TL;DR
In B2B email marketing, the conversion rate measures the percentage of recipients who have carried out the desired action after receiving an email: requesting a quote, downloading content, making an appointment. Unlike B2C, B2B conversion is part of a long sales cycle, where every interaction counts. To improve it, you need to work on the quality of your base, the relevance of your message, and optimize your campaigns iteratively rather than through classic A/B testing.
1. What “convert” really means in B2B emailing
In B2C, conversion is often binary: the recipient either buys or doesn’t buy. A promotional e-mail generates a sale within a few hours, and that’s it. Volumes make it possible to reason in terms of pure statistics.
In B2B, it’s a different story.
The purchasing cycle extends over weeks, sometimes months. Several people are involved in the decision. And above all, the act of buying is almost never done directly from an email. A small business owner is not going to order a software solution or sign a service contract at the click of a button.
As a result, the notion of conversion takes on very different forms depending on the objective of the campaign:
- Request a quote or a callback
- Download a white paper or case study
- Webinar registration
- An appointment with a sales representative
- A simple visit to a strategic product page
All these actions are valid B2B conversions. They mark a step forward in the purchasing process, even if they don’t generate immediate sales.
This is where many companies go wrong. They measure their conversion rate by counting only direct sales. The result: desperately low figures that don’t reflect the real effectiveness of their campaigns.
A prospect who downloads your practical guide is not yet a customer. But they’ve just entered your radar. They’ve expressed an interest. And if your sales people do their job properly, this contact can turn into a signed deal a few weeks later.
The real question to ask yourself before launching a campaign is: what concrete action do you want your recipients to take? It’s this action that will define your conversion, and therefore your conversion rate.
2. How to calculate your conversion rate
The basic formula is simple: divide the number of conversions by the number of emails, then multiply by 100 to obtain a percentage.
But the real question is: what number of emails should be used as a basis for calculation?
Emails sent, delivered or clicked?
Let’s take a concrete example. You send 5,000 e-mails. 4,500 arrive in your inbox (the rest are bounces or end up as spam). 450 recipients click on your link. In the end, 45 people fill in your contact form.
Your conversion rate can therefore be :
- 0.9% if you take the number of emails sent as a base (45 / 5,000)
- 1% if you take emails delivered (45 / 4,500)
- 10% if you take clickers (45 / 450)
Three very different figures for the same campaign. None of them are wrong, but they don’t measure the same thing.
The rate calculated on sends gives an overall view of performance, including deliverability problems. The rate based on emails delivered better isolates the effectiveness of the message itself. As for the rate calculated on clickers, it measures your landing page’s ability to transform interest into action.
What I recommend in B2B
To manage your campaigns on a day-to-day basis, it’s best to calculate the conversion rate for emails delivered. This allows you to compare campaigns with each other, without being affected by variations in basic quality.
On the other hand, keep an eye on the rate calculated from clickers. If many people click but few convert, the problem is on your landing page, not in your email. This is valuable information for knowing where to focus your optimization efforts.
What’s more, some emailing platforms like Ediware enable you to track these different metrics separately, and cross-reference the data with your analytics tools to get a complete picture of the customer journey.
3. B2B benchmarks
When it comes to conversion rates in B2B emailing, the first question is always the same: what’s a good rate?
The honest answer: it depends.
Market averages
The studies available give fairly wide ranges. In B2B emailing, we generally observe conversion rates of between 1% and 5% on delivered emails. Some sectors, such as IT services or consulting, show lower averages, around 1 to 2%. Other activities with shorter decision cycles can reach 5% or more.
For cold prospecting campaigns on rented or purchased files, the rates are logically lower. Getting 0.5% of contact requests from a database of prospects who have never heard of you is already a respectable result.
Conversely, on a base of existing customers or newsletter subscribers, aiming for 3-5% conversion is realistic.
Why these figures mean so little
The problem with benchmarks is that they compare incomparable things.
A campaign offering a free download of a white paper has nothing to do with a campaign requesting a sales appointment. The former requires a minimal commitment. The latter requires the recipient to block time in their diary. Naturally, the rates are different.
Similarly, sending an email to 500 highly-qualified contacts your sales reps met at a trade show is nothing like sending a mass mailing to 50,000 addresses from a prospecting database. Volumes and rates are not in the same league.
