Stop Guessing, Start Growing: Why Your B2B Email Strategy Needs Benchmarks (But Not How You Think)

By Nick Veneris, Yo Marketing Director of Digital Strategy & Growth

Email remains critical to B2B marketing and sales, but are your messages truly hitting the mark? Sending emails without understanding their performance is like driving blind. You need a clear view of what's working, what's not, and where you can improve engagement and conversions across all your email efforts – from automated sales sequences to marketing nurture campaigns and newsletters.

Many businesses jump straight to comparing their open and click-through rates against industry averages. While understanding industry benchmarks provides valuable context (check out our infographic below for the latest 2025 B2B figures!), it's not the most crucial starting point.

Your First Benchmark? You.

Before you worry about whether you're "ahead" or "behind" the industry, the most important step is to establish your own internal benchmarks. What are your typical open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), and conversion rates for:

1. Outbound Sales Sequences? (using tools like Outreach, Apollo, Salesloft)

2. Inbound Marketing Automation & Nurture Flows? (using tools like HubSpot, Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud)

3. Marketing Email Blasts & Newsletters?

Knowing your baseline performance for each type of email provides the real foundation for improvement. Industry benchmarks, like those shown in the infographic (e.g., average B2B open rates ~15-35%, CTRs ~2.4-3.2% ), then become useful signposts, highlighting potential areas where strategic adjustments could yield significant gains.

For instance, if your newsletter open rates are lagging behind the typical 40%, it signals an opportunity to refine your subject lines or content strategy.

Beyond Benchmarks: The Power of Continuous Optimization

Here’s the key takeaway: regardless of where your numbers fall relative to industry averages, your email marketing strategy must include ongoing optimization. The goal isn't just to meet a benchmark; it's to consistently improve upon your previous results.

How?

1. Test Everything: Subject lines, calls to action, send times, content formats.

2. Leverage Segmentation: Delivering tailored content to specific audience segments dramatically boosts relevance and results.

3. Embrace Personalization: Personalized messages significantly outperform generic ones in opens and replies.

4. Analyze & Adapt: Regularly review your performance data for each email type and adjust your strategy accordingly.

An effective B2B email strategy is dynamic. It requires understanding your unique performance, using industry data for context, and relentlessly pursuing improvement.

Ready to build an email strategy that drives real results? Yo Marketing can help you establish your benchmarks, identify opportunities, and implement optimization techniques to boost engagement and conversions across your sales and marketing emails. Contact us today to get started!