Metrics · Retention / Return

Email Click-Through Rate

Percentage of email recipients who click at least one link in the email. Distinct from open rate (which is unreliable since Apple MPP in iOS 15 made pixel-based tracking inaccurate). CTR benchmarks: transactional emails (7-15%), marketing newsletters (2-4%), promotional (1-3%). Segmented and personalized campaigns often achieve 3-5× base CTR.

Direction
Higher is better ↑
Unit
percent
Top quartile
6.5%
Bottom quartile
< 1.5%

How to calculate it

(unique_clicks / delivered_emails) × 100

Use unique-click CTR (not total clicks) for benchmarking. Open rate is unreliable post iOS-15 Apple MPP. CTR relative to opens (CTOR — click-to-open rate) is sometimes a better signal of email engagement quality.

Per-industry distribution (4)

Each row shows the cited p25 / p50 / p75 for Email Click-Through Rate in that industry. Click an industry to open the full benchmark page.

Industryp25p50p75Source
Ecommerce (D2C Retail)1.5%2.4%5.0%HubSpot State of Marketing 2024
SaaS (B2B Software)(derived)2.0%3.8%7.5%HubSpot State of Marketing 2024 (derived for SaaS)
B2B Services (Agencies, Consulting)(derived)1.5%3.0%6.0%HubSpot State of Marketing 2024 (derived)
Media (Content publishers, News)(derived)2.0%4.5%8.5%HubSpot State of Marketing 2024 (derived for media)

Primary source

State of Marketing Report (2024) · HubSpot · 2024

Annual survey of 1,400+ marketing professionals globally. Covers email marketing benchmarks (open rate, CTR, CTOR), lead generation and lead-to-SQL conversion rates, content marketing performance, and B2B pipeline metrics. Cross-referenced with HubSpot platform data from 100,000+ customers. B2B and agency respondents skew.

Related metrics

Email Opt-in Rate7-Day Return Rate