# B2B Email Marketing Statistics 2026: Open Rates, Click Rates, ROI and Buyer Behaviour

Updated 2026-10-28. Checked by StatisticsGlobal editorial team. DMA Email Benchmarking Reports 2023 and 2025, MailerLite, ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp benchmarks, HubSpot State of Marketing 2026, Content Marketing Institute 2026 research, Litmus, Gartner buyer surveys and Google sender rules.
Canonical: https://statisticsglobal.org/b2b-email-marketing-statistics/

B2B marketing emails had a 35.7% unique open rate and a 2.4% click rate in the UK in 2022, according to the DMA, the latest public data that splits B2B from B2C. B2B clicks were 50% higher than B2C clicks, but B2B delivery was 2.6 points lower. Newer vendor data points the same way. In MailerLite's 2025 benchmarks, eight business-facing industries averaged a 2.49% click rate against 2.09% for all senders, by our calculation. Email is the second most used B2B channel: 39.3% of B2B marketers used it in 2026, according to HubSpot, and 23.6% named it a top ROI channel.

## Key statistics

- B2B marketing emails had a 2.4% unique click rate in the UK in 2022, almost flat on the year before, according to the DMA.
- B2B emails drew a click rate 50% higher than B2C emails in the UK in 2022, 2.4% against 1.6%, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from DMA data.
- Eight business-facing industries averaged a 2.49% email click rate in 2025, above the 2.09% all-industry figure, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from MailerLite data.
- 39.3% of B2B marketers used email marketing in 2026, the second most-used channel after websites and SEO, according to HubSpot.
- 73% of B2B buyers actively avoided suppliers who send irrelevant outreach in 2024, according to Gartner.

## B2B email marketing benchmarks

There is no single free, current benchmark for B2B email. The UK DMA publishes an industry average from email service providers. Email platforms publish their own customer averages. We show both and say where each comes from.

The DMA's 2025 report gives the broadest view of UK sending. Across seven email service providers, marketing emails had a 35.9% open rate and a 2.3% unique click rate in 2024. Delivery rose to 98%. Click rates rose for the third year in a row. Against the 1.5% recorded for 2022, the click rate is up 53%, although the panel of providers changed from eight to seven.

Platform benchmarks are higher and differ a lot from each other. MailerLite puts the 2025 click rate at 2.09%. ActiveCampaign puts it at 6.21%, three times as high. The gap is mostly about method. ActiveCampaign includes transactional emails such as receipts, which get many clicks, and reports averages. MailerLite reports medians. Neither splits its data into B2B and B2C.

Open rates need care. Apple Mail Privacy Protection loads tracking pixels automatically, so many recorded opens are not people reading. The DMA calls 2022 a "year-zero" for open rates for this reason. Clicks are the more reliable signal. For click rates in search, social and SMS, see our [click-through rate benchmarks](https://statisticsglobal.org/click-through-rate-benchmarks/).

- UK marketing emails had a 35.9% open rate in 2024, according to the DMA. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2025 (4 June 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/research/email-benchmarking-report-2025
- UK marketing emails had a 2.3% unique click rate in 2024, the third yearly rise in a row, according to the DMA. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2025 (4 June 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/research/email-benchmarking-report-2025
- 98% of UK marketing emails were delivered in 2024, with B2C senders at 99.2%, according to the DMA. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2025 (4 June 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/research/email-benchmarking-report-2025
- The UK unique email click rate rose 53% between 2022 and 2024, from 1.5% to 2.3%, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from DMA data. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2025 (4 June 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/research/email-benchmarking-report-2025
- The average email open rate was 43.46% across MailerLite campaigns from December 2024 to November 2025, according to MailerLite. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- The average email click rate was 2.09% across MailerLite campaigns from December 2024 to November 2025, according to MailerLite. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- ActiveCampaign customers had a 39.26% average email open rate in 2025, according to ActiveCampaign. Source: ActiveCampaign, 2026 ActiveCampaign Email Marketing Benchmarks: Open & Click Rates by Industry (21 January 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/activecampaign-email-benchmarks
- ActiveCampaign customers had a 6.21% average email click rate in 2025, according to ActiveCampaign. Source: ActiveCampaign, 2026 ActiveCampaign Email Marketing Benchmarks: Open & Click Rates by Industry (21 January 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/activecampaign-email-benchmarks
- ActiveCampaign's average email click rate for 2025 was 3 times MailerLite's, 6.21% against 2.09%, calculated by StatisticsGlobal. Source: ActiveCampaign, 2026 ActiveCampaign Email Marketing Benchmarks: Open & Click Rates by Industry (21 January 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/activecampaign-email-benchmarks

