Mastering Email Marketing For Amplified B2B Lead Generation

Email marketing has been the bread and butter of marketers for over two decades. Its importance for B2B lead generation in particular cannot be overstated.

However, the world is changing. With the rise of AI, changing customer expectations, and a host of other factors, marketing is not what it was in the past. What may have been incredibly effective in the past, such as email marketing, may no longer work as intended.

This does not mean that it does not work. Far from it, email marketing is just as effective as it was in the past. Even now, it brings in $36 for every $1 spent, according to the latest reports. It just depends on how you use it.

And that’s what we’re going to do now: master email marketing. By the end of this blog, you’ll hopefully be better prepared for using this strategy to amplify your B2B lead generation capabilities. 

How To Master Email Marketing

Technology and customer expectations have brought about changes that have drastically altered the way email marketing works in 2025. Keeping that in mind, here are a few fundamental tactics you should use if you want to succeed in using email marketing for B2B lead generation.

1. Understand Your Audience

The now iconic quote made by Dewey from Malcom in the Middle, “The future is now, old man”, perfectly reflects the state of the market right now. Millennials and Gen Z are slowly replacing the previous generation.  According to the latest reports, the percentage of B2B companies actively targeting different generations looks like this:

• 73% targeting Millennials.
• 33% targeting Gen Z.
• 40% targeting Gen X.
• And only 15% targeting Baby Boomers.

How does this shift impact B2B marketing? In many ways, in fact. To understand this, take a look at the characteristics of this younger generation:

Priorities:

• Sustainability and social responsibility are big priorities for Millennials and Gen Z.
• According to this study by Deloitte, 63% of Millennials and 65% of Gen Z are willing to pay more for sustainable solutions.

Expectation:

• Customers now care a lot more about what a brand represents.
• Customers place a positive customer experience above the immediate benefits of a solution.

These characteristics have changed how marketers approach them. According to this report, the current top priorities for marketers are as follows:

• 44% claim that improving the customer’s experience with the brand is most important.
• 35% claim that creating content that reflects the brand’s values, such as social responsibility, is most important.

According to the same report, 92% of marketers now plan to either maintain or increase their investments in activities that enhance brand awareness.

Similarly, marketing activities have gone from direct attribution models to indirect attribution models. This means that the objectives have shifted from direct sales to fostering a positive relationship with the brand.

For the foreseeable future, successful B2B lead generation will depend on email marketing activities that focus on building brand perception over direct conversions.

2. Choosing The Right Content

Similar to how customer expectations regarding messaging have evolved, customer expectations regarding their preferred media have undergone significant changes as well. Visual storytelling has now overtaken text-based content in bringing the highest ROI.

According to this HubSpot report, 21% of marketers claim that short-form videos bring in the highest ROI, followed by 19% claiming that it’s images. Regardless, these are the top media formats used by B2B marketers according to the same report:

• 30% use short-form videos.
• 29% use images.
• 24% use interviews.
• 23% use blog posts.
• 19% use long-form videos.
• 18% use user-generated content.
• 17% use live-streamed videos.

As you can see, many of these are not compatible with emails. However, going in line with the indirect attribute model, email marketing can still be useful. It can raise awareness about your social media channels and notify your audience about content with a higher potential for achieving your objectives.

Additionally, emails can still be used to build engagement. One way to build email engagement is by incorporating interactive elements. According to this Litmus study, 97% of marketers use interactive elements in their emails. The same study also identified which elements are most effective:

• Interactive buttons or CTAs; 35%
• Interactive forms; 14%
• Surveys, polls, and quizzes; 13%
• Countdown timers; 12%
• Embedded videos; 12%
• Dynamic product recommendations; 11%
• None of the above; 3%

Whether emails are used as a gateway to other content or as a means to build engagement, one thing is certain. Strategic content creation is essential for success in today's landscape. This may be why 30% of marketers now consider content creation the most important skill required in email marketing.

3. Using The Right Types of Email

There are many types of emails used for email marketing. According to research, marketers primarily use seven types. Here they are, based on popularity:

• Customer Engagement Emails: used by 63% of marketers.
• Promotional Emails: used by 58% of marketers.
• Newsletter Emails: used by 58% of marketers.
• Event-Related Emails: used by 55% of marketers.
• Re-Engagement Emails: used by 49% of marketers.
• Onboarding Emails: used by 44% of marketers.
• Transactional Emails: used by 42% of marketers.

Not all of these are equally effective. Some are statistically more likely to bring in a higher ROI.

Based on the research mentioned above, 18% of marketers claim that customer engagement emails bring in the highest ROI. This may be the reason why it is the most popular type of email used by B2B companies, with 65% using it.

