Introduction
Every year, benchmarks set the tone for how marketers measure success. With rising ad costs, increased privacy regulations, and AI-powered inboxes filtering what consumers see, email marketing benchmarks in 2025 are more than just numbers. They represent the health of your customer relationships.
Klaviyo recently released its 2025 Benchmark Report, offering valuable insights into average open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates across industries. Whether you are an e-commerce business preparing for holiday campaigns or a lead generation company focused on filling pipelines, these benchmarks are a reality check and a call to action.
In this article, we will break down Klaviyo’s findings, explain why so many businesses struggle to hit average performance levels, and most importantly, share actionable strategies you can use to outperform the competition in Q4 of 2025 and beyond.
The State of Email Marketing in 2025
Email remains one of the most cost-effective channels for businesses. According to recent research, email continues to deliver one of the highest ROIs in digital marketing, but the way it delivers results has changed dramatically.
Three major shifts define email marketing in 2025:
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AI personalization at scale – Marketers are leaning on AI tools to segment lists, write subject lines, and personalize offers in real time. Consumers expect brands to know them, and AI is finally making that level of personalization practical.
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Privacy-first marketing – With iOS Mail Privacy Protection, third-party cookie deprecation, and stricter global privacy regulations, businesses can no longer rely on outdated metrics or invasive tracking. First-party data collection and responsible practices are now critical.
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Omnichannel engagement – Email no longer works in isolation. SMS reminders, social retargeting, and personalized web experiences are often triggered from the same CRM that powers email campaigns.
As a result, the benchmarks you see in 2025 are not just reflections of the inbox. They reflect how well brands have integrated technology, data, and content into a unified experience.
Klaviyo’s 2025 Benchmarks: The Key Metrics to Know
Klaviyo’s benchmark report analyzed thousands of businesses across industries. Here are the averages most marketers should be aware of:
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Open Rates: 34 percent average across industries, with retail and e-commerce trending slightly higher due to promotional campaigns.
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Click-Through Rates (CTR): 2.1 percent average, a slight decline compared to last year as inbox competition increased.
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Conversion Rates: 1.5 percent average for e-commerce flows, 1.8 percent for lead generation nurture sequences.
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Unsubscribe Rate: 0.2 percent average, consistent year over year, but spikes during high-frequency promotional seasons like Q4.
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Spam Complaint Rate: 0.02 percent, still low, but increasing in industries that rely on aggressive discount campaigns.
These numbers set a baseline, but remember: benchmarks are not goals. They are the floor. Your goal should always be to exceed these averages because that is where the revenue growth lies.
Why Most Businesses Struggle to Meet Benchmarks
Despite the tools available, many companies still underperform. Here are the common reasons:
Over-segmentation or no segmentation at all
Some businesses slice their lists into dozens of micro-segments, which results in overly complex campaigns that are hard to manage. Others send the same message to their entire database. Both approaches kill engagement.
Poor deliverability practices
Sending to inactive subscribers, failing to authenticate domains, and ignoring list hygiene will put you in the promotions tab or worse, the spam folder. Deliverability remains the invisible factor most marketers overlook.
Weak creative and copywriting
Inbox competition is fierce. If your subject line does not spark curiosity and your copy does not offer value, your subscribers will scroll past you. Generic creative is the enemy of performance.
Discount dependence
Many e-commerce businesses rely too heavily on discounts. While promotions work in the short term, they train customers to wait for a sale and hurt long-term profitability.
How to Beat the Benchmarks: Actionable Strategies
The good news is that outperforming Klaviyo’s benchmarks is possible with the right strategies. Here is how you can do it.
A. List and Deliverability Health
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Clean inactive subscribers regularly – Remove or suppress subscribers who have not engaged in the last 90 to 120 days. This improves your sender reputation and helps inbox placement.
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Implement sunset flows – Instead of immediately deleting inactive subscribers, create automated flows that attempt to re-engage them before suppressing. A simple “Do you still want to hear from us?” message can recover dormant contacts.
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Authenticate your sending domain – Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are properly set up. This builds trust with mailbox providers like Gmail and Outlook.
