Email’s 36:1 ROI Is Back, And 41% Now Tie It Directly to Revenue

Good morning, ! This week we’re tracking how B2B marketers are sharpening performance around real numbers, not predictions. Social budgets are shifting toward engagement (60%) and brand awareness (59%), email teams are targeting a 36:1 ROI while 41% now tie campaigns directly to revenue, and programs have become the largest budget line at 42%. Marketers are doubling down on first-party data — with 77% using direct customer interactions and 68% relying on content-driven collection — while video (74%) and product content (70%) lead 2025’s most effective formats. The message is clear: data-backed storytelling and measurable, full-funnel execution are defining the new performance playbook.

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AUDIENCE DATA DIVE

Consultants Open Rates Soar Past 90%

Consultants are clicking at record levels—and the secret is clear. Headlines tied to $5.5T family office flows, $600M mega-deals, and $1T sector plays are driving 80–90%+ open rates, far above average. The formula is simple: scale + specificity + urgency. Hyper-focused, capital-driven stories consistently outperform, giving consultants exactly what they want: real capital in motion, right now—and the right headline can make engagement skyrocket. (More)

AD INTEL

Where B2B Marketers Are Pointing Their Social Dollars in 2025

This year’s social budget data shows a clear realignment: B2B teams are investing heavily in channels and formats that strengthen customer engagement (60%) and brand awareness (59%). That pairing is important — it signals that social is no longer a nice-to-have top-of-funnel tool, but a core part of the performance mix.

The surprise? Lead generation (46%) has become the third-highest priority, confirming that marketers now expect social to pull measurable weight deeper in the funnel. Categories like sales conversion and thought leadership (both at 40%) also attract meaningful investment, revealing how brands are using social to influence buyers well beyond the awareness stage.

What this tells us: budgets are shifting toward full-funnel social programs. Rather than relying on search or gated content alone, B2B marketers are treating social as a multi-purpose engine — one that builds reach, nurtures intent, and converts when it matters. (More)

THE FUNNEL REPORT

How Email Marketers Are Really Measuring Impact in 2025

Email is quietly becoming one of the most measurable parts of the B2B funnel — and the latest data shows exactly where teams are focusing. In 2025, marketers aiming to outperform benchmarks expect to hit a 36:1 ROI, but the real story is how they’re proving value.

A full 59% of teams are anchored in customer engagement metrics like opens and clicks — still the default health check for most ESPs. But the measurement mindset is shifting deeper into the funnel: 44% track MQLs and conversion rates, 41% tie email directly to revenue, and 39% assess retention or loyalty, signaling email’s role beyond acquisition.

More sophisticated teams are moving even further: 36% use multi-channel attribution models, and 30% evaluate brand awareness, proving email’s expanding reach across the customer journey.

Email isn’t just a channel — it’s becoming a full-funnel performance engine. (More)

BUDGET SHIFTS

B2B Marketing Budgets Shift Toward Programs As Top Priority

Recent data from Forrester’s Marketing Budgets Survey, 2024 highlights a notable realignment in how B2B organizations allocate their marketing spend. Programs now command the largest share of budgets at 42%, reaffirming their role in driving measurable pipeline impact. This shift suggests a growing emphasis on campaign execution, demand generation, and buyer engagement initiatives.

Meanwhile, Personnel accounts for 35% of total spend, reflecting continued investment in skilled marketing talent despite automation advancements. Technology receives the remaining 23%, signaling a more disciplined approach to martech adoption as organizations streamline their stacks and prioritize ROI.

For marketing leaders, these allocation trends underscore the importance of balancing program effectiveness, team capability, and tech efficiency. As budgets remain under scrutiny in 2025, organizations that strategically align these components will be best positioned to accelerate growth and optimize performance in increasingly competitive markets. (More)

BUYER’S ROOM

How Marketers Are Really Collecting First-Party Data in 2025

The shift away from third-party cookies isn’t theoretical anymore — it’s reshaping how B2B teams build their audience intelligence. And the latest numbers show that marketers are doubling down on direct, permission-based data to understand real buyer intent.

The dominant strategy? Direct customer engagement, used by 77% of marketers. Subscriptions, loyalty programs, and community touchpoints are becoming the new “always-on” data engines, giving teams cleaner and more durable signals than anything they could buy.

Right behind it, 68% rely on content-driven collection — gated assets, webinars, and interactive tools that let buyers self-qualify while trading value for insight. And 63% are tapping CRM and sales interactions, turning service conversations and rep notes into structured intelligence.

The next tier reflects deeper behavioral modeling: 52% track site activity and usage history, while only 23% invest in incremental collection like progressive forms.

B2B’s data future is clear: the closer you are to the buyer, the stronger your insights — and the more resilient your pipeline. (More)

CREATIVE THAT CONVERTS

The Content Formats Dominating B2B in 2025

B2B marketers aren’t guessing what to make in 2025 — the data shows a clear hierarchy of what’s fueling performance right now. Press releases top the list at 80%, signaling a push toward credibility and fast company updates in a noisy market. But the big creative shift sits just below: video, used by 74% of teams, continues its rise as the most engaging way to explain complex products quickly.

Product content isn’t far behind at 70%, a reminder that buyers want clarity, not fluff. The mid-funnel is alive and well too: lead gen short-form content (64%) and technical content (63%) are now non-negotiables for nurturing educated buyers.

Even traditional formats still pull weight — website articles (60%) and blogs (58%) remain staples for SEO, authority building, and long-tail demand.

The takeaway? Modern B2B creative is a portfolio game, but video + product storytelling are leading the charge. (More)

CASE STUDY

How Pinterest Turned Gen-Z Scrolls Into Performance

Pinterest’s “P is for Performance” campaign is the rare B2B play that actually behaved like the platform it represents: colorful, high-energy, and built for conversion. Instead of defaulting to the usual B2B formula, Pinterest went full cinematic—six mini action movies, each starring over-the-top heroines designed to showcase the platform’s new Performance+ features. As VP of Global Creative Xanthe Wells put it, the team adopted a “moviemaking approach” to break through the noise.

That creative risk paid off. The campaign delivered 300M impressions, 115M+ video views, an 84% completion rate (well above the 78% norm), and over 1M clicks to the Pinterest Business site. Most importantly, it drove a 10-point lift in improved performance product perception.

The lesson for B2B marketers is simple: bold storytelling performs. When the goal is to reach new audiences—especially Gen-Z—entertainment is a feature, not a compromise, and it can drive real performance outcomes.(More)

PUBLISHER SPOTLIGHT

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