50 Email Newsletter Statistics You Need To Know (2024)

In 2010, Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg, predicted that email would soon come to an end.

Over a decade later, email is still here.

Even more important is that it’s not just hanging in there. Email is making a comeback.

And, while many people rave about how amazing email newsletters are, plenty of them are blindly basing it on their subjective opinions.

The question is, how do you separate facts from opinions when it comes to email newsletters?

The data.

The reality is that numbers speak louder than words, especially when it comes to email marketing statistics.

That’s why we’ve collected the most critical email newsletter statistics you need to know in 2024. In this comprehensive list, we include stats on the effectiveness of email for B2B and B2C. We also include automation stats and mobile stats — so you can make informed decisions and get the most out of your email marketing strategy.

Here are the top 50 email newsletter statistics you need to know right now.

P.S. Don’t forget to save this blog post as a reference to come back to (and share it with your peers) whenever you need to refresh yourself on key data points from the email marketing industry.

Top 10 Email Newsletter Statistics You Need to Know in 2024

If you want to know the most crucial email marketing stats, then check out these top ten. If you only have time to read a few stats, these are the most critical and will give you a nice overview of the state of email newsletters worldwide.

1. 7 Times More Creators started their newsletter on beehiiv compared to 2022 

In 2022, the world of newsletters saw 3,674 dedicated content creators, each crafting their unique stories and insights. These newsletters spanned an array of topics, from business and personal development to the arts, culture, and lifestyle. 

In 2023, the newsletter community experienced an extraordinary expansion, with 26,345 individuals now actively contributing to this rich tapestry of communication. 

This remarkable surge represents an increase of approximately 7.17 times the number of newsletters from the previous year.

The newsletter format continues to captivate and engage both creators and readers alike.

2. 11.99% of the newsletters on beehiiv belong to the category of AI newsletters.

If you thought it was crazy how many people use email, get this: A total of 3,159 AI newsletters were launched on beehiiv in 2023.

That is 11.99% of all the newsletters that use beehiiv as their emailing platform!

3. Over 4 Billion Email Users Worldwide

Of the 8 billion residents of Earth, there are more than 4 billion email users (Statista). That means 50% of the global population currently uses email on a regular basis.

By 2025, this number is expected to reach 4.6 billion people.

The key insight here is that email isn’t a dying channel. It’s a growing opportunity for marketers to capitalize on, especially in the coming years.

4. 69% of Marketers Use Email to Distribute Content

Did you know that 69% of all marketers around the world use email to distribute content to their target market?

That means 2 out of every 3 marketers are distributing content by email to their audience (Content Marketing Institute).

One of the reasons the majority of marketers use email to distribute content is because they’re easy to write and send, especially when using an intuitive platform like beehiiv. On top of that, it’s also easy to measure the effectiveness of email as a form of content distribution since you can easily track opens, clicks, and segment your audience.

5. 81% of Small Businesses Use Email as Their Primary Acquisition Channel

81 out of 100 small businesses use email as their primary acquisition channel (Emarsys).

Additionally, 80% of small businesses rely on email marketing for customer retention.

While social media takes the cake as the most raved-about channel when it comes to acquisition, the numbers show that email marketing is just as valuable, if not more. 

This is primarily because email marketing is driven by a more personalized opt-in. Since consumers need to deliberately accept marketing messages, they’re much more targeted, making them more likely to convert prospects into paying customers.

6. The Global Email Marketing Industry Is Valued at $7.5 billion (Statista)

In 2020, the email marketing industry worldwide was valued at $7.5 billion US dollars. By 2027, this number is expected to more than double to $17.9 billion (Statista).

According to these numbers, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is forecasted at 13.3%. 

These numbers fall into alignment with the upward trajectory for email as proven by the growing global user base, the number of emails sent, and the return on investment of nearly $40 per $1 spent.

7. 55% of Consumers Prefer Email as Their Top Business Communication Channel

When communicating with businesses, 55 out of 100 consumers prefer to use email (Constant Contact).

This number far outpaces other channels like social media (27%), and even SMS message (17%) marketing. 

8. 99% of Email Users Check Email Every Day

Of the 4 billion email users, 99% of them check their email inboxes every single day (OptinMonster). Some email users are even checking their inboxes up to 20 times per day.

Of the survey responses listed above, 58% of them check their email as soon as they wake up.

This means the vast majority of email users are in their inboxes, giving email senders an opportunity to stay in touch and build a relationship through an email newsletter.

9. 60% of consumers say they’ve purchased as a result of a marketing email they received.

6 out of 10 consumers admit that they’ve made a purchase as a direct result of a marketing email they’ve received (Constant Contact).

This aligns with the impressive ROI email offers, showing that the personalization and highly targeted marketing capabilities email marketing provides are able to convert consumers well.

10. 61% of Consumers Want Promotional Emails Weekly

We all think people are annoyed at marketing messages.

But, the data shows otherwise.

61% of consumers want to receive promotional marketing emails at least once per week, while nearly 15% of consumers want to receive promotional emails every day (MarketingSherpa).

