Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
For every $1 spent on email marketing the average return on investment is $42
59% of B2B marketers cite email as their top channel for revenue generation
Email marketing drives an average of 174% more conversions than social media
The average B2B email open rate is approximately 15.1%
The average click-through rate (CTR) for B2B emails is roughly 3.2%
B2B emails have a click-to-open rate of roughly 14.2%
Segmented email campaigns drive a 760% increase in revenue
Marketers who use segmented campaigns see as much as a 77% increase in ROI
Personalized subject lines increase open rates by 50%
Automated welcome emails generate 320% more revenue than normal promotional emails
Transactional emails differ from standard emails by achieving 8x more opens and clicks
Businesses that use email automation see 53% higher conversion rates
42% of all emails are opened on a mobile device
70% of consumers delete emails immediately if they don't display correctly on mobile
Launching a mobile-responsive email design can increase unique mobile clicks by 15%
Automation & AI
- 1Automated welcome emails generate 320% more revenue than normal promotional emails
- 2Transactional emails differ from standard emails by achieving 8x more opens and clicks
- 3Businesses that use email automation see 53% higher conversion rates
- 4Triggered campaigns generate over 75% of email revenue with much lower volume
- 551% of companies use email automation to manage campaign processes
- 6Spending on marketing automation tools is expected to reach $25.1 billion by 2023
- 7Automated email messages average 70.5% higher open rates than usual bulk email
- 8Automated emails have a 152% higher click-through rate than standard emails
- 963% of companies outperforming competitors use marketing automation for email
- 10Drip campaigns driven by automation produce 80% more open rates than single sends
- 1130% of professionals assert that the biggest benefit of automation is saving time
- 12Nurtured leads (via automated email) make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads
- 1349% of businesses use some form of email automation
- 14Cart abandonment emails (automation) have a 45% open rate
- 1521% of cart recovery emails receive clicks
- 1650% of cart recovery emails lead to a finished purchase
- 17AI-enabled email marketing can increase revenue by 41%
- 1882% of marketers use automation to trigger emails based on subscriber data
- 1968.5% of responders believe that automation improved the targeting of messages
- 20Replying to leads within an hour (often via automation) increases success by 7x
Interpretation
Think of email automation and AI as the caffeinated engine of B2B growth: automated welcomes generate 320% more revenue, transactional and triggered messages achieve far higher opens and clicks and drive over 75% of email income, automation lifts conversions by about 53% and click-through rates by 152%, nurtured leads buy 47% more, cart recovery messages finish purchases half the time, AI can boost revenue by 41%, and replying within an hour makes you seven times likelier to close, which is why roughly half of companies use automation and spending is forecast to hit $25.1 billion by 2023.
B2B Specific Engagement
- 1The average B2B email open rate is approximately 15.1%
- 2The average click-through rate (CTR) for B2B emails is roughly 3.2%
- 3B2B emails have a click-to-open rate of roughly 14.2%
- 4The Technology software/hardware industry sees a 19% average open rate in B2B emails
- 5Tuesdays see the highest open rates for B2B emails
- 611 AM is statistically the best time to send B2B emails for high open rates
- 7Open rates for B2B emails are 16% higher on desktop than on mobile devices
- 8B2B customers are 57% of the way through the buying decision before engaging with a sales rep often via email
- 947% of B2B buyers consume 3-5 pieces of content (often via email) before talking to a salesperson
- 10The bounce rate for B2B email marketing benchmarks at roughly 1.2%
- 11The unsubscribe rate for B2B emails averages 0.2%
- 12Plain text emails often get higher open rates in B2B than HTML-heavy emails
- 1340% of B2B marketers claim that email newsletters are the most important tactic in their content marketing strategy
- 14Cold B2B email outreach has an average response rate of 1%
- 15Welcome emails in B2B have an open rate of over 80%
- 16Using the recipient's name in a B2B subject line increases open rights by 26%
- 17B2B subject lines with 6 to 10 words generally perform best
- 18Emails sent by B2B companies see the highest CTR at 8am
- 1980% of B2B buyers expect same-time email responses from vendors
- 20The average B2B professional receives over 120 emails per day
Interpretation
With average opens near 15% and clicks around 3.2% while welcome emails top 80% and buyers are already 57% of the way through a decision, the recipe for real B2B email ROI is straightforward but unforgiving: use the recipient's name, craft subject lines of six to ten words, favor plain text, send on Tuesday around 11 am from desktop, and treat each send as one of very few chances to stand out in an inbox that receives over 120 messages a day.
