B2B Conversion Rate Benchmarks: What You Should Know

B2B conversion rate is one of the performance metrics that a company uses to measure the number of leads that actually convert, that is, make a purchase, download a resource or join a webinar. The top B2B and B2C companies record an average conversion rate of 11%. It is important that every company measures activities using conversion rate benchmarks which are typically based on industry standard or historical data.

Every B2B marketer needs B2B conversion rate benchmarks to measure performance. Not only that, they also need to monitor operational efficiency, market positioning and allocate resources effectively. Using the appropriate measurement, companies can pinpoint the effective marketing strategies, the areas that need improvement and the best practices for specific customers.

What Does B2B Conversion Rate Mean?

To understand B2B conversion rate, let’s figure out what a B2B conversion is. Simply put, a B2B conversion occurs when visitors perform an action you want them to take, actions including filling a form or making a purchase. The B2B conversion rate then means the percentage of visitors and potential clients that take a desired action compared to the total number of visitors.

For B2B databases, conversion rates are measured by dividing the number of conversions by the total unique website visitors. For example, if your textile industry has 100 leads with 20 successful conversions, the conversion rate is 20%.

Why B2B Conversion Rate Benchmarks Matter

Imagine a company with increasing conversion rates per month. This increasing value may be very low when compared with benchmarks which are standards for different companies. This is why conversion rate benchmarks have a great impact on B2B performance.

B2B conversion rates help you improve company efforts in areas where you are far behind the industry standard. Companies can set realistic goals, target resource allocation to remain competitive, and drive better business outcomes.

  • Identification of Performance Gaps:Ultimately, benchmarks help you identify the gaps between your company and industry leaders. A proper analysis of industry standard B2B conversion rates determines where a company stands in relation to the industry average.
  • Goal Setting:Instead of setting an unrealistic goal, conversion rate benchmarks give you clear values to set as goals. Companies need not use incredibly low or extremely high targets to direct the activities of the company.
  • Progress Monitoring: Tracking a company’s progress is very important, and with benchmarks, it is much more effective. A regular monitoring of conversion rates against trends allows you to track your industry's performance over time.
  • Strategic Decision-making: Maximize best practices for decision making by studying performance of benchmark industries. Carrying out a thorough analysis of their marketing strategies exposes you to some of the best opportunities to include, like hiring a reliable email list provider.

What Are B2B Conversion Rate Benchmarks?

Different industry-specific B2B Conversion Rate benchmarks exist as a reference point to evaluate companies' performances. These benchmarks are expected standards to compare with a company reports, after which the necessary improvements can be carried out.

Average B2B Lead Conversion Rate

The typical B2B lead conversion rate ranges between 2% and 5%, though it varies widely depending on sales model, industry, or lead quality. The rates differs according to different sales models;

  • Direct vs Channel Sales: Being a common yet unavoidable sales model, direct sales teams see conversion rates from 5% to 10%, due to personalized outreach efforts. On the other hand, the channel sales model brings in about 1% to 3% conversion rates. Direct models lack source information, making it difficult to track conversion sources, but you are aware of conversions from distributors and other channels partners.
  • Inbound vs Outbound Sales: While inbound sales focuses on traditional marketing like white paper, blogs, and SEO, outbound sales brings leads through cold email, social media campaigns, and targeted ads. Because inbound leads are more interested, the average conversion rate is around 5% to 10%. Similarly, outbound sales have less qualified sales with 1% to 3% average conversion rates.

Industry Conversion Rate

From one industry to another, the average conversion rate is 3.6%. This value differs from one industry to another, depending on factors like products and services, competition, marketing channels among others.

  • Agency-2.3%
  • Automotive-2.5%
  • B2B eCommerce-4.0%
  • B2B Tech-10%
  • Cosmetic and Dental-3.5%
  • Construction-1.9% 
  • Financial-4.7%
  • Healthcare-5.6%
  • IT-1.5%
  • Legal-4.3%
  • Manufacturing-2.1%
  • Professional Services-12.3%
  • Real Estate-3.2%
  • Travel-8.5%

Websites Conversion Rates

The average website conversion rate sits at 2.23%, within a range of 2% to 5%. Some B2B websites can go as high as 11.7% and these statistics are termed unicorns but they are rare. If you seek to improve your website conversion rate, follow these points closely;

  • Website Optimization: Leads are more likely to engage better and convert on a website that is  optimized for mobile devices. Implementing a mobile-friendly theme, quicker responses and less intrusive pop-ups can improve the website conversion rates.
  • Engaging CTA: As you ensure that each page on your website has a call-to-action (CTA) button, also ensure to use clear and catch words and graphics. You can expect that the conversions will go higher.
  • High Quality Content: What is the quality of the content on your websites? Websites with other products as well as other values and services have more conversion rates.
  • Use A/B Testing: For increased conversion rates, carry out different tests versions regularly to observe visitors behaviors. You can change the live chat message, layout or colors on the website.