Rather than squeamishly sending out promotional emails, have confidence in your offer. If you run an email newsletter, trust that the brands you’re promoting or partnering with, or the products you’re showing off are the right fit for your audience. You’d be surprised at how many of them appreciate the email in itself, even if they don’t make a purchase at that particular time.

Why Listen to Me? I’ve managed two email newsletters over the years including one with 100,000 subscribers and one with 30,000. I currently run a digital media business, Hockey Question, that gets over 50,000 visits per month.

Statistics on the Effectiveness of Email Marketing

Now that we’ve covered the ten most important email marketing stats, let’s dive into the rest of our top fifty.

If you’ve ever wondered how powerful email marketing is for businesses, keep reading. Here are some of the most powerful statistics on the effectiveness of email marketing:

• In 2023, the average email open rate of newsletters on beehiiv was 38.69%.

• 10,370 Creators on beehiiv send monthly newsletters to their subscribers and 6,880 send weekly newsletters to their subscribers.

• 88% of emails are opened within 24 hours. Within the first five minutes, 2% of emails are opened. Within 12 hours, 65% of emails are opened (MarketingPlatform).

• 18% of organizations achieve an ROI of more than $70 per $1 invested with email marketing (Barilliance)

• 29% of digital marketers believe email marketing is the most effective marketing channel, while 25% believe it’s social media, 25% believe it’s content marketing, and 22% believe it’s SEO (GetResponse)

• 31% of digital marketers use email newsletters as their primary channel to nurture leads (Content Marketing Institute)

• 59% of digital marketers admit that email is more than twice as effective at lead generation than channels like paid social media and pay-per-click advertising (Sopro)

• Email marketing generates 40 times more customers than Facebook and Twitter combined (McKinsey). The average click-through rates are as follows: email marketing: 3.57%,  Facebook: 0.07%, Twitter: 0.03% (Mailmunch)

• The top four marketing channels for developing brand awareness for small businesses are: social media marketing (#1), email marketing (#2), content marketing (#3), paid media (#4) (Campaign Monitor).

• 37% of businesses are increasing email budgets while only 1.3% are cutting back their budgets (Litmus).

• The average open rate for welcome emails is 63.9% while the average email open rate across all email types is 19.7% (GetResponse).

B2B Email Marketing Statistics

If your target audience is B2B, then there’s no greater marketing channel to reach your people than email. Here are some vital B2B email marketing statistics:

• 40% of B2B marketeers admit that email newsletters are the most important channel in their content marketing strategy (Content Marketing Institute).

• 77% of B2B buyers prefer to be communicated with via email which is more than twice as much as any other marketing channel (Sopro).

• 37% of marketers believe email is the most effective marketing channel for retention and loyalty (13% believe websites are number one and 11% believe social media is number one) (IndustrySelect).

• Email marketing is the most used marketing tactic by B2B businesses at 84%, followed by social media at 75%, blogging at 69%, SEO at 60%, and events and tradeshows at 54% (Sagefrog).

• 1 in 3 digital marketers send marketing emails weekly emails and 26% send marketing emails multiple times per month. (Databox)

B2C Email Marketing Statistics

Are you running a business-to-consumer (B2C) business? If you want to reach consumers with your products and services, then you’ll want to take note of these key email stats:

• 72% of B2C digital marketers use email marketing software (Content Marketing Institute)

• Abandoned cart emails have an average open rate of 45%, an average click-through rate of 21%, and average purchase rate of 10% (Moosend).

• 81% of retail workers state that email marketing is great for customer acquisition while 80% admit that it’s great for customer retention (Emarsys).

• 87% of B2C marketers use email marketing automation as part of their marketing strategy (HubSpot).

• 50% of consumers purchase after reading a marketing email at least once per month (Salescycle).

• 60% of ecommerce, retail, and consumer goods businesses personalize emails based on past purchases (Litmus).

Email Marketing Automation Statistics

Automation is everything in 2024. In order to get the highest ROI and maximize your efficiency as a marketer, you need to understand how to utilize email marketing automation. Here are some crucial email marketing automation stats:

• According to 2023 beehiiv stats, automated messages on beehiiv have a CTR of 5.49%

• 81% of businesses use marketing automation (Salesforce).

• Trigger-based transactional emails are three times more effective than email blast campaigns (Moosend).

• 82% of digital marketers use automation to create trigger-based emails. Additionally, those same respondents noted that trigger-based emails resulted in more than 8 times more opens and revenue than bulk email campaigns (Litmus).

• Business owners state that the main benefits of email automation are saving time: 30%, generating leads: 22%, and improving revenue: 17%, customer retention: 11%, monitoring marketing campaigns: 8%, shortening sales cycles: 2%. (GetResponse).

• Marketing automation tools can lead to a 14.5% increase in sales productivity (Oracle).

• The average open rate of trigger-based emails is 35.6% compared to 19.7% of all email types (GetResponse).

• 75% of email revenue comes from triggered-based email campaigns, rather than email blasts (DMA).

Mobile Email Marketing Statistics

More people use mobile devices than desktop in 2024. The modern email user prefers checking it on their phone, so you need to ensure your newsletters are optimized for the mobile user. Get up to speed with these mobile email marketing statistics:

• More than 50% of global website traffic comes from mobile devices (Statista).

