Only 8.5% of outreach emails get a reply
Backlinko and Pitchbox jointly analysed twelve million link-building outreach emails sent through Pitchbox in the four years leading up to the 2019 study and found an average reply rate of 8.5 per cent, roughly one reply for every twelve sent. The distribution is heavy-tailed: a small share of senders run substantially above the average through tighter list quality and personalisation, while the median sender sits below it. For programme planners, the practical implication is that any outreach forecast built on a higher implicit reply rate will overstate the expected placement volume; the 8.5 per cent figure is the realistic baseline against which campaign-level efficiency gains should be measured.
Methodology: Backlinko and Pitchbox joint analysis of twelve million link building outreach emails sent through Pitchbox in the four years before the 2019 study. About LinkPanda.
What is a good cold outreach response rate?
Across twelve million link building outreach emails, the average outreach reply rate was 8.5%, roughly one reply for every twelve sent. The distribution in these link building outreach statistics is heavy tailed: a small share of senders run well above the average through tighter list quality and personalisation, while the median sender sits below it. Any forecast built on a higher implicit average email response rate will overstate expected placements. Personalisation moves the number: see our data on personalised subject lines and follow-up emails, or let our blogger outreach service run the sending.
How can I beat the 8.5% average reply rate?
The same dataset measured the levers: personalised subject lines lift replies by 30.5%, a personalised email body by 32.7%, one follow-up by 65.8%, and emailing two or three contacts per site by 93%.
Does a low reply rate mean outreach is failing?
Not necessarily. The median sender sits below the 8.5% average, so plan placement volume from realistic reply rates rather than template optimism.
