Have you ever wondered why some emails drive action while others simply fall flat? What’s the reason behind the latter's failure, and which email metric should you focus on to boost the performance of your email marketing campaigns?
This is where your email conversion rate comes into play. It’s the metric that reveals how effectively your emails encourage readers to take the desired action, whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading a guide.
But what exactly is a good email conversion rate? How do you calculate it? And most importantly, how does it vary across industries and email types?
Don’t worry—we’re diving into the nitty-gritty of all that and sharing nine actionable tips to take your conversion rates up the roof.
Let’s get started!
What’s a Good Email Conversion Rate, and How to Calculate It?
A good email conversion rate is something that varies depending on your industry, audience, and the type of email marketing campaign you’re running. Instead of solely relying on averages, it is suggested that you track your own campaign performance to establish benchmarks.
However, as a general benchmark:
Average email conversion rate
Around 2% to 5% is considered typical for automated email campaigns.
High-performing emails
Email conversion rates can soar up to 10% or higher if you’re thoughtful enough to target a well-segmented audience with a compelling promotional offer in your emails.
Now, let’s look at the formula for calculating the conversion rate.
Email Conversion Rate = (Number of Conversions ÷ Number of Delivered Emails) × 100
For example, if you sent 1,000 emails, 800 were delivered, and 80 recipients completed the desired action, your email conversion rate would be:
(80 ÷ 800) × 100 = 10%
Alternative approach by Barilliance
This is one way of looking at it, but Barilliance presents an alternative approach altogether, which is also very interesting. Let’s break that down as well.
1. Define your end goal
You should begin by identifying what counts as a conversion for your email campaign. While completed purchases are a common goal for most marketers, it could also be signing up for a newsletter, downloading a guide, or any other valuable action tied to your objectives.
2. Choose your base
Next, you need to determine what baseline metric makes the most sense for your calculation:
Sent emails
Using sent emails as your base gives you a broader perspective. This approach lets you know about the effectiveness of your email subject line, email deliverability, and email copy.
Clicked emails
Alternatively, you can also focus on the emails that resulted in clicks. This narrows the focus, making your email conversion rate more sensitive to factors such as the effectiveness of your landing page, the value of your offer, and how well it resonates with the target audience.
3. Calculate the email conversion rate
Finally, divide the total number of conversions (from Step 1) by the base you pick (from Step 2) and multiply by 100 to get the percentage.
Example
If your goal is purchases, and you accomplish 50 purchases out of 1,000 delivered emails, your email conversion rate will be (50 ÷ 1,000) × 100 = 5%.
On the contrary, if you got 200 clicks from those emails and 50 purchases, your click-based email conversion rate will be (50 ÷ 200) × 100 = 25%.
Email Conversion Rate Statistics by Industry and Email Type
Here are the average and top email conversion rates across different industries, as per Klaviyo’s research.
And here are the email conversion rates for different email flows according to the same study mentioned above.
Welcome email flow
Key takeaways
The data reveals that the top 10% of welcome emails convert almost 5x as many people as the average, making them the second–highest–converting email series overall.
Abandoned cart email flow
Key takeaways
Abandoned cart email flow has the highest average conversion rate across all the email flows.
Post-purchase email flow
Key takeaways
The post-purchase email flow has the lowest conversion rate of all because the post-purchase experience revolves more around building loyalty with customers than driving conversions and sales.
9 Tips to Skyrocket Your Email Conversion Rate in 2025
Did you know that 1 in 5 people receive over 16 promotional emails every day? That’s a lot of competition for attention. But here’s the good news!
We’ve laid down nine foolproof ways to help you cut through the noise and drive those conversions.
1. Craft an irresistible email subject line
The email subject line is the first thing people see when they open their inbox. It can make or break your email conversion rates.
Why it matters
With inboxes overflowing every now and then, a strong email subject line is the first step towards grabbing attention and driving conversions.
If it doesn’t catch their eye or spark curiosity, they’ll scroll past, no matter how great the dynamic email content inside is.
Best practices for high-performing email subject lines
Keep it brief: Aim for 6-10 words or 60 characters to ensure it’s fully visible, especially on mobile.
Make it personal: Include your recipient’s name or reference something specific to them.
Spark curiosity: Tease what’s inside the email without giving everything away.