Table: Headline email benchmarks by source, latest free edition

| Source | Open rate | Click rate | Data period | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DMA (UK, all senders) | 35.9% | 2.3% | 2024 | Seven UK email service providers |
| MailerLite | 43.46% | 2.09% | Dec 2024 to Nov 2025 | 3.6M+ campaigns, 181,000 accounts |
| ActiveCampaign | 39.26% | 6.21% | 1 Jan to 10 Dec 2025 | ActiveCampaign customers, size not disclosed |
| Mailchimp (all users) | 35.63% | 2.62% | To December 2023 | Campaigns to 1,000+ subscribers |

Sources: DMA Email Benchmarking Report 2025; MailerLite email marketing benchmarks (December 2025); ActiveCampaign 2026 email marketing benchmarks (January 2026); Mailchimp email marketing benchmarks (data to December 2023).

## B2B vs B2C email open and click rates

The DMA's 2023 report is the latest free data that splits B2B from B2C email. It covers more than 280 billion emails sent in 2022 through eight email service providers in the UK.

B2B email does better on engagement. In 2022, B2B emails had a 35.7% open rate against 33.7% for B2C. The click rate gap was larger. B2B emails drew 2.4% against 1.6% for B2C, which is 50% higher. The DMA notes that the B2C click rate has been slowly falling for four years, while the B2B rate stayed almost flat.

B2B email does worse on delivery. Only 96.8% of B2B emails were delivered, against 99.4% for B2C. That gap of 2.6 points sounds small. In volume it means about 32,000 lost emails per million for B2B senders and 6,000 for B2C, so B2B lost 5.3 times as many. The DMA does not explain the gap. Stricter company mail filters and work addresses that lapse when people change jobs are likely factors.

The B2B open rate almost doubled in one year, from 18.1% in 2021 to 35.7% in 2022. The DMA links most of that jump to Apple Mail Privacy Protection, not to better emails. Treat any year-on-year comparison of open rates across 2021 and 2022 with caution.

- B2B marketing emails had a 35.7% unique open rate in the UK in 2022, up from 18.1% in 2021, according to the DMA. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2023 (July 2023, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/dma-email-benchmarking-report-2023.pdf
- B2C marketing emails had a 33.7% unique open rate in the UK in 2022, up from 19.8% in 2021, according to the DMA. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2023 (July 2023, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/dma-email-benchmarking-report-2023.pdf
- B2B marketing emails had a 2.4% unique click rate in the UK in 2022, almost flat on the year before, according to the DMA. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2023 (July 2023, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/dma-email-benchmarking-report-2023.pdf
- B2C marketing emails had a 1.6% unique click rate in the UK in 2022, according to the DMA. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2023 (July 2023, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/dma-email-benchmarking-report-2023.pdf
- 96.8% of B2B marketing emails were delivered in the UK in 2022, against 99.4% of B2C emails, according to the DMA. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2023 (July 2023, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/dma-email-benchmarking-report-2023.pdf
- B2B emails drew a click rate 50% higher than B2C emails in the UK in 2022, 2.4% against 1.6%, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from DMA data. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2023 (July 2023, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/dma-email-benchmarking-report-2023.pdf
- B2B emails had a delivery rate 2.6 percentage points lower than B2C emails in the UK in 2022, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from DMA data. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2023 (July 2023, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/dma-email-benchmarking-report-2023.pdf
- About 32,000 of every million B2B emails went undelivered in the UK in 2022, 5.3 times the B2C figure of 6,000, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from DMA data. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2023 (July 2023, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/dma-email-benchmarking-report-2023.pdf
- The B2B email open rate in the UK almost doubled in 2022, rising 17.6 percentage points from 18.1% to 35.7%, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from DMA data. Source: DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2023 (July 2023, accessed 28 October 2026) https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/dma-email-benchmarking-report-2023.pdf

