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One of our <a href="https://convertkit.com/mission" target="_blank" rel="noopener">values</a> at ConvertKit is to work in public. We strive for transparency, which is why we share information that is typically kept private, such as our <a href="https://convertkit.baremetrics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">finances</a>.
One commonly asked question by creators looking for a new email marketing platform is, “How is your email deliverability?”
Here is our monthly deliverability report to answer that question:
If you missed previous Deliverability reports, you can check them out below:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://convertkit.com/october-2020-deliverability-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">October 2020</a></li>
<li><a href="https://convertkit.com/november-2020-deliverability-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">November 2020</a></li>
<li><a href="https://convertkit.com/december-2020-deliverability-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">December 2020</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>In January, ConvertKit sent over 1.4 billion messages (1,417,595,181 to be exact).</h2>
When messages are sent, they can be delivered or they can bounce. For more details on how email deliverability operates, check out our blog post <a href="https://convertkit.com/sender-reputation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. But for a little TLDR- The more messages delivered, the better!
It is inevitable for some messages to bounce due to invalid addresses, full mailboxes, etc., but a good delivery rate indicates healthy deliverability for ConvertKit. We consider a system-wide delivery rate of 98% and above to be very healthy.
<h2>In January, our system-wide delivery rate was 99.3%.</h2>
<img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-32323 lazy" data-src="https://media.convertkit.com/post/nGMYS7qw-FEB-21-systemwide-delivery-rate.png?fm=png" alt="ConvertKit Deliverability" width="1500" height="1016" data-srcset="https://media.convertkit.com/post/nGMYS7qw-FEB-21-systemwide-delivery-rate.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=406&amp;w=600 600w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/nGMYS7qw-FEB-21-systemwide-delivery-rate.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=694&amp;w=1024 1024w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/nGMYS7qw-FEB-21-systemwide-delivery-rate.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=520&amp;w=768 768w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/nGMYS7qw-FEB-21-systemwide-delivery-rate.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=400&amp;w=590 590w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/nGMYS7qw-FEB-21-systemwide-delivery-rate.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=240&amp;w=354 354w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/nGMYS7qw-FEB-21-systemwide-delivery-rate.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=1040&amp;w=1536 1536w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/nGMYS7qw-FEB-21-systemwide-delivery-rate.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=1387&amp;w=2048 2048w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/nGMYS7qw-FEB-21-systemwide-delivery-rate.png?fm=png 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" />
This high delivery rate indicates a healthy reputation for ConvertKit, which gives our customers a solid foundation for their email deliverability. To get even more detailed about how well we’re performing, it helps to filter down by mailbox provider.
Here are the top 5 domains ConvertKit sends to in terms of volume:
1. Gmail.com 
Volume: 869 million messages 
Delivery rate: 99.73%
2. Yahoo.com 
Volume: 133 million messages 
Delivery rate: 99.75%
3. Hotmail.com 
Volume: 119 million messages 
Delivery rate: 99.75%
4. AOL.com 
Volume: 29 million messages 
Delivery rate: 99.92%
5. Outlook.com 
Volume: 15 million messages 
Delivery rate: 99.85%
<h2>The average open rate of all emails sent through ConvertKit was 30%.</h2>
Senders often ask how their open rates stack up to others. Truth is, open rates can vary greatly depending on your industry and audience type (B2B vs. freemail addresses, for example). However, here’s a general scale you can use to measure your performance:
<img decoding="async" loading="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26174 lazy" data-src="https://media.convertkit.com/post/tp0dK1cd-Screen-Shot-2020-06-22-at-10.18.23-PM.png?fm=png" alt="Open Rates" width="1238" height="674" data-srcset="https://media.convertkit.com/post/tp0dK1cd-Screen-Shot-2020-06-22-at-10.18.23-PM.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=327&amp;w=600 600w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/tp0dK1cd-Screen-Shot-2020-06-22-at-10.18.23-PM.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=557&amp;w=1024 1024w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/tp0dK1cd-Screen-Shot-2020-06-22-at-10.18.23-PM.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=418&amp;w=768 768w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/tp0dK1cd-Screen-Shot-2020-06-22-at-10.18.23-PM.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=321&amp;w=590 590w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/tp0dK1cd-Screen-Shot-2020-06-22-at-10.18.23-PM.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=212&amp;w=390 390w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/tp0dK1cd-Screen-Shot-2020-06-22-at-10.18.23-PM.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=836&amp;w=1536 1536w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/tp0dK1cd-Screen-Shot-2020-06-22-at-10.18.23-PM.png?fit=scale&amp;fm=png&amp;h=1115&amp;w=2048 2048w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/tp0dK1cd-Screen-Shot-2020-06-22-at-10.18.23-PM.png?fm=png 1238w" sizes="(max-width: 1238px) 100vw, 1238px" />
I talk more about open rates and why they aren’t always reliable <a href="https://convertkit.com/sender-reputation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this article</a>.