Create urgency: Use time-sensitive language such as ‘limited-time offer,’ etc, to encourage a desired action.
Examples of winning email subject lines
You’re missing out—here’s why. 🫣
Alice, your exclusive discount expires tonight!
Is your inbox ready for this deal? 🤫
⏳ Only 12 hours left to save big ⏳
Lastly, don’t forget to test different subject lines and see what works best for your target audience.
2. Personalize your email content
Nobody wants to feel like just another name on an email list. Therefore, personalized emails are a must to grab attention and make the readers far more likely to engage.
Why personalization works
Personalized emails boost click-through rates and, most importantly, conversions. This isn’t just all talk, as 71% of customers say that the level of personalization in an email directly impacts their decision to interact with it.
How to effectively personalize your emails
Use customer names: Begin with simple touches like adding their first name to the subject line, etc.
Tailor recommendations: Suggest products or services based on their past purchases or browsing history.
Segment your email lists: Group subscribers by gender, interests, location, or behavior to send more relevant and personalized content.
Unlayer makes it easy
Personalizing your emails with Unlayer’s merge tags is like a walk in the park. Merge tags allow end-users to insert details like the recipient’s name or location automatically. For instance, the merge tag {{first_name}} might be replaced with ‘John’ when an email is sent to a recipient.
3. Write clear and concise email copy
In a world of endless distractions, clear, concise, and easy-to-scan email copy is the key to keeping your readers engaged and driving action.
How to keep it engaging
Be direct: Get to the point quickly. Due to short attention spans, your readers may not have the time to dig for the message.
Make it scannable: Employ bullet points, subheadings, and bold text to highlight vital information so your readers can skim and still get the gist.
Use conversational language: Write like you’re talking to one of your friends. Avoid jargon, and keep your tone approachable.
Pro tips for writing email copy
Replace features with benefits. Instead of explaining how excellent your product is, talk about how your product can solve the readers’ problems.
Include a clear Call-to-Action (CTA).
Example of engaging email copy
Subject line: Your Big Savings Start Here
Preheader text: Don’t miss out!
Body Copy:
This just in. Just for you.
🔑 Key benefits:
Save up to 50%
Free shipping on all orders
Exclusive access to members-only perks
CTA: Shop the sale now!
4. Add visual appeal and interactive elements
Plain text emails are a big no-no these days. Why? Because nobody wants to receive emails which don’t have visual appeal to them.
Since you already know how competitive email marketing is, adding visual narrative and interactive elements is the only way to make your emails stand out in a crowded inbox and keep your readers engaged.
How to make your emails visually captivating
Use relevant images: Add product photos, infographics, or illustrations to support your message.
Add GIFs or videos: A well-placed GIF grabs attention, while short videos deliver information in an interactive way.
Interactive elements: Use CSS buttons, carousels, surveys, or gamification elements to make your emails more interactive and encourage conversions.
Finding a sweet balance between visuals and performance
Keep your emails under 80KB for fast loading times and improved email deliverability, especially on mobile phones. Plus, avoid using too many visuals in a single email.
Use alt-text for images for email accessibility and also the fact that readers can understand your message if the images don’t load.
Pro tips for visually appealing emails
Stick to a clean, consistent design with a clear hierarchy and email structure.
Use bold and contrasting colors for CTAs to make them pop.
Test your emails for responsiveness to ensure they look great everywhere.
Example of a well-designed email
Here’s an email example from Goshen Coffee that gives you an idea of what a well-designed email looks like.
5. Offer real value
Let’s get this straight–nobody wants to receive an email that doesn’t offer something valuable. Providing real value is what keeps subscribers engaged, builds trust, and drives action.
Why it matters
If you consistently deliver emails with valuable content or offers, your readers are more likely to open, click, and convert. Valuable offers foster loyalty and make your audience look forward to hearing from you.
Ideas for valuable email content or offers
Lead magnets: Free sources such as eBooks, email templates, or exclusive guides tailored to your subscribers’ interests.
Discounts and deals: Special promotions, limited-time offers, or loyalty rewards.
Educational content: Tutorials, how-to guides, how-to videos, or industry insights that solve problems or answer common questions.
How to align offers with subscriber needs
Use data to understand your customers’ preferences, past-purchase behaviors, and pain points.
