119 Staggering Email Marketing Stats & Facts to Know in 2024

If you’re a digital marketer, then you already know the power of email marketing. Email campaigns, email templates, and different email marketing tactics come with a higher degree of flexibility than nearly any other digital marketing communication form. 

Email marketing is also a reliable customer conversion tool, which is why businesses and marketers love using it to their advantage. It may seem archaic compared to hip social media platforms and creative PPC ads, but there’s a reason email continues to be effective with conversions and ROI. So let’s dive into the world of email marketing statistics. 

Key Email Marketing Statistics and Facts to Know in 2024

• There are over 4 billion people with email accounts worldwide.
• The average email user has 1–3 email addresses.
• The average email marketing return on investment is $44 per dollar spent.
• It’s 40 times more effective than social when it comes to customer acquisition.
• Plugging video content into emails boosts conversions by up to 300%.
• Abandonment emails sent an hour after a customer’s shopping session have a 6.33% rate of conversion.
• Mobile devices currently account for over 60% of email opens. 
• Around 81% of email users prefer to open emails on their smartphones.
• Gmail is the second most popular email client in 2020, with a 26% market share.
• Only 20% of email campaigns are optimized for mobile devices.

And if you’re thirsty for more tips, check out the infographic we’ve prepared for you!

Email Usage Statistics from 2024 and Beyond

1. There were approximately 306.4 billion emails sent and received daily in 2020.

(Source: Statista)

By 2024, experts project this number to rise to 361.6 billion emails daily. Nowadays, it’s easy as pie to shoot off a quick email while on the go. And with voice technology seeing more fine-tuning and becoming more accurate, emailing, too, becomes ever more convenient. 

As we can see, this improvement in email marketing stats is in part due to the general population’s increased use of mobile devices. According to mobile marketing statistics, as much as 91% of all global internet traffic comes from mobile. As voice technology and AI get integrated into other devices like our everyday appliances and vehicles, we may see an even higher climb in future trends.

2. There are over 4 billion people with email accounts worldwide.

(Source: Statista)

How many email users were there in 2020 based on recent business email marketing statistics? A whopping 4.037 billion! And experts predict that this figure will keep growing to reach a staggering 4.481 billion by 2024. With such a high number of people readily using email accounts, doing email marketing really pays off. 

However, spam emails have become quite annoying. Speaking of which, it turns out that the majority of unsolicited spam emails come from the United States and China. 

3. Email stats show that the average consumer has 3 or more email addresses.

(Source: Adestra)

And this counts both business and personal email addresses. Adestra recommends monitoring activity to determine whether or not an email address is the primary one. They also stress that acquisition should shift focus to email subscribers instead of looking purely at subscriber email totals. After all, engagement and conversion are all moot points if messages go to a hardly accessed inbox.

4. 93.4% of people between 25–44 prefer email over social media.

(Source: OptinMonster)

According to the email marketing statistics from OptinMonster, the age range of those who are most likely working people prefer to access their emails at 93.4% more than social media, which stands only at 78%. However, it’s the same for all adults of any age range, which proves that email has the largest user base worldwide.

5. Emails from the government have the highest open rate at 28.77%. 

(Source: MailChimp)

Email marketing statistics by industry show that the government industry has the highest open rate of $28.77. It was determined by an analysis of campaigns with 1,000 subscribers or more, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. The in-depth look also revealed that emails in the hobbies category have the highest click-through rate (CTR) at 5.01%.

Email Marketing Stats

6. Digital marketing advertising channels (including email) are expected to make up 46% of all ad spend by 2021.

(Source: WebStrategies Inc.)

Versatility and historically proven ROI—what’s not to love? With tons of ways to spice up email content and draw users in, email remains the marketing channel most businesses depend on. These days interactive videos and funny GIFs are crucial components of an insightful marketing approach.

7. By tracking subscriber data from client subscriber lists, Campaign Monitor found that the most-used email client is Gmail at a 22.8% share.

(Source: Campaign Monitor)

iPhone ranks second with 15.59% of email opens, then Apple Mail 8 follows with 14.09%. A bit further down the list are Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010. Marketers can easily tailor the layout and design of their messages to the platforms used by most subscribers with these email marketing statistics. 

8. The ideal length of a compelling email subject line is 41 characters or less. 

(Source: Zendesk)

It makes perfect sense when you think about it since more people are using smartphones and other mobile devices to access their emails. For example, Gmail displays between 41–70 characters on mobile devices. Therefore, a subject line that’s too lengthy will get cut off. Emails statistics say that over time, that could potentially annoy users, especially when other marketers are already optimizing for mobile this way.