<h2>The average click rate across ConvertKit accounts was 6.1%.</h2>
Similarly, the average click-to-open rate was 17.18%. This is calculated by dividing the number of subscribers who clicked a link by the number of subscribers who opened the email.
<h2>Our system-wide complaint rate remained over 10x lower than industry standard</h2>
A complaint is when a subscriber marks a message as spam. An elevated complaint rate is a signal that the sender’s quality of mail isn’t good. We have a team dedicated to ensuring that the mail sent from ConvertKit is wanted by the recipients.
In the email industry, a complaint rate less than 0.1% is seen as healthy. ConvertKit’s complaint rate in January was 0.008%, which speaks to the high quality of mail sent by our customers and the healthy reputation of our infrastructure.
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm">
<h2>Deliverability tip of the month:</h2>
Get ready for spring cleaning! And no, I don’t just mean cleaning out your closet. It’s time to clean up your email list, too!
Did you know that the subscribers on your list who do not engage with your emails are harmful to your deliverability? This is why it’s important to regularly clean your list of unengaged subscribers.
For help on how to clean your list, check out <a href="https://help.convertkit.com/en/articles/2502492-how-to-prune-cold-subscribers-from-your-list" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our Knowledge Base article here</a>.</blockquote>
<h2>Industry news and ConvertKit updates</h2>
<h3>Deliverability Defined is back March 2nd!</h3>
<img decoding="async" loading="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-32321 lazy" data-src="https://media.convertkit.com/post/QdykgKnH-PODCAST-deliverability-defined-3.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="Deliverability defined podcast" width="1400" height="1400" data-srcset="https://media.convertkit.com/post/QdykgKnH-PODCAST-deliverability-defined-3.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=600&amp;w=600 600w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/QdykgKnH-PODCAST-deliverability-defined-3.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=1024&amp;w=1024 1024w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/QdykgKnH-PODCAST-deliverability-defined-3.jpg?fit=crop&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=150&amp;w=150 150w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/QdykgKnH-PODCAST-deliverability-defined-3.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=768&amp;w=768 768w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/QdykgKnH-PODCAST-deliverability-defined-3.jpg?fit=crop&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=300&amp;w=300 300w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/QdykgKnH-PODCAST-deliverability-defined-3.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=590&amp;w=590 590w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/QdykgKnH-PODCAST-deliverability-defined-3.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=240&amp;w=240 240w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/QdykgKnH-PODCAST-deliverability-defined-3.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=1536&amp;w=1536 1536w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/QdykgKnH-PODCAST-deliverability-defined-3.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=2048&amp;w=2048 2048w, https://media.convertkit.com/post/QdykgKnH-PODCAST-deliverability-defined-3.jpg?fm=pjpg 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px" />
We are so excited for Season 2 of Deliverability Defined. Do you have any deliverability questions for us or topics you’d like us to discuss? Head over to <a href="https://convertkit.com/deliverability" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convertkit.com/deliverability</a> to let us know!

ConvertKit’s January 2021 Deliverability Report

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