Segment your email list regularly to ensure the right people get the most relevant offers.
Keep testing and refining your offers based on what gets the best results or response.
6. Leverage social proof
People trust people. That is why showcasing what others think about your products or services can significantly boost trust and increase email conversion rates.
Why social proof in emails work
When potential leads see others having positive experiences, they’re more likely to follow suit. It adds an element of trust and reassurance that your brand delivers on its promises.
How to seamlessly integrate social proof in emails
Testimonials and reviews: Highlight short and impactful reviews from happy customers. Try to include names and photos for authenticity.
Case studies: Share concise success stories that depict how your product solved real problems.
Ratings and numbers: Showcase star ratings, the number of users you’ve served, or specific achievements, e.g., trusted by 50,000+ businesses.
Example of social proof in emails
Check out this email example from Joey, where they’re promoting their lightweight wagon for kids.
They spotlight glowing reviews from happy customers, seamlessly incorporating social proof in a fun and engaging way. The beautiful, visually appealing design makes the email both compelling and memorable.
7. Focus on mobile-friendly email design
With more than half of all emails opened on mobile devices, a responsive email design is no longer an option—it’s a necessity. If your emails don’t look good and function properly on smaller screens, you risk losing a significant chunk of your customers.
Tips for responsive emails
Single-column layout: This email layout is more manageable to rescale and requires much less shifting of elements, making responsiveness easier.
Text: Keep it short and use legible fonts. Aim for an email font size of at least 14px for body text and 22px for headers.
Images: Use scalable images that adjust to different screen sizes without losing the original quality.
Buttons: Ensure the CTAs you’re using are large enough to tap easily (around 44px by 44px) and don’t forget to add plenty of white space around them.
How Unlayer simplifies mobile optimization
Unlayer’s drag and drop email editor makes it easy for end-users to create responsive emails without any coding. Built-in features like mobile & desktop previews allow you to test how your email will appear on different devices.
Plus, built-in responsive elements ensure text, images, and buttons adjust automatically for mobile screens.
8. Use A/B testing regularly
Have you ever wondered what makes your audience click and convert? A/B testing can help you find out by comparing two versions of your email to see which performs better.
Why A/B testing matters
From subject lines to CTAs, small changes can significantly impact your email conversion rates. Regular testing ensures that you’re constantly improving and delivering what your audience responds to best–given that you follow what the data says 😉.
What to test
Subject lines: Try different tones, e.g., curiosity-driven vs. straightforward.
Layouts: Experiment with different email layouts to see which gets more conversions.
CTAs: Test placement, color, and wording.
Offers: Compare discounts, freebies, or limited-time deals.
Tools to streamline A/B testing
Platforms like Mailchimp and Hubspot offer built-in A/B testing features, making it easy to send and analyze test variations of your emails. You can create beautiful emails with Unlayer and then integrate these tools to send and analyze test variations of your emails.
Common mistakes to avoid
Testing too many variables: Focus on one email element at a time for accurate results.
Ending tests too early: Allow enough time to gather meaningful data.
Ignoring the data: Use test results to guide future email marketing campaigns—don’t just guess.
9. Nail the timing
Timing is everything when it comes to email marketing. Even the most well-crafted email can fall flat if it lands in a subscriber’s inbox at the wrong time. Therefore, getting your timing right ensures your email gets the attention it deserves.
Best times and days for marketing emails
Studies suggest that Tuesday is the best day to send emails.
And the best times to send an email are 9 am-12 pm and 12 pm-3 pm.
How to use time zones and customer behavior
Time zones: Send emails based on local time zones to ensure they hit inboxes when your subscribers are most active.
Behavior tracking: Analyze when your target audience usually opens emails or makes purchases and then schedule accordingly.
Tools to make scheduling a breeze
Platforms like Hubspot, Mailchimp, and Klaviyo allow you to automate email sends based on time zones or user activity.
Conclusion
Boosting your email conversion rate doesn’t have to be rocket science. By crafting irresistible subject lines, personalizing your email content, leveraging social proof, and nailing your email design and timing, you’re already setting yourself up for success.
Last but not least, don’t forget the importance of A/B testing and offering real value to your customers because these are the small tweaks that make a big difference.