Table: B2B vs B2C email performance in the UK, 2022, with the gap we calculated

| Metric | B2B | B2C | Gap (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unique open rate | 35.7% | 33.7% | B2B +2.0 points |
| Unique click rate | 2.4% | 1.6% | B2B 50% higher |
| Delivery rate | 96.8% | 99.4% | B2B 2.6 points lower |
| Undelivered emails per million | 32,000 | 6,000 | B2B 5.3x as many |
| Open rate in 2021 | 18.1% | 19.8% | B2C +1.7 points |

Source: DMA Email Benchmarking Report 2023, data for January to December 2022 from eight email service providers. Undelivered emails per million calculated as 100% minus the delivery rate.

## B2B email statistics by industry

MailerLite publishes medians for 46 industries. Many of them sell mostly to businesses. We picked eight of these and compared them with the all-industry figures. ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp publish fewer, broader categories.

In MailerLite's 2025 data, the eight business-facing industries averaged a 2.49% click rate, above the 2.09% for all senders. Their open rate was lower, at 41.45% against 43.46%. That matches the DMA pattern. Business emails get opened slightly less but clicked more. They also drew 2.3 times the click rate of e-commerce senders.

The spread inside B2B is wide. Legal senders had the highest click rate of any industry, at 4.9%, and the lowest unsubscribe rate, at 0.09%. Manufacturing had the highest click-to-open rate of any industry, at 14.82%. Software and web app senders sat near the bottom with a 1.15% click rate, a quarter of the legal figure.

ActiveCampaign ranks software differently. Its software customers had a 6.67% click rate in 2025, above its 6.21% average, and consulting and agency senders had 7.05%. The two vendors do not define industries or clicks the same way, so compare your results with one vendor's table, not a mix.

- Legal senders had a 4.9% email click rate in 2025, the highest of any industry, according to MailerLite. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- Manufacturing senders had a 4.22% email click rate and a 37.36% open rate in 2025, according to MailerLite. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- Consulting senders had a 45.96% email open rate and a 2.41% click rate in 2025, according to MailerLite. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- Business and finance senders had a 2.37% email click rate and a 43.34% open rate in 2025, according to MailerLite. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- Software and web app senders had a 1.15% email click rate and a 39.31% open rate in 2025, according to MailerLite. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- Eight business-facing industries averaged a 2.49% email click rate in 2025, above the 2.09% all-industry figure, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from MailerLite data. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- Eight business-facing industries averaged a 41.45% email open rate in 2025, 2 points below the 43.46% all-industry figure, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from MailerLite data. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- Legal emails drew 4.3 times the click rate of software and web app emails in 2025, 4.9% against 1.15%, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from MailerLite data. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- Business-facing industries drew 2.3 times the email click rate of e-commerce senders in 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from MailerLite data. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- Manufacturing had the highest email click-to-open rate of any industry in 2025, 14.82%, just ahead of legal at 14.72%, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from MailerLite data. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- Legal senders had the lowest email unsubscribe rate of any industry in 2025, 0.09% against 0.22% overall, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from MailerLite data. Source: MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026 (3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
- Software senders had a 6.67% average email click rate and a 36.20% open rate in 2025, according to ActiveCampaign. Source: ActiveCampaign, 2026 ActiveCampaign Email Marketing Benchmarks: Open & Click Rates by Industry (21 January 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/activecampaign-email-benchmarks
- Consulting and agency senders had a 7.05% average email click rate and a 39.08% open rate in 2025, according to ActiveCampaign. Source: ActiveCampaign, 2026 ActiveCampaign Email Marketing Benchmarks: Open & Click Rates by Industry (21 January 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/activecampaign-email-benchmarks
- Accounting and financial senders had a 4.40% average email click rate and a 37.74% open rate in 2025, according to ActiveCampaign. Source: ActiveCampaign, 2026 ActiveCampaign Email Marketing Benchmarks: Open & Click Rates by Industry (21 January 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/activecampaign-email-benchmarks
- Business and finance senders had a 2.78% average email click rate and a 31.35% open rate on Mailchimp in 2023, according to Mailchimp. Source: Mailchimp (Intuit), Email Marketing Benchmarks and Statistics by Industry (data last updated December 2023, accessed 28 October 2026) https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/