The only valid comparison
Rather than measuring yourself against abstract averages, compare your campaigns with each other. Is your conversion rate on the September campaign better or worse than that of June? Do your e-mails with a “customer benefit” subject line convert better than those with a more descriptive subject line?
This iterative approach is the key to progress. External benchmarks give you an order of magnitude so that you’re not completely off the mark. But your real reference is your own track record.
4. The levers that really make a difference
Improving your conversion rate isn’t magic. It requires a methodical approach to a number of elements which, taken together, make the difference between a campaign that generates contacts and one that goes unnoticed.
The quality of the contact database
It’s the starting point for everything. You can have the best message in the world, but if you send it to the wrong people, it won’t convert.
In B2B, the quality of a database is measured by several criteria: are the addresses valid and up to date? Do the contacts correspond to your target? Are they decision-makers or influencers on your subject?
Sending an offer for accounting software to technical directors is a waste of time. The same applies if your file contains 30% obsolete addresses. Before trying to optimize your messages, make sure your database is clean and well-targeted.
Regular verification of email addresses via a dedicated service eliminates NPAI and mechanically improves your deliverability. And better deliverability means a greater chance of conversion.
Message and offer relevance
An email that converts is an email that responds to a concrete problem of its recipient. Not one that talks about you and your great products.
The question is: what’s in it for my recipient? What problem am I helping them solve? What tangible benefit will they gain by clicking?
A white paper entitled “Our innovative solutions” is of no interest to anyone. The same content presented as “How to reduce your invoice processing time by 30%” speaks directly to the concerns of your target audience.
Personalization plays an important role here. Mentioning the recipient’s sector of activity, their job title, or referring to a specific issue in their profession significantly increases the message’s impact. Emailing platforms allow you to integrate personalization variables in the body of the message, and even in the subject line.
The CTA and the landing page
Your recipient has opened the email. He has read your message. They’re interested. Now they need to take action.
The call to action must be clear, visible and inciting. “Click here” says nothing. “Download the guide” or “Book my slot” tells you exactly what’s going to happen.
And then there’s the landing page. Too many companies neglect this step. The recipient clicks, arrives on a confusing page with too much information, and gives up. The landing page should be a natural extension of the email message, with a simple form and a fluid conversion path. Every additional field in your form lowers the conversion rate. In B2B, asking for name, email and possibly company name is usually enough for a first contact.
Timing and recovery
Timing matters, even if its impact is often overestimated. In B2B, mid-week mailings on Tuesday or Thursday mornings generally produce the best results. Avoid Mondays, when mailboxes are overflowing, and Friday afternoons, when people’s minds are already on the weekend.
But the real lever is the follow-up. A prospect who hasn’t reacted to your first email isn’t necessarily indifferent. Perhaps he was busy, distracted, or your message came at the wrong time. A well thought-out follow-up, a few days later, with a slightly different angle, often recovers conversions that would otherwise have been lost. For more on this subject, read our article on automatic follow-ups.
5. Test under real conditions rather than in the laboratory
In B2C, A/B testing is king. We send two versions of an email to samples of 10,000 people, measure which performs better, and generalize. The volumes involved mean that statistically reliable results can be obtained in a matter of hours.
In B2B, this approach rarely works.
Why classic A/B testing reaches its limits
The problem is mathematical. When you send a campaign to 2,000 contacts, dividing it into two groups of 1,000 people doesn’t give you enough volume to draw solid conclusions. If you get 12 conversions on one side and 15 on the other, is that a real difference or just statistical noise? It’s impossible to say.
And then there’s the reality of the field. In B2B, prospecting bases are not infinite. Your targeted contact files represent a limited number of companies. Using half of your base for a test campaign means that many prospects won’t receive your best message.
Not to mention long decision cycles. A recipient may convert three weeks after receiving your e-mail. Waiting for the final results of an A/B test before launching the rest of your campaign means wasting precious time.
The iterative approach: learning campaign after campaign
Rather than testing two versions in parallel, test on successive campaigns. Change one element at a time between two mailings, and observe how your results evolve over time.
For example, on your January campaign, you use an object focused on the customer problem. In February, you test a benefit-oriented object. In March, you try a more direct approach with a question. After a few months, you have a clear vision of what works with your target audience.
