Are you in need of a few email subject line statistics to help you craft more compelling subject lines?
In this post, we list the latest email subject line statistics the marketing industry has to offer from a few different sources, including email marketing services.
We’ve arranged the data into a few small categories, including general statistics and statistics for specific subject line tactics.
Editor’s top picks – email subject line statistics
Here are the top email subject line statistics in this post:
- 47% of email recipients use your subject line to determine whether or not they should open your email. (MailerStack)
- 69% of email recipients will mark an email as spam based on its subject line. (MailerStack)
- More than 60% of consumers find the use of all capital letters in email subject lines unacceptable. (MarTech)
- Email subject lines between 61 and 70 characters have the highest average open rate at 32.1%. (GetResponse)
- Emails that pair their subject lines with preheader text have an average click-through rate of 3.12%. (GetResponse)
General email subject line statistics
1. 47% of email recipients decide to open an email based on its subject line
Almost half of all email subscribers on your list, or 47%, use the email subject line to decide whether or not to open an email.
This statistic comes from a study by OptinMonster.
Source: MailerStack (previously published on Startup Bonsai)
2. 69% of email recipients will mark your email as spam based on its subject line alone
According to a study by OptinMonster, the vast majority of subscribers on your email list, or 69%, will mark an email as spam based on the content of its subject line alone.
Source: MailerStack (previously published on Startup Bonsai)
3. Over 60% of consumers think an email that has no subject line is unacceptable
MarTech surveyed 1,200 consumers in order to learn more about what’s effective in email marketing.
They asked respondents about “email faux pas” they find unacceptable.
Over 60% chose “no subject line.” In fact, it was the third most popular option after spelling errors and grammatical errors.
Here was the full list of options in order of popularity:
- Spelling errors
- Grammatical errors
- No subject line
- Excessive punctuation
- Profanity
- Different font sizes
- All caps subject line
- Irregular fonts
- Slang
- Different font colors
- Verbosity
- All lowercase subject line
- Smiley faces
- Conciseness
Source: MarTech
4. Over 60% of consumers think an email subject line that uses all capital letters is unacceptable
MarTech’s survey of over 1,200 consumers also revealed that the majority of consumers, or more than 60%, find email subject lines that have all capital letters to be unacceptable.
They’re more forgiving about subject lines that use all lowercase letters.
This is good information to have when marketers test email subject lines in search of effective subject lines.
Source: MarTech
5. 18.23% of emails have subject lines that are 31 to 40 characters long
According to a study conducted by GetResponse, which involved the email marketing company analyzing 7 billion of the 30 billion emails their users sent in 2022, the majority of emails, or 18.23%, have subject lines that are between 31 and 40 characters.
41 to 50 characters was a close second at 17.98% of emails analyzed.
The least popular length was 241 to 250 characters, which represented 0.01% of all emails tested.
Here are the full results:
| Character Count | Percentage of Emails (Out of 7 Billion) |
| 241-250 | 0.01% |
| 231-240 | 0.02% |
| 221-230 | 0.02% |
| 211-220 | 0.02% |
| 201-210 | 0.03% |
| 191-200 | 0.04% |
| 181-190 | 0.06% |
| 171-180 | 0.09% |
| 161-170 | 0.11% |
| 151-160 | 0.16% |
| 141-150 | 0.26% |
| 131-140 | 0.35% |
| 121-130 | 0.61% |
| 111-120 | 1.04% |
| 101-110 | 1.71% |
| 91-100 | 2.82% |
| 81-90 | 4.56% |
| 71-80 | 7.22% |
| 61-70 | 10.88% |
| 51-60 | 14.91% |
| 41-50 | 17.98% |
| 31-40 | 18.23% |
| 21-30 | 12.95% |
| 11-20 | 5.19% |
| 1-10 | 0.66% |
Source: GetResponse
Statistics on email subject line strategies and trends
6. Email subject lines that have between 61 and 70 characters have an average open rate of 32.1%
According to email marketing benchmarks conducted by email marketing service GetResponse, if you want to improve your list’s email open rates by optimizing your subject lines, each subject line should be between 61 and 70 characters.
GetResponse discovered that emails with subject lines of this length have an average open rate of 32.1%, which they discovered by analyzing 7 billion emails, a portion of the 30 billion emails their users sent in 2022.
They only analyzed emails from lists that had at least 500 subscribers for best results.
They also discovered long subject lines that were 231 to 240 characters long had an average open rate of 22.9%, making it the second worst email subject line length after 151 to 160 characters, which had an average open rate of 22.87%.
Here’s how other subject line lengths fared:
| Character Length | Average Open Rate |
| 241-250 | 27.62% |
| 231-240 | 22.90% |
| 221-230 | 26.81% |
| 211-220 | 25.79% |
| 201-210 | 26.55% |
| 191-200 | 27.75% |
| 181-190 | 26.90% |
| 171-180 | 25.54% |
| 161-170 | 23.41% |
| 151-160 | 22.87% |
| 141-150 | 24.74% |
| 131-140 | 26.10% |
| 121-130 | 27.08% |
| 111-120 | 29.87% |
| 101-110 | 29.60% |
| 91-100 | 27.80% |
| 81-90 | 27.70% |
| 71-80 | 27.05% |
| 61-70 | 32.10% |
| 51-60 | 27.13% |
| 41-50 | 26.53% |
| 31-40 | 28.10% |
| 21-30 | 26.98% |
| 11-20 | 28.16% |
| 1-10 | 26.20% |
Source: GetResponse
7. Email subject lines between 61 and 70 characters have an average click-through rate of 3.62%
Email subject lines between 61 and 70 characters also performed well in GetResponse’s benchmarks for click-through rates.
