CTOR is paramount: For many, the unique Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR) is a more telling indicator of deliverability health than open rates alone. A CTOR below 10% is a strong red flag that can lead to blocks, while above 20% signifies a robust and responsive audience.
4. Industry averages are a guide, not a rule: While average rates vary by industry (e.g., retail open rates around 20-25%), marketers understand that mailbox providers don't primarily filter based on industry. Instead, their systems assess individual sender behavior and reputation built on consistent engagement across their user base.
5. Individual user engagement matters: Beyond aggregate campaign metrics, some marketers monitor individual subscriber engagement, aiming for at least 1 in 5 emails opened by an active user. If a subscriber's engagement drops to 1 in 20, it indicates a need to reassess their interest in your program.

Key considerations

1. Focus on content relevance: Marketers must continually analyze which content or cadences drive clicks, as this reveals what subscribers are truly interested in. Adjusting content and timing based on these insights is key to boosting engagement and improving click-through rates.
2. Strategic volume management: During IP warming or when engagement dips below optimal thresholds (e.g., 20% UOR), marketers should consider holding or decreasing email volumes. This prevents over-sending to unengaged audiences and helps maintain a positive sender reputation.
3. Complaint rate management: Maintaining a spam complaint rate below 0.1% (ideally closer to 0.05% or lower) is paramount. Marketers should be highly sensitive to any increase in this metric, as it's a direct signal of negative recipient feedback that disproportionately impacts deliverability.
4. Holistic metric tracking: Beyond opens and clicks, marketers also track deliverability rate, conversion rate, unsubscribe rate, bounce rate, and ROI to get a comprehensive view of campaign performance. These metrics collectively inform strategic decisions for list health and overall program success.

Key opinions

1. Complaint rates are critical: Experts universally agree that a spam complaint rate below 0.1% is a non-negotiable target. Any deviation above this can severely damage sender reputation and lead to immediate filtering or blocklisting. Proactive management of complaints, often through feedback loops, is essential for long-term deliverability.
2. CTOR reveals true engagement: The Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR) is often considered more indicative of content relevance and active engagement than raw open or click rates. A high CTOR signals to MBPs that recipients are not only opening but also interacting with your content, which is a strong positive reputation signal.
3. IP warming requires engagement: During IP warming, a unique open rate (UOR) of around 20% is often cited as a key indicator for safely increasing sending volumes. If UORs drop below this, it's a sign to hold or reduce volume to protect the new IP's reputation.
4. Industry rarely dictates deliverability: Mailbox providers primarily assess individual sender behavior and historical reputation, not industry averages, when determining deliverability. Exceptions exist for industries with a high propensity for fraud, which may face stricter scrutiny. This means your individual performance, not your industry's average, is what truly matters.
5. Reputation is dynamic: Sender reputation is constantly evolving based on recipient engagement, complaints, and spam trap hits. Continuous monitoring and proactive adjustments are necessary to maintain a healthy sending profile.

Key considerations

1. Beyond raw numbers: While benchmarks are helpful, true deliverability success comes from a holistic view of sender authentication, infrastructure health, and how recipient behavior evolves over time. Low engagement can signal disinterest even without high complaint rates, impacting long-term deliverability.
2. Spam trap avoidance: Hitting spam traps is often more damaging than minor fluctuations in engagement metrics. This indicates poor list hygiene and can lead to severe blocklisting. Regular list cleaning and permission-based acquisition are crucial preventive measures.
3. Consistency is key: Consistent sending volume and content patterns are preferred by mailbox providers. Erratic sending can trigger filters even if individual campaign metrics appear acceptable. Establishing a predictable sending rhythm helps build a reliable sender profile.
4. Complaint rate analysis: Even a seemingly low complaint rate can be problematic if it's consistent across high volumes of mail. Experts typically start to get nervous if the complaint rate is approaching 0.05% and identify 0.08% as a critical cutoff. You can learn more about how mailbox providers calculate email complaint rates.
5. Subscriber lifecycle management: Engagement naturally declines as subscribers age. Proactively segmenting or suppressing inactive subscribers prevents them from negatively impacting overall list health and reputation. This ensures that your active subscriber base drives your positive engagement metrics. Wordtothewise highlights these lifecycle dynamics.

Key findings

1. Spam rate as a direct indicator: Documentation from major mailbox providers, such as Google Postmaster Tools, explicitly links the spam rate to deliverability outcomes. A spam rate consistently below 0.10% is typically recommended for optimal delivery, especially for authenticated emails. Spikes above this threshold can lead to increased rejections.
2. Reputation scores are key: IP and domain reputation scores, derived from factors like complaint rates, volume, and spam trap hits, directly influence inbox placement. Documentation encourages senders to monitor these scores to understand how their sending is perceived by MBPs. You can use Google Postmaster Tools to view these.
3. Authentication is foundational: Technical documentation universally stresses the importance of proper email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Messages that are not properly authenticated are far more likely to be filtered as spam, regardless of their content or engagement rates. Learn more in our guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM.
4. Feedback loops are essential: Mailbox providers offer feedback loops (FBLs) to allow senders to receive notifications when recipients mark their emails as spam. Documentation advises leveraging these FBLs to promptly remove complaining users from lists, thereby reducing complaint rates and preserving sender reputation.
5. Deliverability as a comprehensive process: Beyond engagement metrics, official guidelines highlight that deliverability involves technical configurations, compliance with sending policies, and operational issues. Metrics reflect the outcome of these combined efforts, not just content quality.

Key considerations

1. Adherence to technical standards: While engagement metrics are user-centric, the underlying technical standards for email transmission must be met. Non-compliance, such as with RFCs, can lead to messages being rejected before a recipient even has a chance to open or click.
2. Proactive list hygiene: Documentation implicitly and explicitly supports proactive list management to minimize bounces and maintain high engagement. Removing inactive or invalid email addresses improves the quality of engagement metrics and reduces negative signals.
3. Continuous monitoring and adaptation: Mailbox providers frequently update their filtering algorithms. Therefore, relying solely on static benchmarks is insufficient. Continuous monitoring of your metrics through postmaster tools and adapting sending practices accordingly is vital for sustained inbox placement. For example, Mailchimp's benchmarks are regularly updated.
4. Understanding filtering signals: Documentation provides insights into the various signals that influence filtering decisions, ranging from authentication failures and low sender reputation to high complaint rates and low engagement. Understanding these signals allows senders to troubleshoot and improve deliverability more effectively.