Decoding Cold Email Open Rates and Choosing a Smarter Path
Are you tirelessly sending emails to unfamiliar inboxes, hoping for a glimmer of response?
Wondering why cold emailing isn’t getting the attention you expected? Are you even hitting the average open rate for cold emails?
Well, the struggle is real, and the sad reality is that cold email open rates often fall short of expectations.
Understanding the average open rates and conversion metrics for cold emails will give you some perspective into your own performance. But as we dissect these numbers, you’ll see that cold email might not be the magic solution you anticipated.
What is the Average Open Rate for Cold Email?
The average open rate for cold emails is only between 15 and 25 percent, though these numbers can vary dramatically depending on the industry. Business consulting and SaaS fall at the lower end of the email engagement spectrum, while cold emails from non-profit organizations, publishers, and media companies enjoy higher open rates.
But what is a good cold email open rate? We answer this question and more below.
Average Cold Email Open Rate By Industry
We’ve mentioned popular industries here:
| Industry | Average Cold Email Open Rate |
|---|---|
| Technology (SaaS, IT) | 10-15% |
| Finance | 15-25% |
| Healthcare | 18-28% |
| Education | 22-32% |
| E-commerce | 20-30% |
Cold Email Average Open Rate in 2025
Recent studies report average open rates for cold emails between 40% and 60%. But that doesn’t mean users have become more interested in cold emails. In fact, other engagement metrics tell a different story: average email reply rates have declined over the years.
So, why are open rates higher?
It has to do with Apple’s new Mail Privacy Protection, an opt-in setting that hides opens on all devices linked to an Apple ID. More on this later.
What is the Average Cold Email Response Rate?
The average response rate for cold emails has declined over the years. It has gone from 8.5 percent in 2019 to 7 percent in 2023. In 2025, it’s between 1% and 5%.
To get a clearer picture, look at the average open rate cold email statistics below.
Cold Email Open Rates Statistics in 2025
Check out these cold email benchmarks for 2025:
- The average open rate for cold emails is around 24%, as per Mailmodo.
- As per a recent study by Yesware, 75% of cold emails are read within an hour of the send time.
- Klenty, a sales SaaS company, ran a survey to discover that emojis in email subject lines led to an 8% spike in opens.
- Monday is the weekday with the best cold email open rate at 22% according to GrowthList. Tuesday and Wednesday were at 21.8%.
- Financial professionals are more likely to reply to unsolicited B2B emails; the 3.39% reply rate is higher than other industries.
B2B Cold Email Open Rates
According to a study by DMA.org, B2B cold emails generally perform better than B2C emails.
B2B cold emailing achieved an average open rate of 15.14% and a click rate of 3.18%. This translates to a CTR of approximately 21%.
In contrast, B2C emails, despite a slightly higher open rate of 19.78% and a delivery rate of 97.26%, underperformed in terms of clicks. They achieved a click rate of only 2.09% and a corresponding CTR of 10.61%.
What about B2B cold email reply rates and conversions?
The average cold email B2B response rate was about 5% while the B2B cold email conversion rates were below 1% in this study.
What is a Good Open Rate for Cold Email?
A good open rate for cold emails would be around 60%. This level of success is the result of meticulous planning, precise execution, and luck. You need to consistently test and optimize your list, email subject lines, and send times.
Although an entire industry exists around cold email best practices, the sad reality is that less than one-third of cold email campaigns manage to hit the mark. And the reason often has very little to do with your execution.
What Are Good Conversion Metrics for Cold Emails?
The conversion rate cold email campaigns achieve depends on how good the open rates are.
This table presents a rough estimate of the metrics you could achieve with cold email campaigns:
| Metric | Target | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Open Rate | 50 – 70% | Percentage of recipients who open the cold email. |
| Click-Through Rate (CTR) | 2 – 5% | Percentage of recipients who click on a link within the email. |
| Reply Rate | 10 – 15% | Percentage of recipients who reply to the email. |
| Conversion Rate | 0.3 – 1% | Percentage of recipients who book a meeting or demo after receiving the email. |
Cold Email Marketing Conversion Rate
According to table in the above section, if you manage to get 50-70% of your audience to open your emails, you can expect a cold outreach conversion rate of about 0.3 to 1%. The average cold email conversion rate differs from industry to industry.
What Cold Email Bounce Rate is Acceptable?
