Looking to boost your cold email game? You’re in the right place. After sending 10,000+ cold email campaigns, we’ve compiled 43 eye-opening cold email statistics that will transform your outreach strategy.
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, these stats will help you stand out in crowded inboxes. From open rates to follow-ups, discover how to craft compelling cold emails with our curated list of 43 data-driven insights.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
- What is a good open rate for cold email?
- How important are subject lines in cold emails?
- What is a good reply rate for cold email?
- Is it a good idea to follow up on your first cold email?
- What is the average unsubscribe rate for cold emails?
- What is the average bounce rate for cold emails?
- How many cold emails end up in spam folders?
- When is the best time to send cold emails?
- What should you write in your cold emails?
- How long should your cold emails be?
- Are cold emails still effective in 2024?
- What are the best tools for measuring cold email metrics?
Sounds good? Then let’s dive in.
What is a good open rate for cold email?
According to Backlinko, a whopping 91.5% of all outreach emails are ignored. And a recent study revealed that over 40% of consumers have at least 50 unread emails in their inbox. So, what’s a good open rate?
Well, the average open rate for cold emails is 44%. And 8% of cold email campaigns have an open rate of 80% or more. This is much higher than the average open rate in email marketing (which is between 15-25%).
Sources: QuickMail, Backlinko, Mailchimp
How important are subject lines in cold emails?
Your subject line can make or break your cold email campaign. According to a SuperOffice study, 33% of people open emails based on the subject line alone.
So, what can you do to craft cold email subject lines that capture attention and generate more opens? Well, data shows that numbers, emojis, personalization, and length can have a significant impact.
- Subject lines with emojis boost open rates by 8%.
- Personalized subject lines see a 29% increase in opens.
- Including numbers in subject lines results in 8% more opens.
- Subject lines with question marks get 8% more opens.
- Long subject lines get 32.7% more responses than short subject lines.
- The ideal subject line is 30-50 characters long, or 4 to 7 words.
- Don’t forget the preheader! Cold emails with a relevant preheader get 10% higher open rates.
Sources: Klenty, ActiveCampaign, Backlinko
What is a good reply rate for cold email?
A recent Quickmail study reveals that the top 25% of cold email campaigns achieve a reply rate of 20% or more, while half of all cold outreach efforts see response rates below 10%.
The average response rate for cold emails is just 8.5%. However, by applying a few simple strategies, you can significantly boost your cold email responses. Here’s what the statistics show.
- Reaching out to multiple contacts within the same company can boost your response rate by 93%
- Cold emails with advanced personalization (beyond basic snippets like or ) achieve a 17% response rate, compared to just 7% for those without it.
- Segment your mailing list into smaller groups. Cold emails sent to 1-200 prospects see an average reply rate of 18%, while campaigns sent to 1,000+ recipients average only 8%.
Sources: Clearbit, Backlinko, Woodpecker
Is it a good idea to follow up on your first cold email?
According to research, the ideal number of follow-ups is 4-9. And yet, 70% of sales reps give up after their first email goes unanswered. That’s too bad. Because they’re leaving a lot of money on the table.
In a recent study, Lemlist analyzed millions of cold email sequences. And they found that your overall reply rate increases with each follow-up. Look at this data.
| Number of Follow-Ups | Reply Rate |
|---|---|
| Email 1 | 4.50% |
| Email 2 | 3.75% |
| Email 3 | 2.75% |
| Email 4 | 2.10% |
| Email 5 | 1.70% |
| Email 6 | 1.55% |
| Email 7 | 1.70% |
| Email 8 | 1.52% |
| Email 9 | 1.40% |
| Email 10 | 1.40% |
| Email 11 | 1.37% |
| Email 12 | 1.60% |
| Email 13 | 1.30% |
| Email 14 | 1.40% |
This is too good to ignore. But after 9 follow-ups, the risk of being flagged as spam goes up. So you should probably stop sending reminders once you’ve reached this point. Here are more statistics about cold email follow-ups.
- Even if your first email goes unanswered, you still have a 21% chance of getting a reply with a follow-up.
- On average, top-performing reps need up to 5 outreach attempts to secure a meeting with a new contact.
- Email sequences with multiple attempts can boost response rates by up to 160%.
- Sending at least 3 follow-up emails can boost your response rate by up to 28%.
Sources: Yesware, RAIN Group, Backlinko, Saleshandy
What is the average unsubscribe rate for cold emails?
According to QuickMail, the average cold email unsubscribe rate is around 2.17%. But here’s the thing. Most cold emails don’t include an unsubscribe link.
That’s a (big) mistake. Why? Because providing an easy way to opt out of your emails is a legal requirement. Ever heard of CAN-SPAM or GDPR?
What’s more, if you don’t include an unsubscribe link, recipients are more likely to flag your cold emails as spam and damage your sender reputation.
That’s why popular cold outreach platforms such as Mailmeteor provide an easy way to add unsubscribe links to your emails.
Sources: QuickMail
What is the average bounce rate for cold emails?
Not all of your cold emails will make it to your recipient’s primary inbox. Some of them will bounce. Meaning they won’t get distributed, because servers are down, the mailbox is full, or the email address no longer exists.
According to QuickMail, the average cold email bounce rate is 7.5%. Though you can get much lower bounce rates by using an email verification tool, such as BounceShield, a feature included in Mailmeteor’s paid plans.