Table: Email benchmarks for business-facing industries, MailerLite, December 2024 to November 2025, ranked by click rate

| Industry | Open rate | Click rate | Click-to-open rate | Unsubscribe rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal | 42.58% | 4.9% | 14.72% | 0.09% |
| Manufacturing | 37.36% | 4.22% | 14.82% | 0.3% |
| Consulting | 45.96% | 2.41% | 7.67% | 0.23% |
| Business and finance | 43.34% | 2.37% | 7.96% | 0.16% |
| Agency | 40.52% | 1.85% | 6.74% | 0.21% |
| Recruitment and staffing | 45.26% | 1.68% | 5.29% | 0.24% |
| Marketing and advertising | 37.23% | 1.3% | 6.09% | 0.15% |
| Software and web app | 39.31% | 1.15% | 5.4% | 0.2% |
| Average of these eight (our calculation) | 41.45% | 2.49% | 8.59% | 0.20% |
| All industries | 43.46% | 2.09% | 6.81% | 0.22% |
| e-commerce (for comparison) | 32.67% | 1.07% | 4.01% | 0.18% |

Source: MailerLite email marketing benchmarks (3 December 2025), 3.6M+ campaigns from 181,000 accounts. MailerLite reports medians. The eight-industry average is a simple unweighted mean calculated by StatisticsGlobal.

## B2B email marketing ROI

There is no free, current measurement of B2B email return on investment. What exists are surveys of marketers. They show email near the top for B2B, but self-reported returns should be read as opinions.

In HubSpot's 2026 survey, 39.3% of B2B marketers used email, second only to websites and SEO at 48.4%. Email was also second for ROI, named a top channel by 23.6%. It is only just ahead of paid social at 23.3%, and 6.6 points behind websites and SEO. B2C marketers in the same survey put social channels first for both use and return.

Litmus asked nearly 500 marketers what each dollar spent on email brings back. 35% said $10 to $36, and 30% said $36 to $50. By our sum, 70% reported at least $10. These are self-reported figures across all sectors, not measured returns. Litmus says B2B senders see the best return from customer engagement emails, while B2C senders do best with promotions.

Measurement is improving. 21% of marketing leaders did not measure email ROI in 2025, down from 36% in 2023. In the Content Marketing Institute's 2025 survey, 54% of B2B marketers named email newsletters among their most effective thought leadership channels. That was second to LinkedIn at 76%, and just ahead of events and webinars at 52%.

