Reply rate measures the percentage of recipients who respond directly to an email campaign. It is a key engagement metric that reflects the effectiveness of your email in initiating conversations or actions.
Reply rate is an email performance metric that shows how many recipients hit “Reply” after opening your email. Unlike open rate or click-through rate (CTR), which track passive engagement, reply rate indicates active participation and two-way communication.
This metric is especially relevant for:
Internet service providers (ISPs) and email service providers (ESPs) often view replies as a strong positive signal, contributing to better inbox placement. A higher reply rate usually means your message was relevant and encouraged conversation.
The formula for reply rate is: (Email Replies ÷ Delivered Emails) × 100
For example, if you send 1,000 emails and receive 75 replies, your reply rate is: (75 ÷ 1,000) × 100 = 7.5%
Unlike clicks, which can be tracked with links, replies are monitored by your email client or customer relationship management (CRM) system, making accurate reporting dependent on your platform’s capabilities.
Reply rate is a crucial metric for several reasons:
High reply rates often correlate with strong personalization, targeted messaging, and clear calls to action.
Reply rate is widely used in:
Example scenario: A SaaS company sends personalized onboarding emails to trial users. Monitoring reply rate helps the team identify which messages generate the most product-related questions or upgrade inquiries.
It depends on the campaign type. For cold outreach, 5–10% is considered strong, while customer service emails often see much higher rates.
Common reasons include generic messaging, unclear calls to action, or misaligned targeting.
By personalizing your emails, asking direct questions, and ensuring the subject line clearly reflects the email’s intent.
Yes. ISPs consider replies as a strong positive engagement signal, which can improve inbox placement for future emails.