This method requires rigor. You need to document what you’re changing, note your assumptions, and track your metrics over time. But it’s in keeping with the reality of B2B: modest volumes, long cycles, and a fine-tuned knowledge of your target that builds up gradually.
What to test first
Not all elements have the same impact on conversion. Focus your tests on what really counts:
The subject line, because it determines whether the email is opened, and therefore everything else. The offer, because a white paper doesn’t generate the same commitment as an appointment request. The message format, whether short and punchy or more detailed and well-argued. And the landing page, which is often the weakest link in the chain.
On the other hand, spending hours testing the color of a button or the exact position of an image makes little sense when your volumes don’t allow you to measure subtle deviations.
6. Linking emailing to the B2B buying process
A B2B prospecting email almost never generates an immediate sale. That’s not its role. It’s part of a longer process, with several points of contact before signature.
Understanding where email marketing fits into this journey enables us to define realistic conversion targets and optimize each stage.
Email as a trigger, not a finisher
In B2B, the role of email is to open a door. Grab a prospect’s attention, arouse their interest, get them to take the first step towards you. The rest is up to your sales team, your content and your appointments.
A prospect who downloads your white paper following an email is not a customer. It’s a contact who has expressed an interest. They’ve entered your pipeline. All you have to do is move them on to the buying decision.
This distinction is important if you want to measure your conversion rate correctly. If you expect direct sales from your email campaigns, you’re bound to be disappointed. On the other hand, if you measure the leads generated and their progression through the sales tunnel, you’ll have a fair view of the effectiveness of your emails.
Nurturing: converting over time
Not all prospects are ready to buy the moment they receive your email. Some are on standby. Others have a medium-term project. Still others don’t yet know they have a need.
This is where nurturing comes in. The idea is to maintain contact with these prospects over time, by regularly sending them useful content, until they are ready to take action.
In concrete terms, this can take the form of a sequence of automated emails after an initial download. Or a monthly newsletter that adds value without being overly commercial. Or targeted reminders based on contact behavior, such as a specific email to those who have visited your rates page.
The conversion rate is no longer measured on the basis of a single campaign, but over the entire sales process. A prospect may receive five or six emails before finally requesting an appointment. This is normal in B2B. And it’s profitable, provided you have the resources.
Synchronize emailing with sales action
B2B emailing doesn’t work in a vacuum. The best results are achieved when it’s combined with the work of your sales team.
A classic example: you send an email to 2,000 prospects. 50 click on the link and visit your product page. Of these, 10 fill in the contact form. But the other 40? They showed an interest but didn’t follow through. Recovering the list of these clickers and passing it on to your sales team for a follow-up call can double or triple your final conversions.
Emailing platforms like Ediware can extract the list of openers and clickers in real time, along with their full contact details. Synchronized with your CRM, this data feeds directly into the work of your sales teams.
7. Measure and track conversions effectively
A good conversion rate is good. Knowing where it’s coming from and how it’s evolving is even better. Without rigorous monitoring, it’s impossible to identify what’s working and what needs improvement.
Essential tools
The first tool is your emailing platform. It gives you the basic metrics: emails delivered, opens, clicks, unsubscribes. At Ediware, these statistics are available in real time, with the option of extracting detailed files by campaign.
But the emailing platform only sees what happens up to the click. To measure real conversion, you need to track what happens afterwards, on your site.
This is where Google Analytics comes in. By adding UTM parameters to your links, you can precisely track visitors coming from your email campaigns and measure their actions: pages visited, forms filled in, downloads carried out. Most emailing platforms automatically add these tracking parameters to your links.
Finally, your CRM plays a central role in linking conversions to signed deals. A lead generated by e-mail in January becomes a customer in April – this is precious information. It enables you to calculate the true return on investment of your campaigns, beyond the simple immediate conversion rate.
Metrics to monitor
The gross conversion rate is not enough. To effectively manage your campaigns, track several complementary indicators.
First of all, the deliverability rate, because an email that doesn’t reach the inbox will never convert. If this rate drops, there’s no point looking elsewhere for the problem.
Then there’s the open rate, which measures the effectiveness of your subject line and your reputation as a sender. A low open rate indicates either a targeting problem, a subject that doesn’t catch on, or poor deliverability.
The click rate, which indicates whether your message makes people want to find out more. And the reactivity rate, which relates clicks to opens and measures the quality of your content independently of deliverability.