However, this is not uniform across all industries. In fact, the most popular types of emails vary by industry as follows:

• Retail Industry: 81% use promotional emails.
• Agencies & Professional Services Industry: 68% use newsletter emails.
• Tech Industry: 64% use customer engagement emails.

The key takeaway here is that, regardless of the effectiveness of different types of emails, some are more effective and need to be prioritized. The answer to how depends on your B2B lead generation strategy, industry, and your audience’s reaction to each, if you have the right tools to measure it.

4. Use Artificial Intelligence

AI is the most revolutionary technology currently impacting B2B marketing. As per the latest reports, 92% of marketers claim that AI has impacted their role, with a third stating that the impact is significant.

Regardless of the nature of the impact, AI is an incredible tool that can vastly enhance email marketing and, in turn, B2B lead generation. Based on research done by Litmus, these are the uses of AI that have been most impactful in email marketing:

• Generative AI (for copy and image generation): 25%
• Personalizing email content (subject lines, body text): 18%
• Analyzing campaign performance (by identifying trends and insights): 16%
• Optimizing send times (by analyzing audience behavior): 14%
• A/B testing: 12%
• Segmenting audience: 12%
• Other uses: 3%

Among these, generative AI is the most accessible, with tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Jasper, and the like being used. According to a McKinsey study, 42% of marketing and sales teams now use generative AI.

The rest may not be as accessible as generative AI, but are incredibly useful as well. They are also available on many email marketing platforms that currently exist. Cirrus Insight's Meeting AI provides automated research on prospects, allowing you to tailor your emails to best fit each person.

5. Use Email Marketing Platforms

Email marketing platforms are more than a tool to automate emails. With the additional capabilities brought on by AI, email marketing platforms are now a robust tool that’s necessary for success.

Based on the latest research, these are the most popular email marketing tools currently available, and the percentage of marketers using them:

All of these email marketing tools have their own advantages and unique features. Choosing one depends on your budget, required integrations with your CRM, and your particular B2B lead generation strategy.

However, a few of them have unique features that make them the preferred choice for a few segments. Here is a brief overview of which platform is popular among which segment:

Mailchimp:

• Used by 44% of small companies.
• Used by 35% of B2B companies.
• Used by 38% of retail and e-commerce companies.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud:

• Used by 37% of mid-sized companies.
• Used by 46% of large enterprises.
• Used by 32% of hybrid B2B/B2C companies.
• Used by 44% of agencies and professional service providers.

HubSpot:

• Used by 31% of technology companies.

If your business falls in any of these categories, you know where to start looking for the perfect email marketing platform for your business.

6. Personalize Your Emails

Personalization is one of the most effective ways of succeeding in B2B lead generation. The impact of personalization on sales is as follows:

• 44% claim impact is significant.
• 44% claim impact is moderate.
• 8% claim impact is slight.
• 4% claim there is no impact.

In essence, 96% of marketers have seen a positive impact on sales with personalization.

However, personalization is not as easy as it sounds. In fact, 16% of marketers claim it is the top operational challenge when it comes to email marketing.

Utilizing a robust email marketing tool can be beneficial in this regard. But it is AI that is making a significant step in making this easier.

According to this HubSpot study, this is the impact of using AI for personalization:

• 82% increase in conversions.
• 30% increase in open rates.
• 50% increase in CTR.

Knowing that you can utilize AI and email marketing tools to enhance personalization is only half the battle, though. Knowing how to use it is perhaps more important.

Fortunately, this study found out which personalization strategies have been most effective:

• Segmentation (based on demographics, behavior, etc.); 25%
• Dynamic content tailored to individual audience members; 21%
• Personalized subject lines; 21%
• Location-based personalization; 18%
• Behavior-based triggers(such as abandoned carts, browsing history, etc.); 15%

These statistics are not absolute. However, this serves as a good benchmark for allocating your marketing resources effectively.

7. Segment Your Audience

Segmentation is a core principle of marketing. Email marketing is not an exception to this rule. 

Newer technologies, such as AI, just make this easier. An effective AI-based tool can analyze vast amounts of data to help you segment your audience more effectively.

Your segmentation strategy may depend on your target market, objectives, and overall B2B lead generation strategy.

However, these are the segmentation strategies that are most effective for email marketing:

• Interest-based segmentation (preferences, interests, etc.); 26%
• Engagement-based segmentation (site visits, subscription, etc.); 19%
• Lifecycle stage segmentation (new customers, repeat customers, etc.); 18%
• Demographic segmentation (age, gender, etc.); 15%
• Behavior-based segmentation (browsing history, social media behavior, etc.); 14%
• Geographic segmentation; 8%

Of course, all of these are subject to change based on your industry, TAM, and ICP. These are still good benchmarks to follow when building a segmentation strategy.