Your cold email bounce rate is the percentage of emails that don’t reach your recipients for whatever reason. Cold email statistics indicate the industry average is near the 2% mark.
If your number is higher, it’s time to clean up your list. Note that high bounce rates can damage your email sender reputation and even get you kicked off your email platform.
How to Achieve a Good Cold Email Open Rate?
Follow these guidelines to achieve a good open rate for cold email campaigns:
- Write a good subject line: Keep it short, intriguing, and personalized to grab attention and avoid spam filters.
- Personalize emails: Research your recipient and implement email personalization.
- Offer value: Provide something useful, like a resource or insight, not just a product pitch.
- Be concise: Respect the recipient’s time with short paragraphs and easy-to-scan formatting.
What is a Good Cold Email Success Rate?
What constitutes a “good” cold email success rate depends entirely on what the sender considers “success.”
Is it simply getting the email opened? Generating a reply? Or, as is often the case, is the ultimate goal a sale or a booked appointment? Given the increasingly strict rules and filtering practices employed by mailbox providers — like the 2024 Yahoo and Gmail spam update — to combat unsolicited emails, cold emailers face a significant challenge.
If the objective is a sale or a booked meeting, and considering the hurdles involved, cold email senders should be realistically happy with email marketing conversion rates between 0.3% and 2%. Even achieving the higher end of that range requires a solid email segmentation strategy, a well-crafted campaign, a highly targeted audience, and a compelling offer.
At Campaign Refinery, we are not in favor of sending cold emails.
Instead of sending cold emails to complete strangers, we recommend you grow your email list organically and create valuable content that establishes your expertise. When you’ve earned a reputation as the go-to expert, people tend to become not just email marketing subscribers but enthusiastic advocates for your brand.
Factors That Affect Cold Email Open Rates
Before we discuss the dynamics of the factors that influence open rates, let’s be candid. Cold emailing is a path with lots of risks and challenges.
At Campaign Refinery, we believe in more effective and sustainable approaches to email marketing. But we can’t stop you if you want to try your luck. So, here’s what you need to know.
1. Sender Reputation
Sender reputation is like the domain’s credibility score. It determines whether emails end up in inboxes or spam folders. Enhancing sender reputation involves engaging with the audience, minimizing emails sent to invalid email addresses, and implementing email authentication protocols. Addressing recipient complaints is essential for maintaining trust.
Cold outreach involves contacting individuals on an email list you may have purchased. But that’s a horrible idea — do not buy an email list. These lists may contain outdated or inaccurate information, so you may end up with a high bounce rate. What’s more, recipients on these lists haven’t opted in, so they’re more likely to report your messages as email spam.
Important Note: At Campaign Refinery, we strictly prohibit sending cold emails and purchased lists. Our policies only allow sending messages to subscribers who have willingly opted in to receive your communications. Violation of our terms of service results in immediate termination.
2. Email List Quality and Segmentation
Verifying the emails on the list increases the likelihood of reaching individuals interested in the pitch. This reduces the chances of messages being perceived as intrusive or irrelevant.
Categorize prospects based on shared characteristics or behaviors. This way, you can accurately tailor cold emails to address each segment’s unique needs and pain points. You don’t want to cast a wide net.
3. Subject Line Quality
The ideal subject line for cold email is clear, intriguing, and concise — 36 to 50 characters. Adding personal details can also make the subject line more effective. Examples of personalization include mentioning the recipient’s name, company name, or a solution to one of their problems.
4. Timing and Frequency
Cold emails sent on Tuesdays and Wednesdays have a better shot at getting opened. On the other hand, sending outreach emails on weekends can decrease outreach performance by around 30 percent. And emails sent before noon have a slight edge. What’s more, prospects are twice as likely to open and reply to emails after receiving one or two follow-up emails.
Is Open Rate a Reliable Metric for Cold Email?
Understanding cold email metrics can be tricky. Open rate is only a reliable metric for email deliverability, not overall outreach success. A high open rate means your emails are landing where they should — the primary inbox. It also suggests that your emails are well-timed and have compelling subject lines.
But you shouldn’t rely on your open rate to measure success for two reasons:
1. Open Rate Doesn’t Guarantee Engagement
Real engagement goes beyond just opening emails; it involves meaningful interactions with the content. After the recipient opens the email, the next crucial step is their response — a click on a link or a direct reply. But that only happens if you target people with a genuine interest in your content — a major challenge when doing cold outreach.