- 39.3% of B2B marketers used email marketing in 2026, the second most-used channel after websites and SEO, according to HubSpot. Source: HubSpot, The top marketing channels of 2026, according to marketers [data] (updated 19 January 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-channels
- 23.6% of B2B marketers named email a top channel for ROI in 2026, second only to websites and SEO, according to HubSpot. Source: HubSpot, The top marketing channels of 2026, according to marketers [data] (updated 19 January 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-channels
- Email trailed websites and SEO by 6.6 percentage points as a top B2B ROI channel in 2026, 23.6% against 30.2%, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from HubSpot data. Source: HubSpot, The top marketing channels of 2026, according to marketers [data] (updated 19 January 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-channels
- 35% of marketing leaders got $10 to $36 back for every $1 spent on email in 2025, according to Litmus. Source: Litmus, The ROI of Email Marketing [Infographic] (16 July 2025 (first published January 2022), accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.litmus.com/blog/email-marketing-roi
- 30% of marketing leaders got $36 to $50 back for every $1 spent on email in 2025, according to Litmus. Source: Litmus, The ROI of Email Marketing [Infographic] (16 July 2025 (first published January 2022), accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.litmus.com/blog/email-marketing-roi
- 70% of marketing leaders reported at least $10 back for every $1 spent on email in 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Litmus data. Source: Litmus, The ROI of Email Marketing [Infographic] (16 July 2025 (first published January 2022), accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.litmus.com/blog/email-marketing-roi
- 21% of marketing leaders did not measure email ROI in 2025, down from 36% in 2023, according to Litmus. Source: Litmus, The ROI of Email Marketing [Infographic] (16 July 2025 (first published January 2022), accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.litmus.com/blog/email-marketing-roi
- 54% of B2B marketers named email newsletters among their most effective thought leadership channels in 2025, according to the Content Marketing Institute. Source: Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2026 (8 October 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/b2b-research/b2b-content-marketing-trends-research
- Email newsletters trailed LinkedIn by 22 percentage points as a top B2B thought leadership channel in 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Content Marketing Institute data. Source: Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2026 (8 October 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/b2b-research/b2b-content-marketing-trends-research

Table: Top B2B marketing channels by use and by ROI, HubSpot State of Marketing 2026

| Rank | Most used channel | Share of B2B marketers | Top ROI channel | Share of B2B marketers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Website, blog and SEO | 48.4% | Website, blog and SEO | 30.2% |
| 2 | Email marketing | 39.3% | Email marketing | 23.6% |
| 3 | Organic social media | 38.6% | Paid social media | 23.3% |

Source: HubSpot, The top marketing channels of 2026 (updated 19 January 2026), State of Marketing 2026 survey of 1,500+ marketers worldwide.

## How B2B buyers prefer to be contacted

Buyer surveys do not ask about email directly. They do show that most B2B buyers want to research on their own, and that they shut out suppliers who send messages that are not relevant to them.

Gartner's buyer surveys set the context. 73% of B2B buyers said they actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach. The share preferring a buying process without a sales rep rose from 61% in the 2024 survey to 67% in 2025. In the 2025 survey, 45% of buyers used AI during a recent purchase. For B2B email, this means relevance matters more than volume.

Marketers have responded mainly through email. Among B2B marketers whose organisations personalise content, 85% do so in email campaigns. That is 2.5 times the share who personalise on social media. In technology firms the email figure is 88%. But personalisation is mostly simple. In CMI's survey, 59% described their use of personalisation as basic. For more on this, see our [personalization statistics](https://statisticsglobal.org/personalization-statistics/) and [sales statistics](https://statisticsglobal.org/sales-statistics/).

AI is entering the email workflow more slowly than elsewhere. 36% of B2B marketers said their organisations used AI email tools in 2025. In the same CMI survey, content creation tools were the most common use of AI, at 89%.