They discovered emails with subject lines of this list to have an average click-through rate of 3.62%.
The 241 to 250 character length was, once again, an outlier, performing at an average click-through rate of 4.48%.
However, only 0.01% of the 7 billion emails GetResponse tested used this length, so it’s not a great representation of this length’s performance.
Given the performance of email subject lines between 61 and 70 characters across the board, you’re better off staying within this range with your own subject lines.
This range represented 10.88% of the 7 billion emails GetResponse tested.
Here are the full results from GetResponse’s report:
| Character Count | Average Click-Through Rate |
| 241-250 | 4.48% |
| 231-240 | 3.60% |
| 221-230 | 3.31% |
| 211-220 | 2.63% |
| 201-210 | 2.57% |
| 191-200 | 1.95% |
| 181-190 | 2.24% |
| 171-180 | 1.92% |
| 161-170 | 1.78% |
| 151-160 | 1.73% |
| 141-150 | 1.96% |
| 131-140 | 2.31% |
| 121-130 | 2.46% |
| 111-120 | 3.07% |
| 101-110 | 2.74% |
| 91-100 | 2.57% |
| 81-90 | 2.43% |
| 71-80 | 2.14% |
| 61-70 | 3.62% |
| 51-60 | 2.12% |
| 41-50 | 2.13% |
| 31-40 | 2.23% |
| 21-30 | 1.84% |
| 11-20 | 1.72% |
| 1-10 | 1.53% |
Source: GetResponse
8. Using personalized email subject lines boosts open rates by 50%
According to a statistic, using personalized subject lines increases open rates by as much as 50%.
This is in spite of only 2% of marketers using personalization in their email marketing strategies, as Yes Lifecycle Marketing states.
With that in mind, it’s not surprising that most businesses still skip subject line personalization.
According to a GetResponse report that analyzed 7 billion emails, 88.52% did not use personalized subject lines.
Those emails averaged a 28.89% open rate and a 2.49% click through rate.
Emails that did use personalized subject lines actually performed worse, with an average open rate of 22.17% and a click through rate of 1.29%.
That’s a sharp contrast to the common advice that says personalization should always be used more often.
Source: MailerStack (previously published on Startup Bonsai), GetResponse
9. Adding emojis to email subject lines increases open rates by 56%
Another thing you can test is adding an emoji to your subject line.
According to Experian, using emojis in email subject lines can increase open rates by up to 56%.
But the data isn’t one sided. A GetResponse study that analyzed 7 billion emails sent in 2022 tells a different story. Emails with emojis saw an average open rate of 26.42% and a click through rate of 1.95%.
Emails without emojis actually performed slightly better, with a 28.26% open rate and a 2.4% click through rate.
The takeaway is simple. Emojis can work, but they’re not a guaranteed win. Test to find what works best for your audience.
Source: MailerStack (previously published on Startup Bonsai), GetResponse
10. Emails that use preheader text next to their subject lines have an average click-through rate of 3.12%
According to GetResponse’s analysis of 7 billion emails, emails that used preheader text next to their subject lines had an average click-through rate of 3.12%.
They had an average open rate of 32.95%.
Emails that skipped preheader text saw an average open rate of 25.72% and a click through rate of 1.97%.
Preheader text is the short line of copy that appears next to your subject line in the inbox. It lets you control what subscribers see before they even open the email.
GetResponse’s data shows that optimizing this text can significantly improve both open and click through rates.
Despite that, only 34.23% of the emails analyzed actually used preheader text. That means most marketers are leaving easy wins on the table.
Source: GetResponse
Performance of common phrases in email subject lines
11. Emails with the word “update” in their subject lines have an average open rate of 42.84%
When GetResponse analyzed 7 billion emails, they discovered that emails that had the word “update” in their subject lines had an average open rate of 42.84%.
They had an average click-through rate of 4.67%.
Source: GetResponse
12. Emails with the word “events” in their subject lines had an average open rate of 42.76%
According to GetResponse’s report, emails that had the word “events” in their lines had an average open rate of 42.76%.
They had an average click-through rate of 3.93%.
Source: GetResponse
13. Emails that use the word “news” in their subject lines have an average open rate of 37.98%
According to GetResponse’s study, subject lines featuring the word “news” have an average open rate of 37.98%.
They had an average click-through rate of 4.93%.
Source: GetResponse
14. Emails with the word “newsletter” in their subject lines have an average open rate of 37.25%
GetResponse discovered that emails that use the word “newsletter” in their subject lines have an average open rate of 37.25%
They have an average click-through rate of 5.88%.
Source: GetResponse
15. Emails that contain the word “prize” in their subject lines have an average open rate of 35.07%
GetResponse’s report revealed that emails that contain the word “prize” in their subject lines have an average open rate of 35.07%.
They have an average click-through rate of 1.99%.
Here’s how similar phrases performed:
| Phrase | Average Open Rate | Average Click-Through Rate |
| bonus | 34.14% | 1.97% |
| sale | 27.74% | 1.82% |
| offer | 27.01% | 2.02% |
| discount | 25.82% | 4.9% |
| exclusive | 24.89% | 1.73% |
| free | 23.17% | 2.24% |
| special | 22.51% | 1.3% |
Source: GetResponse
Sources
Final thoughts
The email subject line statistics in this post give you more than enough insight to start writing better subject lines right away.
The patterns are clear. Avoid long subject lines and skip the all caps. Aim for something concise, ideally in the 61 to 70 character range.
Pair strong subject lines with optimized preheader text so subscribers know exactly what’s waiting for them inside the email.
Most importantly, test everything. The right subject line depends on your audience, and the only way to find what works is through A/B testing. Use your data, refine your approach, and let your results guide you forward.
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