Finally, the conversion rate itself, calculated according to the method that makes sense for your business.
What the statistics don’t say
The figures give a partial view of reality. There are a few points to bear in mind.
Firstly, opening rates are becoming increasingly unreliable. The confidentiality protections of Apple Mail and certain webmails artificially inflate open rates by preloading images. Conversely, messaging systems that block images by default prevent the detection of certain real openings. Take this figure as a trend, not as an absolute truth.
Secondly, a click is not always a human click. Some companies’ spam filters analyze links in e-mails and generate automatic clicks. On B2B campaigns targeting large organizations, this phenomenon can significantly distort your statistics. Advanced platforms integrate mechanisms to filter out these robot clicks and give you figures that are closer to reality.
Thirdly, the final conversion may take place via another channel. A prospect receives your email, visits your site, then calls you directly without filling in a form. In your statistics, this campaign shows zero conversions. In reality, it has generated a lead. By cross-referencing emailing data with your sales reps’ field feedback, you can avoid missing out on these invisible conversions.
8. Frequently asked questions
WHAT IS A GOOD CONVERSION RATE IN B2B EMAILING?
In B2B prospecting, a rate of between 1% and 3% on delivered emails is considered correct. On a base of existing customers or committed subscribers, you can aim for 3% to 5%. These figures vary according to the sector, the type of offer and the level of commitment required from the recipient.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONVERSION RATE AND CLICK-THROUGH RATE?
The click-through rate measures the percentage of recipients who clicked on a link in your e-mail. The conversion rate measures those who completed the desired final action after the click: form filled in, download carried out, appointment booked. A good click-through rate with a low conversion rate indicates a problem on the landing page.
HOW TO IMPROVE THE CONVERSION RATE WITHOUT CHANGING THE MESSAGE?
Work on your landing page. Simplify the form by reducing the number of fields. Make sure the page loads quickly and displays correctly on mobile. Make sure the page content naturally extends the email promise. These technical adjustments can significantly improve your results without affecting the message itself.
IS IT NECESSARY TO MEASURE CONVERSIONS ON EMAILS SENT OR DELIVERED?
Use delivered emails to compare your campaigns. This calculation isolates the effectiveness of your message without being affected by deliverability problems. On the other hand, keep an eye on the rate calculated since delivery to get an overall view, including the quality of your contact base.
WHY IS MY CONVERSION RATE LOW DESPITE A GOOD CLICK-THROUGH RATE?
The problem probably lies after the click. Your landing page may be too slow, poorly adapted to mobile, or too far removed from the email message. A long form also discourages conversions. Analyze the post-click user journey to identify the friction point.
HOW DO YOU TRACK CONVERSIONS VIA THE TELEPHONE?
Systematically ask your sales reps where incoming calls come from. You can also use a dedicated phone number for your email campaigns, or add a “How did you hear about us?” field to your forms. This manual data complements the automatic tracking for a more complete picture.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU ANALYZE YOUR CONVERSION RATES?
Analyze each campaign individually in the days following dispatch, then review monthly or quarterly to observe trends. In B2B, conversions can occur several weeks after the mailing. Give prospects time to react before drawing definitive conclusions.
9. Things to remember
The conversion rate remains the ultimate indicator of the effectiveness of your email campaigns. But in B2B, it requires a reading adapted to the realities of the field.
Converting doesn’t necessarily mean selling. It’s about getting a prospect to take a step in their buying journey. Downloading content, requesting a callback, registering for an event. Every action counts and deserves to be measured.
Benchmarks give an order of magnitude, nothing more. Your real reference is your own history. Compare your campaigns with each other, identify what’s progressing and what’s regressing, and make ongoing adjustments.
The levers for improvement are well known: quality of the base, relevance of the message, clarity of the call to action, fluidity of the landing page. Nothing revolutionary, but methodical work on each of these points makes all the difference.
Forget about A/B testing as practiced in B2C. Your volumes don’t allow it. Test on successive campaigns, changing one element at a time, documenting what you learn. This iterative approach is in line with B2B reality.
Above all, don’t measure emailing in isolation. Articulate it with the work of your sales force, synchronize data with your CRM, and follow leads through to signature. That’s where the real return on investment comes in.
Email remains the most profitable outbound marketing channel in B2B. Provided you know what you’re measuring and why.