8. Send More Emails

Mastering email marketing is not just about technique. Sending more emails is just as valid as a marketing strategy.

A very interesting fact, based on recent studies, the percentage of marketers taking more than two weeks to send an email dropped from 62% in 2024 to 6% in 2025. This means that the ability to send more emails increased significantly.

The same study also showed how frequently companies send emails for marketing purposes:

• 29% send them several times a week.
• 29% send them weekly.
• 15% send them daily.
• 12% send them bi-weekly.
• 12% send them monthly.
• Only 3% send them less than once per month.

Factors such as company size, industry, and geographic location also affect this frequency, as:

Company size:

• Small companies: The majority (29%) send emails weekly.
• Mid-sized companies: The majority (32%) send emails weekly.
• Large enterprises: The majority (38%) send emails several times per week.

Industry:

• Retail & e-commerce companies: The majority (42%) send emails several times per week.
• Agencies & professional service providers: The majority (26%) send emails several times per week.
• Technology companies: The majority (37%) send emails weekly.

Location

• North America: The majority (29%) send emails weekly.
• EMEA: The majority (27%) send emails several times per week.
• APAC: The majority (43%) send emails several times per week.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, companies that send emails daily are more likely to have CTRs of above 5%. In the same vein, 45% of companies sending emails daily, 36% sending them weekly, and 28% sending them monthly see an ROI between 36:1 and 50:1.

And while the majority of companies in various segments and industries follow certain standards, adhering to them is not recommended, except as a general guideline.

Somewhat related to frequency, the timing of sending should also be incorporated into your lead generation strategies. Email Blast by Cirrus Insight allows you to send personalized emails at scale, increasing your audience reach at a fraction of time.

According to the same study mentioned above, these are the factors that marketing teams rely on when choosing send times:

• Industry benchmarks; 40%
• Real-time engagement adaptation; 35%
• Segment-specific time targeting; 35%
• Manual time slot experimentation; 34%
• AI-driven optimization; 31%
• Geographic standards; 30%

Among these, companies with higher ROI generally opt for segment-specific time targeting to identify optimal send times. 

9. Measuring Your Success

The only way to truly gauge your success is to keep track of the necessary metrics.

The majority of marketers, namely 22%, cite the difficulty in measuring ROI as the biggest roadblock to achieving email marketing objectives.

With the trend towards indirect attribution models and the difficulty in calculating email leads, determining ROI for your email marketing campaigns becomes difficult. 

However, the same study identified the distribution of ROI among companies, which can be used as a benchmark:

• 1:1 to 10:1; 9%
• 10:1 to 36:1; 35%
• 36:1 to 50:1; 30%
• More than 50:1; 5%
• Not sure; 21%

One factor that the study indicates to have a proportional relationship with ROI is the number of professionals in the marketing team dedicated to email marketing. On average, marketing teams with 25-25% employees dedicated to email marketing are likely to see an ROI between 36:1 and 50:1.

Conversely, there are other metrics that you can easily track to measure your success, such as open rates and CTR. Based on research done by Malichimp, the average values for these metrics are 35.63% and 2.62%.

These metrics have a deep relationship with each other and are a useful benchmark for gauging the success of your B2B marketing strategy. These are statistics from this study, which you can use for comparison:

Open Rates:

• Companies from North America and the APAC regions see open rates of 20-30%.
• Companies from the EMEA region see open rates of 10-20%.

CTR:

• Average CTR for B2B companies falls between 1-3%.
• 29% of companies from the APAC region have a CTR of more than 5%, compared to 24% from EMEA and 23% from North America.

The relationship between these metrics is also directly proportional in nature, with 22% of companies with a CTR of 5% or more also having open rates of over 40%.

Unfortunately, the study also mentions that improving these metrics is the top operational challenge for email marketers, with 25% of marketers reporting this as their top concern. Tracking emails is important, and with Buyer Signals you can get insights into opens, clicks, and replies.

There are numerous ways to improve these metrics. However, the simple fact is that companies that dedicate at least 15% of their marketing budget to email marketing are twice as likely to see open rates of over 40%.

Conclusion

Technology will always evolve, and customer expectations are always dynamic. Email marketing, known for its high ROI, may go out of vogue in the future, but it remains an effective B2B lead generation strategy today.

However, the success of email marketing depends on strategic planning, the allocation of resources, and the effective use of technology. The tactics mentioned in this blog can help you along the way, but to truly succeed in B2B marketing, you must always be prepared to adapt to new changes.