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Monitor deliverability dashboards – Use Klaviyo’s deliverability tools and Google Postmaster Tools to track reputation and adjust before issues spiral.
B. Smarter Segmentation and Personalization
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Segment by lifecycle stage – Treat new subscribers differently than long-term loyal customers. Create distinct welcome, nurture, and loyalty flows.
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Use predictive analytics – Klaviyo offers features like “predicted next order date.” Target those users with replenishment reminders or personalized offers.
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Dynamic content blocks – Instead of creating dozens of emails, use dynamic blocks that change depending on customer attributes, browsing history, or location.
C. Compelling Creative and Copywriting
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Subject lines that spark action – Use curiosity, urgency, or value-driven messaging. A/B test short versus long subject lines.
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Balance plain text and design-heavy emails – Sometimes a plain-text “from the founder” style email outperforms polished designs because it feels personal. Test both.
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Create urgency without spamming – Instead of endless “last chance” messages, focus on scarcity tied to genuine stock levels or time-limited offers.
D. Timing and Frequency Optimization
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Test send times – While “Tuesday at 10 a.m.” used to be a rule of thumb, AI-based send time optimization can now individualize delivery.
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Adjust frequency during Q4 – It is normal to increase frequency during the holiday season, but balance it with list segmentation. Send more often to engaged audiences and less frequently to colder segments.
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Leverage AI send-time optimization – Many platforms, including Klaviyo, can automatically deliver based on when individual subscribers are most likely to open.
E. Conversion Boosters
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Pair email with SMS – For cart abandonment and time-sensitive offers, SMS reminders can lift conversion rates by 20 percent or more.
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Personalized product recommendations – Use browsing and purchase history to suggest items customers are most likely to buy next.
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Post-purchase flows – Send follow-up messages that encourage repeat purchases, reviews, and referrals. This increases lifetime value and builds loyalty.
Case Example: Beating Benchmarks in Action
Imagine a mid-sized e-commerce apparel brand preparing for Black Friday. Last year, their open rates averaged 25 percent and conversion rates hovered at 1 percent.
This year, they took several steps:
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Cleaned their list aggressively, suppressing 15 percent of inactive subscribers.
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Implemented AI-powered subject line testing for all campaigns.
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Segmented their audience into new customers, repeat buyers, and VIPs.
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Paired every major email campaign with a targeted SMS follow-up.
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Built personalized product recommendations into their emails.
The result:
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Open rate increased from 25 percent to 38 percent.
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CTR doubled from 2 percent to 4 percent.
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Conversion rate improved from 1 percent to 2.4 percent.
Not only did they beat Klaviyo’s benchmarks, they set a new internal standard.
Tools and Resources
To put these strategies into action, here are resources worth exploring:
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Klaviyo’s Benchmark Report 2025 – The full industry breakdown of email metrics.
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Google Postmaster Tools – Monitor deliverability and domain reputation.
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AI Subject Line Testers – Tools like CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer or Klaviyo’s built-in features.
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Deliverability Guides – Klaviyo’s own deliverability center and community forums.
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First-Party Data Tools – Use preference centers and surveys to collect customer data ethically.
Conclusion
Benchmarks are not the finish line. They are the starting point. The Klaviyo 2025 Benchmark Report shows that average open rates hover around 34 percent and conversion rates around 1.5 percent. If your campaigns are simply hitting those averages, you are competing for mediocrity.
The real opportunity lies in doing better. With clean lists, strong deliverability, smart segmentation, compelling creative, optimized timing, and conversion-focused strategies, you can consistently exceed industry averages.
Q4 is the most competitive season of the year. Customers will receive dozens of promotional emails every week. The brands that win are those that rise above the noise with authentic, personalized, and valuable messages.
So ask yourself: will you settle for average, or will you beat the benchmarks?
If you want to crush Klaviyo’s benchmarks in 2025, now is the time to refine your strategy, test aggressively, and lean into data-driven personalization. The inbox is crowded, but with the right approach, there is plenty of room at the top.