- 73% of B2B buyers actively avoided suppliers who send irrelevant outreach in 2024, according to Gartner. Source: Gartner, Gartner Sales Survey Finds 61% of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Buying Experience (25 June 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-06-25-gartner-sales-survey-finds-61-percent-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-buying-experience
- 61% of B2B buyers preferred an overall rep-free buying experience in 2024, according to Gartner. Source: Gartner, Gartner Sales Survey Finds 61% of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Buying Experience (25 June 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-06-25-gartner-sales-survey-finds-61-percent-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-buying-experience
- 67% of B2B buyers said they preferred a rep-free experience in 2025, according to Gartner. Source: Gartner, Gartner Sales Survey Finds 67% of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Experience (9 March 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-03-09-gartner-sales-survey-finds-67-percent-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-experience
- The share of B2B buyers preferring a rep-free experience rose 6 percentage points in a year, from 61% in 2024 to 67% in 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Gartner data. Source: Gartner, Gartner Sales Survey Finds 67% of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Experience (9 March 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-03-09-gartner-sales-survey-finds-67-percent-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-experience
- 45% of B2B buyers used AI during a recent purchase in 2025, according to Gartner. Source: Gartner, Gartner Sales Survey Finds 67% of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Experience (9 March 2026, accessed 28 October 2026) https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-03-09-gartner-sales-survey-finds-67-percent-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-experience
- 85% of B2B marketers whose organisations personalise content did so in email campaigns in 2025, according to the Content Marketing Institute. Source: Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2026 (8 October 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/b2b-research/b2b-content-marketing-trends-research
- 88% of technology marketers who personalise content did so in email in 2025, according to the Content Marketing Institute. Source: Content Marketing Institute, Technology Content and Marketing Trends: 2026 Insights (12 November 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/technology-research/content-marketing-technology-research
- Email was 2.5 times as common as social media for B2B content personalisation in 2025, 85% against 34%, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Content Marketing Institute data. Source: Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2026 (8 October 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/b2b-research/b2b-content-marketing-trends-research
- 36% of B2B marketers said their organisations used AI email marketing tools in 2025, according to the Content Marketing Institute. Source: Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2026 (8 October 2025, accessed 28 October 2026) https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/b2b-research/b2b-content-marketing-trends-research

Table: Where B2B marketers personalise content, Content Marketing Institute, 2025

| Channel | Share of B2B marketers who personalise |
|---|---|
| Email campaigns | 85% |
| Social media content | 34% |
| Websites and landing pages | 33% |
| Digital advertising | 31% |
| Content marketing (blogs, white papers) | 28% |
| Experiential and event marketing | 23% |
| Webinars | 22% |
| Video | 15% |

Source: Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2026. 1,015 B2B marketers, fielded June to August 2025. Base: marketers whose organisations personalise content (89%).

## Gmail sender rules for B2B email

Since February 2024 Gmail has set hard rules for anyone sending close to 5,000 or more emails a day to personal Gmail accounts. Many B2B newsletters and nurture programmes cross this line.

Bulk senders must authenticate their mail with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and offer one-click unsubscribe in promotional email. Google counts all mail from the same primary domain towards the 5,000 limit, so sales, marketing and product emails add up. Google stepped up enforcement against non-compliant mail from November 2025.

The spam threshold is strict. Google asks senders to keep user-reported spam below 0.1% and never to reach 0.3%. Above 0.3%, Google withholds delivery support. Unsubscribe requests must be honoured within 48 hours. These rules apply to personal Gmail accounts, but they shape how mailbox providers judge a sending domain overall. They help explain why delivery matters so much in the DMA's B2B data.

- Gmail has required senders of 5,000 or more messages a day to authenticate email and offer one-click unsubscribe since February 2024, according to Google. Source: Google, Email sender guidelines FAQ (FAQ updated periodically, accessed 28 October 2026) https://support.google.com/a/answer/14229414
- Gmail senders must keep their user-reported spam rate below 0.3%, and ideally below 0.1%, under rules in force since 2024, according to Google. Source: Google, Email sender guidelines FAQ (FAQ updated periodically, accessed 28 October 2026) https://support.google.com/a/answer/14229414
- Gmail bulk senders must honour unsubscribe requests within 48 hours under rules in force since 2024, according to Google. Source: Google, Email sender guidelines FAQ (FAQ updated periodically, accessed 28 October 2026) https://support.google.com/a/answer/14229414

## How these sources measure B2B email

Each source counts something different. Before using a number, check what it measures, who it covers and when.

The DMA figures come from email service providers that send for UK brands. Each provider gives its averages for sent, delivered, opened and clicked emails, and the DMA averages them. Only the 2023 report, covering 2022, has a free B2B and B2C split. The 2025 report is mostly for members, and its free summary gives no B2B figures.

MailerLite, ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp report on their own customers, who skew towards small businesses. They label industries in their own ways and none labels B2B. Our eight-industry average is a simple mean of MailerLite medians, not a weighted figure. Mailchimp's data runs only to December 2023. Open rates in all of these sources are inflated by Apple Mail Privacy Protection.

