State of Outbound: the Revenue Force benchmark
By the Revenue Force team · July 10, 2026 · based on 10,403 real touches
Across 10,403 real outbound touches from our own campaigns, email earned a 7.4% reply rate and LinkedIn 21% — about 2.8x higher. Replies cluster hard on weekdays: 94% land Monday–Friday, and the single busiest window is Wed around 1pm US Eastern.
Based on 10,403 real outbound touches across Revenue Force’s own campaigns, Jan 2025 - Jul 2026.
Distinct-conversation basis. A reply is counted only in threads we actually sent into (inbound-only threads, auto-replies, out-of-office, bounces, and inbox-warming excluded). Email reply rate = distinct people who replied / distinct people emailed. LinkedIn reply rate = conversations that replied / conversations we messaged. Times in US Eastern.
Scope: Revenue Force's own outbound campaigns, aggregated first-party data. SMS excluded (just launched).
- Early, first-party sample — not a large industry dataset.
- This is Revenue Force's own campaigns: our audiences, offers, and sending practices.
- SMS is excluded because the channel just launched.
- Directional, not a representative industry benchmark — your results will differ.
Three findings, each a standalone fact.
Across 6,405 people emailed, 7.4% replied — 473 distinct people.
Of 1,927 people messaged on LinkedIn, 21% replied (405 people) — about 2.8x email's rate.
43 of 281 LinkedIn connection requests were accepted — a 15.3% acceptance rate.
10,403 touches informed this benchmark: 8,160 emails, 1,946 LinkedIn messages, and 297 invites.
When do prospects actually reply?
Every reply with a known timestamp, placed on a weekday-by-hour grid (US Eastern). Darker cells are busier. Based on 1,420 timestamped replies.
Scroll horizontally to see all 24 hours →
of replies land on weekdays (Mon–Fri).
arrive during business hours (9am–5pm ET).
is the single busiest window (46 replies).
Replies by weekday
Top 5 reply windows
- 1Wed at 1pm ET46 replies
- 2Thu at 1pm ET46 replies
- 3Wed at 3pm ET41 replies
- 4Thu at 5pm ET38 replies
- 5Fri at 2pm ET37 replies
Reply rate by channel
The trade-off in one table: LinkedIn replies at a higher rate, email reaches far more people.
| Channel | Reach | Replied | Reply rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6,405 | 473 | 7.4% | |
| LinkedIn messages | 1,927 | 405 | 21% |
| LinkedIn invites * | 281 | 43 | 15.3% |
* For LinkedIn invites, “Replied” is accepted and the rate is the connection-acceptance rate, not a reply rate.
What this means for your outbound
Four honest reads on the data. Directional, not guarantees.
Aim for midweek, early afternoon
Wed and the days around it, around 1pm ET, drew the most replies. If you time a send or a follow-up, this is the window that worked for us.
Don't bother with weekends
Only 6% of replies came on Saturday or Sunday, and 27% arrived outside business hours. Weekday business hours is where the conversations are.
LinkedIn converts, email scales
LinkedIn replied at roughly 2.8x email's rate (21% vs 7.4%), but we messaged far fewer people (1,927 vs 6,405). Use LinkedIn for high-intent targets, email for reach.
Warm up LinkedIn before you pitch
Only 15.3% of connection requests were accepted, so LinkedIn rewards careful, relevant targeting over volume. A request that makes sense to the recipient is the whole game.
About this benchmark
How was this measured?
Distinct-conversation basis. A reply is counted only in threads we actually sent into (inbound-only threads, auto-replies, out-of-office, bounces, and inbox-warming excluded). Email reply rate = distinct people who replied / distinct people emailed. LinkedIn reply rate = conversations that replied / conversations we messaged. Times in US Eastern. In total this benchmark covers 10,403 outbound touches (Jan 2025 - Jul 2026).
Is this an industry benchmark?
No. This is first-party data from Revenue Force's own outbound campaigns — not a survey of the industry. It reflects our audiences, offers, and sending practices, so treat it as an honest, directional data point rather than a representative cross-industry benchmark. SMS is excluded because it just launched.
Why is LinkedIn's reply rate higher than email's?
In our data LinkedIn replied at 21% versus 7.4% on email — about 2.8x higher — but on far lower volume (1,927 people messaged vs 6,405 emailed). LinkedIn audiences are smaller and more deliberately targeted, and messages land in a native, higher-trust surface, which tends to lift reply rates while capping reach.
How can I get results like this?
Results depend on your audience, your offer, and your follow-through — we can't promise these exact numbers. Revenue Force runs this motion for you: researched targeting, on-time follow-ups, and every message approved in your voice before it sends. Book a revenue audit and we'll show you where your outbound is leaking today.
Want outbound that actually gets replies?
This is the motion we run for our clients — researched targeting, on-time follow-ups, every message approved in your voice. Book a revenue audit and we’ll find where your replies are leaking.
More on the approach: how Revenue Force works · read the manifesto