When is the last time you opened a sales email rather than deleted it? Is your ‘promotions’ folder full of newsletters you’ve subscribed to but never open?
If so, you’re far from alone. Only 14% of subscribers feel the emails they’re receiving are relevant to them.
That begs the question: how effective is email marketing in a world of SEO, social media posts, and viral video clips? Type this question into a search engine, and you will get inundated with articles that don’t only proclaim that it is, but that ‘it is more relevant than ever’.
So, is there a duality in our perceived reality when it comes to B2B email marketing? Well, we have compiled a list of useful statistics, to understand the following:
- Is email marketing still being utilised?
- Which content types impact click-through rates (CTR)?
- How do you gauge success?
- What is the general perception of B2B companies towards email marketing?
These statistics shed light on just how effective B2B email marketing really is.
Is email marketing still being used?
1. Do marketers still use email marketing?
- 59% of B2B companies do not use email marketing. (Source: SuperOffice)
- 33% of marketers send weekly emails and 26% send emails multiple times per month. (Source: Hubspot)
2. How long do consumers spend reading branded emails?
- Consumers spend an average of 10 seconds reading brand emails. (Source: Statista)
Which content types perform the best?
3. What is the best performing type of email?
- Plain-text emails lead to 21% higher CTOR and 17% CTR than HTML emails. (Source: Benchmark Email)
- 78% of marketers say that using video in their emails increases their ROI. (Source: Wyzowl)
4. What’s the best practice for your email subject lines?
- 35% of people open emails for the subject line alone. (Source: HostPapa)
- Email subject lines shouldn’t exceed 60 characters. (Source: Convince & Convert)
- Subject lines without an emoji have a higher open rate than those that include them. (Source: Search Engine Journal)
- Asking a question in your subject line can increase your open rate by 10%. (Source: YesWare)
5. What is the ideal email length for optimised engagement?
- Emails between 50 – 125 words perform better. (Source: Boomerang)
How do you measure success?
6. What is the ROI of email marketing?
- 59% of B2B marketers who use email marketing say that it is their top channel for revenue generation. (Source: Benchmark)
- 31% of marketers say that email has the biggest per-channel impact on revenue. (Source: Mailtastic)
- The ROI of email is $36 for every dollar spent (Source: ConstantContact)
7. What is the average CTR for email marketing?
- The average email CTR across industries is 3.71%. (Source: Supplygem)
- B2B marketing emails see a 23% higher click-to-open ratio than B2C emails. (Source: Optinmonster)
8. What is the level of engagement in the tech industry?
- The average open rate is 22.7%, while the average industry rate of 21.5%.
- The average CTR is 2%, compared to 2.3% across all industries.
- CTOR is 9.8%, which is below the average figure of 10.5% across all industries.
(Source: Campaign monitor)
9. Should you use social media instead of email marketing?
- Emails are 40 times better at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter. (Source: CampaignMonitor)
How do B2B organizations feel about email marketing?
10. Is email marketing vital to success?
- 40% of B2B marketers believe email marketing is critical to their success. (Source: Optinmonster)
11. Are businesses investing in email marketing?
- 37% of brands are increasing their email budget, and just 1.3% are making cuts. (Source: Litmus)
Is B2B email marketing effective?
Absolutely. While 59% of B2B organisations do not use email marketing, 40% of those who do say it is critical to their success.
Want to get it right?
- Read our top tips to turbocharge your B2B newsletter.
- Download our guide to building a successful lead nurturing campaign
- Find out how to bring your email list back to life
Get in touch with us at hello@isolinecomms.com to develop an effective email marketing strategy for your brand.