HubSpot, the Content Marketing Institute and Litmus are surveys of marketers, so they show what marketers use and believe, not measured results. Gartner surveys buyers, about 630 to 650 each year. Google's figures are rules, not measurements. We report each figure with its own scope and year and do not mix them into one average.


## Frequently asked questions

### What is a good open rate for B2B email?

B2B emails had a 35.7% unique open rate in the UK in 2022, according to the DMA. In MailerLite's 2025 data, eight business-facing industries averaged 41.45%. Open rates are inflated by Apple Mail Privacy Protection, so click rate is the better measure.

### What is the average B2B email click rate?

The DMA measured 2.4% for B2B emails in the UK in 2022. In MailerLite's 2025 benchmarks, business-facing industries averaged 2.49%, from 1.15% for software to 4.9% for legal senders. ActiveCampaign reports higher figures, such as 6.67% for software.

### Is B2B email performance better than B2C?

On clicks, yes. B2B emails drew a click rate 50% higher than B2C in the DMA's 2022 UK data, 2.4% against 1.6%. On delivery, no. 96.8% of B2B emails were delivered against 99.4% for B2C.

### How did B2B email benchmarks change from last year?

The DMA's all-sender unique click rate rose to 2.3% in 2024, its third rise in a row and 53% above 2022. MailerLite's all-industry click rate rose from 2% in 2024 to 2.09% in 2025. No newer free B2B-only split has been published.

### What is the ROI of B2B email marketing?

No source measures it directly. In HubSpot's 2026 survey, 23.6% of B2B marketers named email a top ROI channel, second to websites and SEO. In Litmus's 2025 survey of all sectors, 70% of marketing leaders reported at least $10 back per $1 spent.

### How many emails can a B2B company send before Gmail's bulk sender rules apply?

Gmail's rules apply to senders of close to 5,000 or more messages a day to personal Gmail accounts, counted across the whole primary domain. Those senders must authenticate, offer one-click unsubscribe and keep spam complaints below 0.3%.

## Sources

1. DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2023, July 2023, accessed 28 October 2026. https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/dma-email-benchmarking-report-2023.pdf
2. MailerLite, Email marketing benchmarks by industry and region for 2026, 3 December 2025, accessed 28 October 2026. https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/compare-your-email-performance-metrics-industry-benchmarks
3. HubSpot, The top marketing channels of 2026, according to marketers [data], updated 19 January 2026, accessed 28 October 2026. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-channels
4. Gartner, Gartner Sales Survey Finds 61% of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Buying Experience, 25 June 2025, accessed 28 October 2026. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-06-25-gartner-sales-survey-finds-61-percent-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-buying-experience
5. DMA, Email Benchmarking Report 2025, 4 June 2025, accessed 28 October 2026. https://dma.org.uk/research/email-benchmarking-report-2025
6. ActiveCampaign, 2026 ActiveCampaign Email Marketing Benchmarks: Open & Click Rates by Industry, 21 January 2026, accessed 28 October 2026. https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/activecampaign-email-benchmarks
7. Mailchimp (Intuit), Email Marketing Benchmarks and Statistics by Industry, data last updated December 2023, accessed 28 October 2026. https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/
8. Litmus, The ROI of Email Marketing [Infographic], 16 July 2025 (first published January 2022), accessed 28 October 2026. https://www.litmus.com/blog/email-marketing-roi
9. Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2026, 8 October 2025, accessed 28 October 2026. https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/b2b-research/b2b-content-marketing-trends-research
10. Gartner, Gartner Sales Survey Finds 67% of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Experience, 9 March 2026, accessed 28 October 2026. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-03-09-gartner-sales-survey-finds-67-percent-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-experience
11. Content Marketing Institute, Technology Content and Marketing Trends: 2026 Insights, 12 November 2025, accessed 28 October 2026. https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/technology-research/content-marketing-technology-research
12. Google, Email sender guidelines FAQ, FAQ updated periodically, accessed 28 October 2026. https://support.google.com/a/answer/14229414