When it comes to your digital marketing strategy, do you feel like you are running campaigns, creating content, and posting to social media, without any idea how your program is actually performing or whether it’s helping you achieve your business goals?
When done in this way, B2B marketing can feel like an unplanned marathon. You don’t know the route or how to get to where you need to go. You’re simply running in a direction and hoping for the best.
That’s where benchmarks come in. Now, benchmarks aren’t the be-all and end-all. In fact, far from it. All businesses are different, all industries are unique and every organization has different goals.
However, understanding some common B2B digital marketing benchmarks will give you an idea of whether your website is moving in the right direction. Whether it’s driving more organic traffic, reducing bounce rates, or boosting email click-throughs, tracking the right benchmarks will give you a clearer idea of where you need to go.
In this blog, we’ll take a look at some key benchmarks, explain what they actually mean, and give you some actionable tips to help you improve them.
Why It’s Important to Track Your Digital Marketing Data
Have you ever been bowling? Well, imagine trying to hit the pins in the dark… it would be almost impossible to know where to aim. That’s exactly what running a digital marketing campaign without tracking benchmarks feels like.
Benchmarks are like your guiding light; they provide context to your data and show whether your strategies are working or not. This gives you the insights you need to make improvements that drive your results and increase your marketing ROI.
By comparing your performance against industry benchmarks, you can:
- Identify Areas for Improvement: Discover areas of weakness and the bottlenecks that are preventing your campaigns from reaching their full potential.
- Justify Budget Decisions: Demonstrate to stakeholders that your strategies are delivering value.
- Build Data-Driven Marketing Strategies: Pivot from guesswork to actionable insights that move the needle with data-driven marketing that drives results.
If you want to learn more about the importance of data in marketing, check out our blog - 8 Reasons Why Data is Key to a Successful Inbound Marketing Strategy.
Key Benchmarks to Track Against
While these benchmarks provide a rough idea of how businesses across industries are performing, it’s important to remember that every company (and industry) is different.
These numbers are helpful for context, but the most critical benchmark is improving your own data. Focus on setting goals that push your performance forward month over month, tailoring your strategies to what works best for your business and your specific buyer personas.
With that in mind, here are some key digital marketing benchmarks to help you gauge your progress and identify areas for growth.
1. Organic Traffic
When it comes to your Inbound Marketing or digital marketing strategy, organic traffic should be the key focus. Organic traffic reflects how well your content ranks in search engines and how effectively you’re attracting visitors to your website organically (not through paid efforts).
According to HubSpot data, the distribution of website traffic by source for the average business:
- Direct (22%)
- Organic Search (17%)
- Social (16%)
- Email (14%)
- Display ads (12%)
- Referral (9%)
- Paid Search (9%)
- Other (1%)"
Why it Matters: Organic traffic is a strong indicator of your SEO performance. If your numbers are lagging, it’s time to revisit your keyword strategy, optimize your content, and focus on building topical authority.
Tip: Create content that aligns with your buyer personas’ needs and focuses on long-tail keywords. Don’t forget to leverage internal linking to keep visitors engaged with your site.
2. Website Bounce Rate
Your bounce rate tells you how many visitors land on your site and leave without interacting. A high bounce rate can signal issues with your content, user experience, or even page load speed.
HubSpot reports that bounce rates typically range from 26% to 70%, with the optimal range being 26% to 40%. However, context matters: blogs, for instance, often have an average bounce rate of 80% because readers may leave after consuming the awareness-type information they came for.
Why it Matters: A high bounce rate on key landing pages could mean you’re losing valuable leads.
Tip: Make sure your pages are visually appealing, provide clear call-to-actions (CTAs), and match the challenges and pain points of your buyer personas.
3. Email Open Rate
Email marketing remains a cornerstone of B2B outreach, but its success hinges on one key factor: getting your emails opened. According to Mailchimp, the average email open rate across industries is 35.63%
Why it Matters: A low open rate could mean your subject lines aren’t compelling enough, or you’re sending emails at the wrong time.
Tip: A/B test your subject lines, experiment with personalization, and consider segmenting your audience to send highly relevant messages.
4. Email Clickthrough Rate
While getting your email opened is the first step, the ultimate goal is to drive action. That’s where your clickthrough rate (CTR) comes in. Mailchimp reports the average email CTR across industries is 2.62%.
Why it Matters: A low CTR suggests your content isn’t resonating or your CTAs aren’t clear enough.
Tip: Use visually appealing buttons for your CTAs, keep your email copy concise, and ensure your links point to pages that align with the email’s promise.
5. Time on Website
This benchmark measures how long visitors stay on your site, which can indicate how engaging and relevant your content is. A rough industry average is 50 to 54 seconds per page visit.
Why it Matters: If visitors leave too quickly, it could mean your content isn’t meeting their expectations or your site isn’t user-friendly.
Tip: Use engaging visuals, incorporate videos, and break up text into scannable sections to keep visitors hooked.
6. Organic Conversion Rate
Conversion rate measures how effectively you’re turning organic website visitors into leads. For organic traffic, the average conversion rate falls between 2% and 5%.
Why it Matters: A low conversion rate could mean your CTAs aren’t compelling, your forms are too long, or your offers aren’t enticing enough.
Tip: Test different CTA placements, simplify your forms, and create lead magnets that directly address your audience’s pain points.
Need Help Optimizing Your Digital Marketing Strategy With Data?
Digital marketing can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re juggling multiple metrics. But you don’t have to go at it alone. At SummitBound, we specialize in helping B2B businesses optimize their Inbound Marketing strategies to generate high-quality leads and drive growth.
Let us help you take the guesswork out of your marketing data - contact our team today. We would love to help!
