B2B Email Open Rate by Industry
Industry-specific email benchmarks from 939 B2B companies (Q1-Q3 2025)
B2B email open rates range from 19% (Manufacturing) to 23% (SaaS), driven by buyer digital maturity and communication preferences. SaaS buyers open 62% of emails on mobile, while Manufacturing buyers open 38% on mobile and prefer phone-first engagement. Best send day also varies: SaaS peaks Tuesday, Manufacturing Wednesday, Services Thursday (Optifai Pipeline Study, 2026, N=939 B2B SaaS companies).
B2B email open rate by industry: SaaS 23%, Professional Services 22%, Consulting 21%, Manufacturing 19%. SaaS leads because buyers are digitally native. Manufacturing lags due to phone-first culture. Mobile open share: SaaS 62%, Manufacturing 38%. Best send day varies: SaaS Tuesday, Manufacturing Wednesday, Services Thursday. Source: Optifai Sales Ops Benchmark (N=939 companies, Q1-Q3 2025)
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Open Rate by Industry
B2B SaaS
23%Cold
17%
Warm
28%
Existing
38%
Mobile Share
62%
Best Send
Tuesday 8-9 AM
Digitally native buyers check email constantly. High mobile usage. Subject line personalization is expected.
Sample: 342 companies
Professional Services
22%Cold
16%
Warm
27%
Existing
37%
Mobile Share
51%
Best Send
Thursday 9-10 AM
Relationship-driven. Partners and consultants read industry updates early morning. Trust-based opens.
Sample: 198 companies
Consulting
21%Cold
15%
Warm
26%
Existing
36%
Mobile Share
48%
Best Send
Wednesday 10-11 AM
Busy travel schedules. Mid-week has highest desktop availability. Thought leadership content performs best.
Sample: 114 companies
Manufacturing
19%Cold
14%
Warm
23%
Existing
35%
Mobile Share
38%
Best Send
Wednesday 7-8 AM
Phone-first culture. Plant managers check email before shifts start. Technical content outperforms sales pitches.
Sample: 285 companies
Source: Optifai Pipeline Study (2026, N=939 B2B SaaS companies). Mobile share = percentage of unique opens on mobile devices.
Open Rate by Industry and Company Size
| Industry | SMB (1-50) | Mid-Market (51-200) | Enterprise (201+) |
|---|---|---|---|
| B2B SaaS | 25% | 22% | 19% |
| Professional Services | 24% | 21% | 18% |
| Consulting | 23% | 20% | 17% |
| Manufacturing | 21% | 18% | 15% |
Pattern: SMB contacts consistently open emails 4-6 percentage points more than Enterprise contacts across all industries. Smaller companies have less email filtering, fewer gatekeepers, and decision-makers who read their own email.
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Key Insights
- SaaS leads, Manufacturing lags: The 4-percentage-point gap (23% vs 19%) reflects buyer communication preferences. SaaS buyers expect email-first engagement; Manufacturing buyers prefer phone calls and in-person meetings.
- Mobile optimization matters most for SaaS: With 62% of SaaS opens on mobile, subject lines must be under 40 characters to avoid truncation. Manufacturing emails can use longer, more technical subjects.
- Send timing varies by 2 days: SaaS peaks Tuesday (email-heavy start of week), Manufacturing peaks Wednesday (mid-week between plant operations), Services peaks Thursday (end-of-week planning).
- Company size matters more than industry: The gap between SMB and Enterprise within an industry (6pt for SaaS) is larger than the gap between industries at the same company size (4pt for SMB). Segment by company size first, then by industry.
Source: Optifai Sales Ops Benchmark (N=939 companies, Q1-Q3 2025)
Methodology
This analysis segments email engagement data from 939 B2B companies by SIC/NAICS industry code and employee count between Q1-Q3 2025. Mobile vs desktop determined by email client user-agent.
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Data last updated: February 16, 2026
- ✓Evergreen formatting: titles and headings no longer include year references
- ✓Metadata centralized for consistency across all benchmark pages
- ✓Initial release of email open rate by industry benchmarks
- ✓Added mobile share, optimal send timing, and company size segmentation (N=939 companies)
Regularly updated with latest industry data
Optifai Research Team
VerifiedLed by Yusuke Onishi (Founder & CEO) with 15+ years of B2B sales operations experience. Our research team analyzes pipeline data from 939+ companies to deliver actionable benchmarks for sales leaders.