02/12/2025

Association Email Open-rates Are Dropping

Associations need to deliver more targeted, meaningful messages

Emails from associations are being opened less often even while experiencing higher click rates, according to a new report, suggesting that there are more opportunities for associations to improve personalization and calls to action.

The 2024 Association Email Benchmark Report, released last month by the technology firm Higher Logic, is based on data from more than two billion emails sent by more than 1,500 associations in 2023 and 2024. According to the report, average open rates fell to 35.6 percent last year, compared to 38.2 percent in 2023. [OSAP open rates, meanwhile, remain north of 60 percent.] Click rates, meanwhile, grew to 3.7 percent last year, up from 2.7 percent in 2023.

According to the study’s authors, the movement highlights associations’ needs to deliver more targeted and meaningful messages, especially as members say they receive too many emails. "With so many emails hitting your contacts’ inboxes, it’s important to approach your communication strategy with a mind toward avoiding email fatigue," the report says. "Ensure you're providing personalized value to your contacts when you hit send—blasting everything to everyone will make recipients check out (or worse, register a spam complaint)."

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.