What is a Good Email Newsletter Open Rate? (2025 Industry Benchmarks & How to Beat Them)

You’re here because you’re a smart marketer. You’re not just sending emails into the void; you’re measuring your results, and you’re asking one of the most common and important questions in the industry: "What is the average email newsletter open rate?"

You want a benchmark. You want to know where you stand compared to your peers and competitors. This desire for data is the sign of a strategic professional who is serious about growth, and you've come to the right place.

This guide will give you the clear benchmark data you're looking for, with a detailed breakdown across different industries. But then, we're going to take the next logical step. We are going to reveal a secret that the top 1% of email marketers understand: obsessing over the "average" is a trap.

The average open rate is a symptom, not a cause. It's a reflection of a deeper strategy. We'll show you how to stop chasing average and start building a system that creates a list so engaged, your open rates become a point of pride, not anxiety.

The Data: Average Email Open Rates by Industry for 2025

Let's start with the data you came for. A "good" open rate can vary dramatically depending on your industry. A 15% open rate might be cause for concern in one sector, while in another, it could be above average.

Based on recent studies and email marketing benchmarks, here is a general overview of average open rates across various industries.

Industry	Average Open Rate
Agencies	24-28%
Automotive	21-25%
Communications	28-32%
Education	27-31%
Financial Services	25-29%
Healthcare Services	24-28%
Non-Profit	29-33%
Real Estate	20-24%
Restaurants & Food	21-25%
Retail / E-commerce	18-22%

(Note: These are general benchmarks. Your specific results may vary based on list quality and other factors.)

Now, find your industry. See where you stand. It’s a useful data point. But now, we must agree on a foundational truth: your goal should not be to hit this number. Your goal is to shatter it.

The Breakthrough Insight: Why 'Average' is a Flawed Goal

Here is the pivotal reframing of the problem. Chasing an average open rate leads to average results. The most successful marketers understand that the open rate isn't the goal itself; it's the result of three critical pillars working in harmony. If you're wondering why are my email open rates so low, it's almost certainly because one of these pillars is weak.

1. List Quality & Permission: Are you emailing people who eagerly asked to hear from you, or a list of unengaged contacts who don't remember signing up?

   
   

2. Subject Line & Relevancy: Is your subject line a compelling, curiosity-driven gateway to content your subscriber actually wants, or is it a generic, self-serving announcement?

   
   

3. Deliverability: Are your emails actually reaching the primary inbox, or are they being filtered into spam or promotions tabs by Gmail and Outlook?

   
   

A low open rate is simply a symptom of a weakness in one or more of these areas. The real question isn't "How do my numbers compare?" but "How do I build a superior system for these three pillars?"

Actionable Strategies to Dramatically Improve Your Open Rates

Let's move from theory to action. Here are tangible strategies to strengthen each pillar. This is how to increase email engagement and leave the "average" behind.

Pillar 1: Build a High-Quality List

• Use Double Opt-in: When someone subscribes, send them a confirmation email they must click to be added to your list. This proves they are a real, engaged human who truly wants to hear from you.

• Clean Your List Regularly: Once a quarter, identify subscribers who haven't opened an email in 90 days. Send them a re-engagement campaign. If they still don't engage, remove them. This feels scary, but it dramatically improves your sender reputation and open rates among your real fans.

• Set Clear Expectations: On your sign-up form, tell people exactly what they're getting and how often they'll hear from you. An audience whose expectations are met is an engaged audience.

Pillar 2: Write Irresistible Subject Lines

• Spark Curiosity: Instead of "Our Company Newsletter," try "The one mistake everyone in our industry makes."

• Use Personalization: A subject line with the subscriber's first name can lift open rates significantly.

• Create Urgency (When Appropriate): For a sale or event, "24 hours left" is a powerful motivator.

Pillar 3: Master Your Deliverability

This is the most overlooked pillar. You could have the best list and the best subject line in the world, but if your emails land in spam, your open rate will be zero.

• Authenticate Your Domain: Set up DKIM and SPF records for your domain. This is a technical step that proves to email providers like Gmail that you are a legitimate sender.

• Maintain a Consistent Sending Schedule: Sending at a regular cadence helps build a predictable sending reputation.

• Choose a Platform with Elite Deliverability: This is arguably the most important decision you can make.

The Tool's Role: A Detailed Feature Comparison of Approaches

The platform you use is not just a tool to send emails; it is your partner in deliverability.

• Approach A: Basic or "Free" Platforms: These tools are great for starting, but they often have weaker deliverability because their servers are shared with thousands of other users, including some who may not follow best practices. If you're on a "shared IP" with a spammer, your reputation suffers too.

• Approach B: The All-in-One Growth Platform: A superior system is one that invests heavily in its deliverability infrastructure and gives you the tools to manage your sender reputation proactively.

The Superior Solution for Achieving Above-Average Results

This is where a platform like GetResponse becomes the clear strategic choice for marketers who are serious about their results. It is built from the ground up to help you not just meet the average, but to crush it.

Let's use the contrast principle to see the powerful difference:

• Industry-Leading Deliverability: GetResponse maintains an elite deliverability rate, working closely with Internet Service Providers to ensure its customers' emails reach the inbox. They provide all the tools you need for authentication and have a zero-tolerance policy for spam, which protects the reputation of all users on the platform.

• Integrated Tools for List Quality: GetResponse makes it easy to set up double opt-ins and provides powerful list hygiene tools to help you automatically identify and manage unengaged contacts. You can build a high-quality list from day one.

• Advanced Segmentation for Ultimate Relevancy: The key to high open rates is sending the right message to the right person. With GetResponse's advanced segmentation, you can create hyper-targeted groups based on their behavior, interests, and engagement level. A subscriber is far more likely to open an email that feels like it was written specifically for them.

• A Complete Engagement Ecosystem: Your open rates are influenced by the entire customer journey. With GetResponse, you can use the built-in webinar platform to capture highly engaged leads, build professional landing pages that set clear expectations, and create automated journeys that deliver personalized value from the very first interaction. A lead acquired through a value-packed webinar is infinitely more likely to open your future emails than one from a generic sign-up form.

Stop Chasing Average, Start Building Relationships

You came here looking for a number—the average open rate. But as a strategic marketer, you now see that "average" is a distraction. It's a vanity metric.

The real goal is to build an audience that trusts you, values your content, and looks forward to seeing your name in their inbox. When you achieve that, a high open rate is no longer something you chase; it's something you earn, automatically.

By focusing on the three pillars of list quality, relevancy, and deliverability—and by choosing a powerful, all-in-one platform that is built to excel at all three—you can stop worrying about the average and start building a truly exceptional relationship with your audience.