What is a good CTR for email marketing?

Key findings

• Industry averages: Most sources indicate that a good email CTR generally falls between 1% and 5%.
• Benchmark variability: The optimal CTR can vary significantly by industry, business size, and the type of email sent. For example, transactional emails or triggered campaigns often see higher CTRs than newsletters.
• Engagement indicator: A healthy CTR signals to internet service providers (ISPs) that your content is relevant and valuable to recipients, contributing positively to your sender reputation.
• Deliverability impact: While not the sole metric, sustained low CTR can indicate disengagement, which may eventually lead to lower inbox placement rates as ISPs interpret lack of clicks as a sign of undesirable content.
• Beyond the numbers: A good CTR should always be evaluated in the context of your specific campaign goals and overall business objectives.

Key considerations

• Context is key: An informational newsletter might have a lower CTR than a promotional email, and both could be considered successful within their own contexts.
• Monitor trends: Instead of fixating on a single number, monitor your CTR trends over time. A consistent decline, even if starting from a high base, warrants investigation. For related insights, consider good engagement thresholds for monitoring.
• Holistic view: CTR is one of several important metrics, alongside open rates (though challenging to measure accurately), complaint rates, and unsubscribe rates. To get a comprehensive view, look into benchmarks for email engagement rates.
• Optimize content: If your CTR is low, focus on optimizing your email content, calls to action, subject lines, and segmentation. Mailchimp's resources on improving email CTR can provide valuable insights.
• Long-term health: Aim for a CTR that supports your long-term deliverability goals, not just immediate revenue. Consistently engaged subscribers are key to sustained inbox placement.

Key opinions

• No fixed target: Many marketers believe there are no specific, universal CTR targets that apply to all email streams, due to diverse email types and campaign goals.
• Contextual success: A "good" CTR for an informational newsletter will naturally be lower than for a direct promotional email, but both can be successful if they meet their objectives.
• Deliverability safety: Some marketers aim to set a minimum CTR to ensure technical safety for deliverability, even if current business impact is still positive.
• Benchmarking concern: A CTR below 1% is generally considered poor, while rates above 2% are often seen as good, aligning with reported industry averages.
• Role of open rates: Despite challenges in accurate measurement, marketers still consider open rate trends relevant for explaining poor CTRs.
• Evolution of engagement: The increase in native app usage over the past decade has caused shifts in expected CTRs for some marketers.

Key considerations

• Evaluate campaign goals: Determine if a campaign is meeting its specific goals and objectives before solely judging it by its CTR.
• Audience and messaging: Examine the cadence, frequency, audience inclusion criteria, and messaging to optimize an automated marketing effort, comparing its performance to its past self rather than other campaigns.
• Drive website traffic: Emails should primarily serve as a bridge to drive recipients to your website. If linking to social media or other external properties, it's best to link to your website first, then from there to those external sites. Learn more about best practices for improving click rates.
• Engagement feedback: Consider adding simple feedback mechanisms like a "was this email helpful y/n" link to gauge engagement beyond direct clicks.
• Deliverability thresholds: Maintaining a healthy CTR is part of a broader strategy to preserve domain reputation and ensure messages reach the inbox, as poor engagement can lead to emails going to spam.

Key opinions

• Engagement signals: CTR is a strong indicator of how well your content resonates with your audience and influences mailbox providers' perception of your sending practices.
• Beyond the metric: CTR should not be viewed in isolation; it's part of a larger ecosystem of engagement metrics that impact deliverability.
• Audience specificity: What constitutes a good CTR is highly dependent on the target audience and the specific context of the email campaign.
• Proactive monitoring: A consistently low CTR can be a red flag for impending deliverability issues, even if other metrics currently appear stable.
• Quality over quantity: Focusing on sending relevant, valuable emails to an engaged audience will naturally lead to better CTRs and improved inbox placement.

Key considerations

• Content relevance: Ensure your email content and call to action are highly relevant to your audience to encourage clicks. This is critical for improving deliverability through clicks.
• Segment your audience: Tailoring messages to specific segments can significantly boost engagement and CTR compared to generic sends. Discover more about how to increase email click-through rate.
• A/B test: Continuously test different elements (subject lines, visuals, CTA placement) to identify what drives the most clicks for your specific audience.
• Deliverability impact: A falling CTR can be a subtle sign that ISPs may soon start filtering your emails more aggressively, potentially leading to blocklisting (blacklisting) if ignored.
• Focus on value: Ensure every email provides clear value to the recipient, making the click a logical next step in their engagement journey.

Key findings

• Calculation method: CTR is calculated by dividing the number of unique clicks by the number of emails delivered, then multiplying by 100 to get a percentage. For instance, ActiveCampaign's definition of email CTR clarifies this.
• General averages: Mailchimp's data suggests an optimal CTR around 2.66%, with a range typically between 1% and 5%. Salesforce similarly states a good CTR is usually between 2% and 5%.
• Email type influence: Benchmarks show that triggered emails (e.g., welcome series, abandoned cart) often have significantly higher CTRs (e.g., 5.02% cited by Business.com) than general newsletters (e.g., 3.84%).
• Industry variation: Different industries exhibit distinct CTR benchmarks. For example, government emails might see CTRs around 6%, while retail might be lower, as noted by Mailmunch.
• Engagement measurement: CTR helps understand how effective your email content is at driving desired actions, serving as a key metric for evaluating campaign success.

Key considerations

• Benchmark comparison: Use industry benchmarks as a guide, but always compare your performance against your own historical data and campaign objectives. Consider exploring Salesforce's email marketing benchmarks for deeper insights.
• Holistic deliverability: While CTR is important for engagement, a comprehensive deliverability strategy also considers factors like bounce rates, spam complaint rates, and sender authentication. Learn more about good email deliverability rates.
• Continuous improvement: Regularly analyze your CTR data to identify opportunities for optimizing email design, copy, personalization, and call-to-action effectiveness.
• Adapt to changes: Be aware that average CTRs can shift over time due to changes in consumer behavior, platform updates (like Apple Mail Privacy Protection), and evolving email marketing trends.