What’s more, some users like to maintain a pristine inbox zero. They open all their emails without necessarily reading them in detail.
2. Exact Open Rate Is Impossible to Measure
Capturing data on the cold email open rate involves using a hidden email tracking pixel. When the user opens the email, this image loads and signals that the email was opened. However, the method isn’t foolproof because certain email programs prevent automatic image loading.
Privacy mechanisms also make it hard to get accurate data. Since 2022, Apple’s new Mail Privacy Protection has caused a major increase in open rates across all industries. The average open rate across all email went from 19 percent in 2021 to 31.8 percent the next year.
How can this setting have such a huge impact?
When Apple users activate MPP, their emails go through a proxy email server before reaching their device. This registers as a fake open because the hidden pixel loads when the server fetches the content. Now, imagine what open rates look like when 95 percent of Apple users have the setting turned on!
Because of this change, open rate has become less important, and email marketers are exploring other metrics to fill the void.
Measuring Engagement Using Reply Rate
The cold email reply rate is the percentage of recipients who reply to your message. It has a couple of advantages over the open rate.
Firstly, it directly tells you how engaged people are — did they just open the email, or did they take action?
Secondly, it gives you insights into how well your email content is working because it shows whether people are willing to start a conversation with you. The average reply rate cold email campaigns unlock are dependent on various factors.
What’s the Average Reply Rate for Cold Email?
The average cold email response rate is around 8.5 percent, but your results may vary based on your industry, who you’re targeting, and your email list quality. You can expect cold email response rates of about 5 percent in most cases.
To break it down, if you send out 100 cold emails, you can expect only five people to respond. This might not feel like a great return on your effort since you’ll have to send many emails to get any meaningful conversions.
What’s a Good Cold Email Reply Rate?
Unfortunately, it’s challenging to achieve reply rates above 10 percent with cold email because the vast majority of recipients ignore emails from strangers. However, outreach campaigns for specific purposes, such as link building and guest posting, tend to have higher reply rates, around 20 percent.
Other Useful Cold Email Metrics
Here are a few other metrics to measure the success of your cold email campaigns:
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): The cold email click-through rate shows the percentage of recipients who clicked on a link in your email. It’s another engagement signal besides response rate.
- Conversion Rate: Cold email conversion rate tracks the percentage of people who actually did what you wanted them to do, like filling out a form or booking a call.
- Spam Complaint Rate: It indicates the percentage of recipients who mark your emails as spam. The golden rule is to keep your complaint rate below 0.1 percent. Higher rates signal that your recipients find your emails intrusive or irrelevant.
Cold Email Examples
We rummaged through our inbox to find the best examples of cold emails. While all of them have a theme here — SEO or search engine optimization — the messages are standard examples of what cold emails look like.
Cold Email Example 1
Cold Email Example 2
Cold Email Example 3
Cold Email Example 4
Cold Email Example 5
Cold Email vs Spam
People often compare cold emails to spam. While the two may share some superficial similarities in their technical delivery, their core purpose, ethical considerations, and impact on recipients are not the same.
| Feature | Cold Email | Spam |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | Cold emails are relevant to the recipient’s interests. | Spam is unsolicited and irrelevant. |
| Personalization | Cold emails are typically personalized. | Spam emails are generic and impersonal. |
| Targeting | Cold emails are sent to a specific audience. | Spam is broadcast to a massive, untargeted list. |
| Value | They offer value relevant to the recipient. | Spammy messages contain irrelevant information. |
| Sender identification | The emails have clear and verifiable contact information. | They have obscured or fake sender information. |
| Unsubscribe | They usually have a clear unsubscribe mechanism. | There is no unsubscribe option. |
Understanding a Cold Email Report
Deciphering a cold email report requires careful attention to several key metrics.
Begin by examining the delivery rate to ensure your emails are reaching inboxes. Next, analyze the open rate, which indicates the effectiveness of your subject lines. A low open rate suggests the need for subject line revisions.
The CTR reveals how engaging your email content is, highlighting whether your call to action — email CTA — is compelling. Pay close attention to the reply rate, as this metric reflects how well your message resonates with recipients and sparks conversation.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, assess the conversion rate. This includes meeting bookings, sign-ups, or sales. This metric demonstrates the overall success of your campaign in achieving its intended objective.
Remember that these metrics are interconnected; improvements in one area can positively influence others.