• Apple’s iPhone mail app has the largest market share at nearly 66%, followed by Gmail at 28% (Litmus).

• 81% of email users check email on their smartphones, 74% check email on their desktop or laptop, 21% check email on their tablet, and 2% check it on their smartwatch (Adobe).

• In 2022, the global mobile ad spending reached $327 billion (Statista).

• 69% of consumers are influenced to make a purchase from their smartphone in response to a company’s marketing emails (Disruptive).

• 42.3% of email users delete emails if they’re not optimized for mobile (Salescycle).

• 73% of business owners implement a mobile-first email marketing approach when creating email marketing campaigns (HubSpot).

• 33% of every email click comes from someone using a mobile device (Campaign Monitor).

• If a recipient reads an email on mobile, and then reads it on desktop (for a second time), there’s a 65% higher likelihood that they’ll click through (Campaign Monitor).

Bonus Email Marketing Statistics

Just when you thought we were done… Here are a few more powerful email marketing statistics you can use to improve your email marketing efforts and grow your business:

• Global email revenue is expected to hit 17.9 billion by 2027 (Statista).

• 77% of digital marketers have seen an increase in email engagement in the past year (HubSpot).

• The average person spends 5 hours a day checking email between work and personal reasons (Adobe).

• 41% of brands state that email marketing is highly critical to business success (Litmus).

• Campaign emails with personalized subject lines are able to increase open rates by up to 26% (Campaign Monitor).

• Segmented emails can increase revenue by 760% (Campaign Monitor).

• The three most effective strategies for email marketing campaigns are segmentation: 78%, message personalization: 72%, and automation: 71% (HubSpot).

• 74% of Baby Boomers believe email is the most personal channel to receive marketing communication from a business, followed by 72% of Gen Xs, 64% of Millennials, and 60% of Gen Zs (Bluecore).

• In 2022, the average unsubscribe rate was 0.1% (Campaign Monitor).

• In 2022, the average spam rate was 0.02% (Campaign Monitor).

• In 2022, the average email bounce rate was 2.76% (GetResponse).

• The most implemented types of email marketing are email newsletters: 81%, welcome emails: 79%, and product emails: 75% (Litmus).

Tools and Resources for Measuring Email Newsletter Metrics

Now that we’ve covered over 50 of the most important email newsletter stats, let’s break down the best ways you can measure your own email newsletter metrics.

The majority of your key email newsletter metrics are built directly into the top email marketing platforms.

Some of these metrics include open rates, click-through rates, unsubscribe rates, bounce rates, and more. You should pass over any platform that doesn’t meet these minimums. But, in most cases, you should choose one that offers much more, like beehiiv.

beehiiv’s 3D Analytics

When you sign up for the beehiiv newsletter platform, you get access to beehiiv’s 3D analytics that includes reports on individual campaigns like spam reports, email link clicks, and more.

Plus, you get access to Subscriber Reports which show in-depth information about your readers based on acquisition sources. That way, you can better understand where your most active and profitable readers are coming from so you can double down on your growth strategy. 

Google Analytics

Another great analytics option to dive deep into your email newsletter metrics is a web analytics platform like Google Analytics.

In addition to key newsletter metrics, a platform like Google Analytics can help you:

• Track ecommerce conversions

• Cross-analyze email and web traffic to track engagement

• Gain even more insights into acquisition sources

• Perform A/B tests on the web-based newsletter content

• Increase personalization and segmentation options

Setting up Google Analytics for email tracking is simple. Once you create a new property in Google Analytics, you can create a custom tracking code for every single email campaign you send out.

Newsletter Calculators: Newsletter Navigator

If you love crunching the numbers behind your newsletter, then a great free resource to check out is the beehiiv Newsletter Navigator.

With the Newsletter Navigator, you can quickly calculate key business metrics like lifetime value (LTV), customer acquisition cost (CAC), newsletter ad revenue, and referral milestones.

And, for more resources on understanding and measuring newsletter metrics, remember to follow along on the beehiiv blog. Come back weekly to find newly published content and key insights into the numbers behind newsletters, how to grow your newsletter, and tips on monetizing your subscribers.

Use beehiiv to Understand Your Metrics & Grow Your Newsletter

Email newsletters are one of the most powerful tools on a marketer’s tool belt. As seen with the numbers above, newsletters are one of the most effective ways to communicate with your audience, build an audience, and monetize a following.

With an ever-growing number of email users and an ROI upwards of 3,600%, email newsletters are one of the best ways to build or grow a business in 2024.

However, the world of email marketing is constantly evolving, and it’s becoming an increasingly competitive landscape. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, then you need to leverage the best tools in the game.

beehiiv is the newsletter platform built for growth. Built by the same team that started and scaled the Morning Brew newsletter to millions of subscribers, beehiiv is one of the fastest-growing newsletter platforms in the world.

Built by creators for creators, the beehiiv platform makes it easy to launch, grow, and scale a newsletter. Whether you’re brand new to the newsletter business, or you’re looking to switch to a new platform, then beehiiv is the best option available. 

Sign up for beehiiv for free today (no credit card required).