skills-ws/skills/email-sequence/references/metrics-benchmarks-by-industry.md

87 agent skills for AI coding assistants — marketing, growth, web3, dev, design & operations. Built for OpenClaw, Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.

## Contents

- Metrics Benchmarks by Industry
- Open Rates (directional only — MPP-inflated)
- Click Rates
- Other Key Metrics
- Automation-Specific Benchmarks

## Metrics Benchmarks by Industry

> **Read this before trusting open rates.** Since Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) — now the behavior for a large share of opens — Apple pre-fetches images and fires a "machine open" whether or not the human ever sees the email. **Open rate is no longer a reliable signal of engagement or deliverability.** Treat the open-rate numbers below as rough, directional, and inflated; optimize on **click rate, click-to-open on non-Apple cohorts, conversions, revenue per email, and inbox-placement rate** instead. The ranges below are directional rules of thumb as of mid-2026, not a live benchmark feed — pull your own ESP's current industry report for decisions.

### Open Rates (directional only — MPP-inflated)

| Industry | Average | Good | Great |
|----------|---------|------|-------|
| SaaS/Technology | 20-25% | 30% | 40%+ |
| Ecommerce | 15-20% | 25% | 35%+ |
| B2B Services | 20-25% | 30% | 40%+ |
| Education | 25-30% | 35% | 45%+ |
| Healthcare | 20-25% | 30% | 40%+ |
| Finance | 20-25% | 28% | 35%+ |
| Media/Publishing | 20-25% | 30% | 40%+ |
| Nonprofit | 25-30% | 35% | 45%+ |

**Note:** As above, Apple MPP inflates these open numbers (commonly cited at ~10-30%+ depending on audience mix). Use click rate, conversions, and revenue as your real KPIs.

### Click Rates

| Industry | Average | Good | Great |
|----------|---------|------|-------|
| SaaS/Technology | 2-3% | 4% | 6%+ |
| Ecommerce | 2-3% | 4% | 5%+ |
| B2B Services | 2-3% | 4% | 6%+ |
| Education | 3-4% | 5% | 7%+ |
| Media/Publishing | 3-5% | 6% | 8%+ |

### Other Key Metrics

| Metric | Healthy Range | Action If Below |
|--------|--------------|-----------------|
| Bounce rate | <2% | Clean list, verify new signups |
| Unsubscribe rate | <0.5% per send | Check frequency, relevance, segmentation |
| Spam complaint rate | <0.1% | Improve opt-in, add easy unsubscribe, check content |
| List growth rate | >2%/month | Improve lead gen, add more signup touchpoints |
| Revenue per email | Track over time | Optimize CTAs, segmentation, offers |

### Automation-Specific Benchmarks

| Sequence Type | Expected Open Rate | Expected Click Rate | Expected Conv Rate |
|--------------|-------------------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Welcome | 50-80% | 10-15% | 5-10% |
| Cart abandonment | 40-50% | 8-12% | 3-5% |
| Re-engagement | 15-25% | 2-4% | 1-2% |
| Onboarding | 40-60% | 8-12% | Varies |
| Post-purchase | 40-50% | 5-8% | 2-3% (repeat) |

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