illustration: bing.com/createThe study was conducted by Ziemek Bućko, content manager at Hunter.io, a platform for finding email addresses. The results of the analysis and the conclusions drawn from it were published on the company blog: What’s the Best Word Count for Cold Emails.
Bućko analyzed data from 34 million emails requesting contact to determine the optimal length of the sent message in terms of obtaining a response. The results indicate that shorter emails requesting contact have a higher response rate than longer ones.
- The average reply rate for the entire sample was 3.7%.
- Emails with a length of 20-39 words had statistically the highest response rate (4.5%).
- Messages with a length of 60-79 words (4%), 80-99 words (4%), and... 160-179 words (also 4%) achieved results clearly above the average.
The conclusion: shorter emails are more likely to be read and replied to. This is valuable advice for those who are engaged in prospecting and sales on a daily basis.
This also signals that the most frequently cited guidelines from Boomerang, recommending cold emails of 50-125 words, are now outdated. Moreover, as Ziemek Bućko emphasizes, they date back to 2016, which in the evolution of e-marketing is prehistoric. Furthermore, many commentators have overinterpreted some of the conclusions from the Boomerang study regarding its scope and methodology.
Length Matters, But...
However, the Hunter.io analyst emphasizes that the length of the email requesting contact is just one of many factors influencing the response rate. Other equally important factors include:
- Subject line: It should be clear, concise, and compelling enough to encourage the email to be opened.
- Message content: It should be personalized, valuable, and contain a call to action.
- Target audience: Emails requesting contact should be sent to the right people who are potentially interested in your offer.
From here, it’s easy to conclude that the optimal length of an email is a statistical curiosity that alone will not guarantee success. It is one of the factors worth considering from a UX perspective, but the key to success lies in the proper combination of all elements of the cold mailing puzzle.
For more information and data regarding the analysis, visit: https://hunter.io/blog/cold-email-word-count/
COMMERCIAL BREAK
New articles in section Marketing and PR
How and why online stores lie. TrustMate report
Marek Jaworowski
Experts from the TrustMate.io platform analyzed the most common procedural errors and inaccuracies that lead Polish online stores to wrongly deny buyers their rights. They also prepared an appeal path for consumers who heard a refusal from customer service.
Online shopping in Poland. Report by the Chamber of Digital Economy
Patrycja Sołtysik, Izba Gospodarki Elektronicznej
For the fourth consecutive year, 100% of internet users declare making a digital purchase at least once, and 93% have shopped online in the last six months. 97% of purchases in Poland involve an internet-connected device at some stage - most commonly a smartphone.
Coffee for moms. This is how they recharge parents' batteries at the Wrocław children's hospital
Reporterzy support
24 hours, 7 days a week, for 3 months. Non-stop. That is the average time a mother spends in an oncology hospital, caring for her child during treatment. A new project has launched at the Przylądek Nadziei (Cape of Hope) children's oncology clinic in Wrocław. In a simple way, it helps parents reduce stress, calm their emotions, and boosts their energy for caregiving. And that directly translates into the effectiveness of the children's treatment.
See articles on a similar topic:
Data analysis. Warning signs and technical debt
Aleksander Pawzun, CalmFox.pl
Until a few years ago, a classic data warehouse, overnight processing, and reports available in the morning were a sign of organizational maturity. Today, in many companies, these same solutions have become an invisible constraint.
Cold Mailing: What is the Optimal Word Count for Best Results?
Krzysztof Fiedorek
Forget about popular guidelines for marketers that can be found on Google. An analyst from Hunter.io conducted a study of a massive database of 34 million emails requesting contact. It turns out that the world of marketing cold mailing looks quite different today.
Browser Fingerprinting. Marketing Uses Digital Traces
BARD
A fingerprint created for each browser can identify not only a device but also a specific user. The data collected this way is mainly used for marketing purposes, which can result in cases where, for instance, a Mac user pays up to 30% more for the same product than a PC user.
Short Social Video. IAB Poland Report on Short Videos in Social Media
Krzysztof Fiedorek
According to the IAB Poland report from May 2024, short video clips are becoming increasingly popular in Poland. In 2023, 61% of internet users in Poland watched the format known as short social video, and 23% of them created such videos themselves. Polish internet users spend an average of 43 minutes a day watching them.




