9. Marketers write, on average, 434.8 words per email. 

(Source: AWeber)

This number is equivalent to a total reading time of about 3.3 minutes. Over 50% of emails have 300 words or less to avoid overloading subscribers. In email marketing, the overall effectiveness rises with shorter emails. Long-form emails aren’t necessarily bad, though. Just be sure that the topic is interesting enough to hold readers’ attention. Length really depends more on campaign goals. Both short or long emails work for awareness. For increased traffic, short and sweet is the recommended approach.

10. The average ROI for email marketing was $38 for every dollar spent, according to the email marketing data from 2015.

(Source: Email Monday)

Marketers typically report a positive ROI from email marketing. It seems that clients readily subscribe for dollar value discounts, out of brand loyalty, and to tap into free samples and gifts. Marketers identified regular newsletters, welcome messages, customer surveys, and limited-time offers as their go-to email messages for campaign objectives.

11. Today, the average email marketing return on investment increased to $44 per dollar spent.

(Source: OptinMonster)

It’s probably the reason why 30% of marketers all over the world consider email marketing to have the highest ROI. Imagine a return of $44 for only a dollar they spend on marketing? And it’s a confirmed figure based on a study by Campaign Monitor, a leading email marketing platform.

12. Across different marketing channels, email marketing ROI is among the most consistent.

(Source: OpenView)

In an article that explores digital marketing channel ranking reports, many sources show that email marketing rates are consistently high. Email effectiveness has held steady at number two and number three spots across different digital marketing channel performance leaderboards. Email sits at the top because measuring its ROI is much easier compared to other channels. 

13. Email marketing facts reveal that email is 40 times more effective than social media in customer acquisition.

(Source: Campaign Monitor)

McKinsey & Company compared emails with Facebook and Twitter in terms of customer acquisition. Aside from better customer acquisition, their analysis discovered that consumers who buy through email offers spend 138% more. Because email is so efficient at cultivating relationships with consumers and email users number billions worldwide, it’s still a powerful marketing tool.

14. Email statistic trends predicted that over $350 million would have been spent on email ads in 2019.

(Source: Statista)

All of this is due to email marketing giving marketers and businesses a bigger bang for their buck. And with technologies allowing for better automation, it’s now possible to combine an email campaign with other campaign types like blogging. According to blogging statistics and 67% of marketers, this is a very powerful lead generation tool.

15. 8.4% of the email addresses submitted via web forms are invalid ones.

(Source: WordStream)

While this may seem like a relatively insignificant percentage, this causes a hit to email ROI over time. On top of this, sending emails to invalid email addresses winds up damaging your sender’s reputation.

Unchecked, senders with a bad reputation can land your messages in spam folders or get you blacklisted by internet and email service providers altogether. With the addition of email validation, it’s possible to prevent this from happening. You can retroactively use it to clean subscriber lists as well as prevent unfavorable emails from getting into new ones.

16. Email marketing stats reveal that a meager 30% of brands utilize the power of personalization.

(Source: SuperOffice)

This is all the more reason to personalize emails and stand out from the competition. Even something as simple as a personalized subject line makes a difference—as in, a 16% jump in open rates. And when nearly half of the email opens are due to a compelling subject line, there’s no reason not to make use of this approach.

Plus, sending emails on Tuesdays and Fridays, which is, according to science, the best time for sending marketing emails, is highly likely to result in significantly higher open and click-through rates.

17. Video email marketing can boost click rates by 300%.

(Source: Oberlo)

Video content’s efficacy in engaging audiences even generates twice the conversions of static content. A survey conducted by DemandGen found that 82% of respondents preferred interactive content over standard emails. Among the same respondents, 69% admitted to a preference for GIFs, while 65% went for video instead.

18. Just including the word “video” in email subject lines increases open rates by 19%.

(Source: Renderforest)

It’s no secret that video, emailing, and marketing all go hand in hand. Many other fascinating statistics support this claim. For example, research has found that consumers are 64% more likely to purchase a product after viewing a video. Combined with email’s already reliable conversion rates and the fact that click-to-open rates go up to 73% when there’s interactive content, this is some powerful stuff!

19. Email campaign statistics reveal that using an emoji in your subject line can increase your open rates by 45%.

(Source: OptinMonster)

According to a report by Experian, adding emojis to the subject line increases open rates. Some of the most popular emojis include grinning, heart eyes, red heart, sun, ™, winking, and thumbs up.

20. Stats on email marketing show that users referred to a company through a loyalty program spend 13% more on average per year.

(Source: Convince & Convert)

This marketing approach is 90% cheaper than traditional methods. Emails that contain visually stimulating reminders with fun catchphrases like “Give $20, Get $20” around referral details are an excellent way to kick off if you’re not sure how to begin. Great timing is also of the essence. You can send out a “refer a friend” email right after the customer completes checkout, for example.

