Engagement rate in email marketing measures how actively recipients interact with your emails, typically through actions like opening, clicking links, or replying. It is a key indicator of subscriber interest and campaign effectiveness.
Engagement rate represents the overall interaction level of your email audience.
Unlike single metrics such as open rate or click-through rate, engagement rate combines multiple behaviors (e.g., opens, clicks, replies, and sometimes conversions) to give a broader view of subscriber activity.
Email service providers (ESPs) and internet service providers (ISPs) monitor engagement as a factor for inbox placement. High engagement signals relevance and quality, while low engagement can lead to messages being filtered into spam.
Engagement rate is calculated by dividing the total number of engagements (opens, clicks, replies, etc.) by the total number of delivered emails, then multiplying by 100. The exact formula may vary by platform.
For example, if you send 5,000 emails and receive 2,000 opens and 500 clicks, the engagement rate could be calculated as: (2,500 ÷ 5,000) × 100 = 50%
Some systems assign weight to different actions, such as clicks counting more than opens, to better represent meaningful interaction.
Engagement rate matters because:
Engagement rate is commonly used for:
Open rate measures views only, while engagement rate includes multiple actions such as clicks, replies, and conversions.
Benchmarks vary, but consistently high engagement—driven by relevant content and clean lists—is key for long-term success.
By personalizing emails, segmenting lists, sending at optimal times, and regularly cleaning inactive subscribers.