General ROI & Effectiveness
- 1For every $1 spent on email marketing the average return on investment is $42
- 259% of B2B marketers cite email as their top channel for revenue generation
- 3Email marketing drives an average of 174% more conversions than social media
- 481% of SMBs rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel
- 593% of B2B marketers use email to distribute content making it the most used channel
- 640% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are most critical to their content marketing success
- 7The average ROI for email marketing in the B2B sector specifically is $36 for every $1 spent
- 831% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads
- 972% of customers prefer email as their main channel for business communication
- 10Email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter
- 1187% of B2B marketers say email is one of their top free organic distribution channels
- 1279% of B2B marketers find email to be the most successful channel for content distribution
- 1364% of decision-makers use email to discover new content and research vendors
- 14B2B companies that blog and use email marketing generate 67% more leads than those that do not
- 15Email marketing is rated as the marketing channel with the highest ROI by 18% of companies globally
- 1678% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months
- 1729% of marketers rate email marketing as the most effective marketing channel
- 1860% of consumers say they have made a purchase as the result of a marketing email
- 19Companies using email to nurture leads generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost
- 20Marketing emails influence the purchase decision of 50.7% of customers
Interpretation
Treat email as an afterthought and you're basically paying to ignore a machine that often returns $30 to $40 for every dollar invested, drives far higher conversions and customer acquisition than social channels, and remains the go-to way buyers and B2B marketers discover, nurture, and close business.
Mobile & Format Optimization
- 142% of all emails are opened on a mobile device
- 270% of consumers delete emails immediately if they don't display correctly on mobile
- 3Launching a mobile-responsive email design can increase unique mobile clicks by 15%
- 4Interactive email content increases the click-to-open rate by 73%
- 5Adding video to email can result in a 300% increase in click rates
- 656% of emails with an emoji in the subject line had a higher unique open rate
- 746% of all email opens happen on mobile
- 8One out of every 5 email campaigns is not optimized for mobile devices
- 960% of smartphone users engage with businesses via email apps
- 10Apple iPhone is the most popular email client with 34% of market share
- 11Emails with a single call to action increased clicks by 371% and sales by 1617%
- 1291% of buyers prefer interactive and visual content over traditional text formats
- 13Including the word 'video' in an email subject line boosts open rates by 19%
- 14Dark mode is used by approx 81.9% of people on their smartphones affecting email rendering
- 1544% of users will unsubscribe from a company email if images do not load
- 16Using GIFs in email can increase click-through rates by 42%
- 1723% of companies have integrated interactive elements into their emails
- 1865% of users prefer emails to contain mostly images while 35% prefer mostly text
- 19Users spend 10% less time viewing emails on mobile devices than desktops
- 20Increasing the font size in an email to 14px on mobile leads to a 10% increase in clicks
Interpretation
Treat your emails like movies for tiny screens: with nearly half of opens on mobile and the iPhone holding a third of the market, mobile responsive and dark mode friendly designs with larger fonts, a single clear call to action, and visually rich interactive elements such as video, GIFs and emojis in subject lines dramatically increase clicks and sales while the one in five campaigns that ignores mobile wastes attention, triggers unsubscribes and loses revenue.
Personalization & Segmentation
- 1Segmented email campaigns drive a 760% increase in revenue
- 2Marketers who use segmented campaigns see as much as a 77% increase in ROI
- 3Personalized subject lines increase open rates by 50%
- 482% of marketers report an increase in open rates through email personalization
- 5Segmented and targeted emails generate 58% of all revenue
- 6Emails with personalized messages have 6 times higher transaction rates
- 774% of marketers say targeted personalization increases customer engagement
- 855% of consumers like email messages that contain relevant products and offers
- 939% of marketers who segmented their email lists saw better open rates
- 1028% of marketers who segmented their lists saw lower unsubscribe rates
- 1124% of marketers who segmented their lists experienced better deliverability
- 1296% of organizations believe that email personalization can improve email marketing performance
- 13Personalized email marketing generates a median ROI of 122%
- 1450% of companies say that increasing email list quality via segmentation is a top priority
- 1571% of buyers expect personalized interactions and get frustrated when this does not happen
- 16Using first names in subject lines increases the click-through rate by 17%
- 17Behavioral targeting in email is used by only 39% of marketers despite high ROI
- 1880% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences
- 19Lack of content relevance is the secondary reason users unsubscribe from lists at 57%
- 20Personalized promotional emails have 29% higher unique open rates
Interpretation
Consider this your wake-up call: prioritizing segmentation, behavioral targeting and genuine personalization turns email from guesswork into a high-performing revenue machine, massively boosting opens, clicks and transactions and delivering remarkable ROI while too many marketers still leave those gains on the table.