21. Well-written welcome emails can have as high as a 90% open rate, which is almost 4 times higher than the open rate of emails overall.

(Source: ActiveCampaign)

Advertising statistics show that the first 48 hours after a user subscribes is crucial—it’s when new subscribers are more open to engagement. Typically, brands roll out open emails using autoresponders. They set up triggered emails that get sent out in response to a specific customer action or behavior pattern. Abandonment emails, anniversary emails, and birthday emails fall under this category.

22. Three abandoned cart emails generate 69% more orders than a single email.

(Source: Oberlo)

Business email statistics reveal that when you send at least three follow-up emails to customers who added items to their cart but didn’t complete the purchase, it’s most likely that they will act on it. There is a 69% chance of them completing the purchase if they receive abandoned cart emails. 

 

These people already intend to buy, and all it takes is a little reminder that they have something in their cart. According to recent eCommerce statistics, abandoned cart emails are one of the most efficient email marketing strategies ever.

23. The email marketing conversion rate of abandonment messages skyrockets to 6.33% when sent within an hour of a user’s online shopping session.

(Source: Convince & Convert)

Timing really matters in this case. The conversion rate drops sharply to 3.41% if you miss the window. According to research by SaleCycle, the main reason shoppers abandon their carts is unexpected shipping costs. It accounts for as much as 28% of abandonment cases. Other causes are not wanting to create a user account, confusing checkout processes, and concerns over whether payments are indeed secure.

Mobile Email Marketing

24. Approximately 56% of global internet usage is from mobile devices.

(Source: GS StatCounter)

More than half of the global population uses their mobile devices when accessing the internet. It’s generally because smartphones are more affordable than other devices, such as laptops and desktops. 

Needless to say, consumers access emails through their phones. So, you must optimize your emails for mobile devices to ensure your mobile marketing strategy works.

25. Mobile devices currently account for over 60% of all email opens.

(Source: ConstantContact)

Email marketing still remains the easiest and cheapest marketing option these days. B2b email open rates from mobile devices grew more than 100% since 2011. Today, mobile devices have an open rate of over 60%. 

26. In 2019, Gmail had a 26% share of the email client market. 

(Source: Email Client Market Share)

This data is based on a sample of 1.02 billion emails opens tracked by Litmus Email Analytics. Holding the first place is Apple iPhone at 39%. Others at the top of the leaderboard include Apple Mail, Outlook, and Yahoo Mail. Surprisingly, Windows live mail and Outlook.com are at the bottom with a 0% share of the email client market.

27. In over 70% of cases, mobile email users delete emails that don’t look good on mobile.

(Source: Email Monday)

A consumer survey found that other annoyances for email users on mobile devices are high-frequency emails, irrelevant messages, and layouts that produce awkward interactions (e.g., the font size or overly small buttons) click-throughs that lead them to websites that aren’t optimized for mobile. According to mobile campaign statistics, a small percentage of users were put–off because they think brands should reach out via an app instead (9%) or because the email content is duplicated in the app.

28. A whopping 81% of email users prefer to open emails on their smartphones.

(Source: Campaign Monitor)

Of all mobile devices, smartphones are used the most for reading emails. This is another mobile email fact proving that smartphones are a marketer’s best friend in this digital era. However, 26.9% of people still prefer to open emails on their desktop, and 21% open their emails on tablets. Across all demographics, 47% prefer to open their emails on a mobile application.

29. On mobile, email conversion rates outperformed other channels when it comes to Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales on Shopify.

(Source: Smart Insights)

The analysis of over $1 billion in sales showed that email topped other channels, holding the first position with a 4.29% conversion rate. This outcome isn’t surprising since subscriber lists consist of users who are already customers or primed prospects who already have higher conversion potential.

30. Only 20% of email campaigns are optimized for mobile devices.

(Source: SuperOffice)

Have you checked your marketing email template on mobile devices lately? If you haven’t, now is the best time. A study revealed that only 20% of email campaigns are optimized for mobile devices, which is almost one in five email campaigns. 

Mobile marketing is on the rise, so if you want to keep up with the competition, you must ensure your email templates are optimized for mobile. 

Conclusion

The advantages of email marketing don’t seem to be diminishing. The format allows brands to effectively create relationships with their consumers while also giving them opportunities to purchase. Put simply, email makes it easy to communicate with interested customers outside the clutter and noise that surrounds most social media platforms.

Its personalization options make it unique to nearly every other marketing type. Marketers can easily format, space, and design messages with more freedom. And the email marketing statistics show consumers responding positively to this. So if you want to boost your sales, consider revamping your email marketing campaign with these latest stats in mind.