Average Top 10 / Year in Review Email Benchmarks
Year in review emails summarise a subscriber's or a brand's highlights over the past year — their usage, purchases, milestones, or the brand's biggest moments. Popularised by Spotify Wrapped and similar annual recaps, they are one of the most shared and re-engaged email formats available.
Average open rates range from 30% to 45%, with click-through rates between 5% and 14%. Social share rates of 8-20% make year-in-review among the most viral email types, and re-engagement lifts of 15-30% reactivate dormant subscribers. The format works because it is personal: a subscriber's own year, presented back to them, is inherently compelling.
Key Findings
- Year in review emails achieve open rates of 30-45%, among the highest of content email.
- CTR of 5-14% drives subscribers through the recap and its call to action.
- 8-20% share the content on social media — one of the most shareable email types.
- Personalised recaps re-engage 15-30% of dormant subscribers.
- Annual timing gives the format scarcity — it happens once a year.
Open Rate Benchmarks
Open rates range from 30% to 45%, with top-quartile campaigns exceeding 55%. Personalised subject lines ("Your [year] in review") outperform brand-generic lines by 15-25 percentage points. Timing is seasonal: year-in-review email performs best in early January and late December, when reflection is natural. Subscribers who receive a personalised recap open at substantially higher rates than those receiving a brand roundup, confirming that personal data is the engine of this format.
Click-Through Rate Benchmarks
Click-through rates range from 5% to 14%, with the strongest campaigns reaching 22% or higher. Emails that preview a personalised highlight in the body ("You sent 214 emails this year") achieve 20-35% higher CTR than those linking to a generic recap. The share button is a key element — making the recap easy to share lifts both shares and clicks. Including a next step (renew, re-engage, upgrade) converts the emotional moment into action.
Best Practices
- Personalise with subscriber data when possible — it's the core of the format.
- Use a celebratory tone that makes the recipient the hero.
- Make sharing easy with prominent social buttons and branded visuals.
- Preview the standout stat in the email to earn the click.
- Time sends for January and late December.
- Add a single next step to convert engagement into renewal or action.
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Frequently Asked Questions
A share rate of 8-20% is typical, with 20-35% considered excellent. Year-in-review is among the most shareable email formats because the content celebrates the subscriber — people share content that makes them look good.
Yes. Personalised recaps re-engage 15-30% of dormant subscribers. The format reaches lapsed users with their own data at a moment of natural reflection, which is a far gentler and more effective re-engagement than a generic "we miss you" email.
Personalisation and shareability. The recap must feel like the subscriber's story, not the brand's marketing. Branded but personalised visuals that are easy to post, plus a celebratory tone, drive the social sharing that extends reach beyond the list.
Yes. Any brand with usage, purchase or engagement data can personalise a recap — number of orders, hours of content, milestones reached. The format scales down; a simple personalised stat email still outperforms a generic annual roundup.
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