Sources: QuickMail
How many cold emails end up in spam folders?
Got open rates below 20%? In that case, your cold emails might be landing in the recipients’ spam folders. According to Growthlist, 70% of cold emails are marked as spam due to their subject lines. So that’s where you should start.
To improve the odds of making it safely to your recipients’ inboxes, you can use advanced tools, likeemail throttling. This feature lets you add a delay between each email to replicate a normal sending activity.
Sources: Growthlist
When is the best time to send cold emails?
When it comes to cold emails, timing matters (a lot). Reaching your prospect at the most appropriate time can make the difference between a reply, or a one way ticket to their trash folder. So, what does data say?
- Monday and Tuesday are the best days to send cold emails.
- Avoid weekends—Saturday and Sunday see minimal engagement.
- The optimal times for outreach are 11 AM or 1 PM.
- Engagement rates are significantly lower before 9 AM and after 4 PM.
- 75% of cold emails are opened within the first hour.
Sources: Yesware
What should you write in your cold emails?
Not sure what to include in your cold emails? Here are some data-backed tips to help you get it right. Discover how social proof, call-to-actions, or pleasantries can help you get clicks, replies, and turn leads into deals.
- Be cordial. Starting your emails with ‘Hope this finds you well’ can boost your chances of booking meetings by 24%.
- Make sure to include a clear call-to-action (CTA). Phrase it as a question, since emails with 1-3 questions get 50% higher reply rates.
- Keep it simple. Emails written at a 3rd-grade reading level outperform those at a college level, boosting response rates by 36%.
- Write with emotion. Emails with a slight positive or negative tone get 10-15% more responses than neutral ones.
- Include social proof. For example, adding customer reviews in emails can increase open rates by 15% and drive up to 80% more conversions.
How long should your cold emails be?
Data indicates that the optimal length for a cold email is 75-125 words. A Lemlist study found that emails with around 120 words achieved a 52% booking rate, compared to just 20% for emails with 300 words.
| Cold Email Length | Booking Rates |
|---|---|
| 50 | 40% |
| 120 | 52% |
| 200 | 37% |
| 250 | 25% |
| 300 | 19% |
Another study showed that emails with 20 lines of text have the highest click-through rates. Remember to use short paragraphs and line breaks to make your cold emails skimmable and easy to read.
| Lines of Text | Click-through Rate |
|---|---|
| 10 | 0.08% |
| 20 | 0.16% |
| 30 | 0.11% |
| 40 | 0.10% |
| 50 | 0.10% |
Sources: Constant Contact, Lemlist
What is the ROI of cold outreach?
With an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent, cold emails are a powerful tool for driving revenue and achieving your marketing goals. But is there a way to improve the ROI of your cold email campaigns? According to data, yes.
- Brands that regularly include A/B testing in their cold email programs see an 82% higher ROI compared to those that never A/B test.
- Including dynamic content into your emails can lead to a 100% increase in ROI.
- Using animated GIFs can improve your cold email ROI by up to 105%.
Sources: Litmus
Are cold emails still effective in 2024?
“Cold email is dead.” Over the past 6 years, we’ve heard that sentence a bazillion times. And yet, cold outreach is still alive and kicking.
In fact, it is considered one of the most effective strategies for marketers and sales reps looking to generate more leads in 2024.
Why? Because 80% of people prefer to be contacted by sales reps through email. And also because the ROI is absurdly good (36:1).
So sure, with a forecast of 361.6 billion emails sent in 2024, inboxes are more saturated than ever, and it’s getting harder to get people’s attention.
But despite everything, cold emails are still pretty darn effective in 2024, with top campaigns reaching up to 15% conversion rates.
Sources: Hunter, Breakcold, Yaguara
What are the best tools for measuring cold email metrics?
Most cold email platforms have a built-in analytics dashboard that you can use to track the performance of your cold emails in real-time, collect valuable insights, and fine-tune your email marketing strategy.
Popular email marketing software such as QuickMail, Lemlist, or Mailmeteor helps you monitor all the key metrics you need to optimize your cold emails and get the most out of your outreach campaigns:
- Opens: who opened your emails
- Clicks: who clicked a link
- Replies: who replies to your emails
- Bounces: who didn’t receive your emails
- Unsubscribes: who opted out from your emails
Here’s how it looks in the Mailmeteor dashboard:
This simple tool is the #1 cold email platform on the Google Workspace Marketplace, with 5M+ happy users worldwide and a 4.9/5 rating out of 11K+ reviews. Mailmeteor is used by companies like Spotify, Pinterest, and Epic Games.
Conclusion
When it comes to cold emailing, data is the name of the game. Each message you send is an opportunity to learn more about your target audience, what resonates with them, and what doesn’t.
We hope this selection of cold email statistics will help you refine your strategy and create stellar outreach campaigns. But keep in mind that what works in one industry may not necessarily apply to another.
So, don’t forget to run A/B tests and track the performance of your campaigns to collect your own data. The more you do this, the better you’ll get at writing cold emails that get opens, clicks, and replies.
What’s next? To send your first cold email campaign, you can sign up to Mailmeteor in just 2 clicks. Our free plan lets you send up to 50 personalized cold emails a day.
You can also schedule automated follow-ups, add a short delay between each email to improve your deliverability, embed Loom videos directly into your cold emails, send emails from multiple aliases, and so much more.
Happy sending 💌