Don’t Confuse Cold Email with Email Marketing
Cold email outreach is a targeted sales approach that involves sending unsolicited emails to a group of individuals or businesses. The idea is to kickstart a conversation with prospects who might not know your brand yet. The aim is to build awareness, generate interest, and eventually convert them into customers.
But cold outreach only sounds good on paper. While it might bring in a few quick wins, the long-term costs can add up. These include damage to your brand and credibility, higher complaint rates, and wasted resources. Cold outreach typically consumes time, effort, and money without delivering substantial returns in the long run.
So, if you’re looking for a sustainable strategy, email marketing is the way to go.
With email marketing, you’re sending emails to a list of subscribers who have willingly opted in to receive your messages. The focus here is on nurturing existing relationships, providing value through content, and building customer loyalty. It’s not about making a quick sale; it’s about creating a long-term bond with your audience.
Here’s a comparison of cold email outreach and email marketing:
| Cold Email Outreach | Email Marketing | |
|---|---|---|
| Philosophy | Initiating contact with potential leads or clients. | Nurturing and maintaining relationships with subscribers. |
| Use Cases | B2B lead generation, sales prospecting, new client acquisition. | Customer retention, brand building, ongoing engagement. |
| Permission | Typically lacks explicit permission; the first contact is unsolicited. | Requires explicit opt-in; recipients have agreed to receive emails. |
| Content Focus | Direct product or service promotion | Varied content, including newsletters, educational material, and promotions. |
| Open Rates | Lower; recipients may not be familiar with the sender. | Higher; emails are sent to a willing and engaged audience. |
| Conversion Rates | Varies based on targeting, messaging, and initial interest. | Typically higher due to pre-existing relationships and trust. |
| Metrics Emphasized | Initial engagement metrics such as open rates. | Conversion rates, click-through rates, customer lifetime value. |
At Campaign Refinery, we’re all in for email marketing. It beats cold email outreach every time, thanks to its focus on building relationships. And email marketing is expected to grow in the coming years.
Elevate Your Strategy Beyond Cold Outreach
As we wrap up our analysis of cold email open rates, one thing is crystal clear: cold outreach isn’t a solid business strategy. Low email open rates and poor email engagement metrics are common. There’s a significant risk of damaging your reputation. And building meaningful relationships with customers through cold emails? Not really possible.
Campaign Refinery’s approach is different.
We’re a high-performance email marketing solution laser-focused on ensuring unparalleled deliverability and engagement. With our robust features, including automatic list cleaning, email gamification, and domain authentication, your emails don’t just land in inboxes; they make an impact.
Learn more about our services and apply to become our customer.
And we’re also here to share our expertise.
To help you ditch cold email for good, we’ve created a guide unveiling the secrets to crafting email marketing messages that command attention and drive more sales. You’ll learn how the world’s best copywriters and email marketers get results without relying on cold outreach and clickbait.
Sign up to get our Inbox Formula guide and let us know how it went.
Happy emailing!
FAQ
What is the Best Time to Send Cold Emails?
Generally, weekdays between 6 to 9 AM tends to be the most effective, but testing is key for your specific audience.
What is a Good Reply Rate for Cold Email?
A good cold email reply rate typically falls between 6-9%, though this can vary by industry and targeting.
What is a Good B2B Cold Email Conversion Rate?
A good B2B cold email conversion rate is often in the 0.3 to 1% range, reflecting the effort involved in targeting and crafting effective campaigns.
What Are Email Campaign Response Rates?
Email campaign response rates measure the percentage of recipients who take a desired action, such as replying or clicking a link, after receiving an email.
What is Cold Email Marketing?
Cold email marketing is a form of outreach where you contact potential customers who you have no prior relationship with via email.
What is Cold Emailing?
Cold emailing is the act of sending emails to prospects you’ve never interacted with before.
What Are Cold Emails?
Cold emails are emails sent to potential customers or prospects with whom the sender has no prior relationship.
What is Cold Email Meaning?
Cold email meaning refers to the practice of reaching out to prospects without prior contact or permission.
What is Cold Email Outreach?
Cold email outreach is a strategy involving contacting potential clients via email without any prior interaction.
What Does Cold Email Mean?
A “cold email” refers to the practice of sending an email to a potential client or customer with whom you have had no prior contact.
What’s a Good Email Open Rate?
A good email open rate generally falls between 15-25%, though this can vary depending on industry, audience, and the quality of your subject lines.