Mobile Conversion Rates

Mobile conversion rates indicate the number of email leads that perform the desired action on their mobile phones. The average mobile conversion is 1.53%, considering the fact that most users prefer to begin an engagement on mobile phones  and end it via their laptops. Companies can increase the conversion rate by optimizing mobile experience for users;

  • Faster Load Times: Optimizing mobile experience tends to keep a user interested in completing their tasks on the mobile. With faster load times, the bounce rate reduces hence increasing conversion rates.
  • Improved User Experience: If you have a robust budget, Optimization for mobile users can be in different formats-mobile friendly view, larger buttons, or touch-friendly design. All of these optimizations improve users' experiences, improving the rate at which they carry out a desired action. 
  • Competitive Advantage: not all companies offer their clients a mobile experience, which in itself is a competitive advantage. Companies can increase their conversion rates better by optimizing mobile sites.

PPC Conversion Rates

Pay per click conversion rates fall between an average of 3.6% for the different ad types, these values vary depending on the platform and ad type. No matter the ad type, Bookyourdata offers laser-focused targeting, creating specific ad for specific audience. Companies can take up these optimization strategies to improve their conversion rates.

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  • Create Clear Compelling Ad Copy: Your ad doesn’t need to be long because you’re trying to fit in every information about the company. Instead,  write short, clear and compelling copies that speak directly to your target audience.
  • Personalize Ad Copies: Another useful optimization tip is to segment your visitors into different categories like demographics, needs and interest. Afterwards, you can tailor your PPC ads to suit the needs of each kind of client. 
  • Optimize Landing Pages: A good copy that leads to a not so great landing page may reduce conversion rates for PPC. So, ensuring that the landing page carries the same outlook and message as the ad goes a long way in increasing conversion rates.
  • Track Conversion Regularly: Performing better with PPC ads can require simple tracking-regular tracking of previous PPC performances to determine how the new strategies are put in place.

Social Media Conversion Rates

Social media conversion rates for many companies ranges from 1% to 2.1% for B2B companies. Every industry can implement to following tips to boost this value;

  • Share Reviews and Testimonials: People on social media depend largely on testimonies from other customers, these reviews serving as evidence for trust in the brand.
  • Use Engaging Visual Content: When creating designs for social media, ensure to use eye-catching images, reels as well as captions for a better conversion. 
  • Engage with Followers: Because social media users need to trust your brand before patronage, smite to set up an active team that responds to comments and messages promptly.
  • Run Social Media Ads: Social media ads boosts conversion and also helps to re-engage previous users who interacted but didn’t convert initially.

Factors Affecting B2B Conversion Rates

As you know, B2B conversion rates can vary widely depending on a number of factors from the lead quality to product and service offered. It depends on some internal factors, which are factors that can be controlled within the company. Think about the quality of your sales leads, your marketing strategies, website optimization and even pricing.

Externally, the economic changes may affect B2B conversion rates. Competition from other industries, privacy laws, and consumer behavior can change at any time, and so, these changes increase or reduce conversion rates per time.

B2B Funnel Conversion Rates

Looking at the various business models, a universal way to explain the sales funnel is that sales begin from awareness to interest, consideration, evaluation, and finally to action. The different stages has a specific metric to measure the conversion rate at every point. B2B sales pipeline is usually longer than B2C or SaaS markets due to the multiple decision-makers involved in the journey.

  • Awareness Stage: Top of the sales funnel, this stage attracts potential leads. The rate of converting new visitors from visitors to leads is around 1% to 3%. This value depends on many factors, one of which is the ability of your digital marketing team to influence visitors.
  • Interest Stage/Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL): A potential lead moves to a Marketing Qualified Lead at the interest stage. Page views, email open rate or signing up for a newsletter are some metrics you can use to determine the conversion of a lead to MQL. The average email marketing conversion rate ranges from 10% to 20%.
  • Consideration Stage/Sales Qualified Lead (SQL): When a MQL begins to take advantage of CTAs like a demo request, it means they have the intent of buying. At this stage they align with the company's ideal customer profile and have become a SQL. The rate of conversion is typically between 20% and 30%.
  • Evaluation Stage: We tag the evaluation stage mid-funnel because here, SQLs begin to discuss their purchase intent with the sales team. Many companies record conversion rates of up to 50% at this stage.
  • Action Stage: Conversion rate into a closed deal is between 20% to 30%. At this stage, you are at the bottom of the funnel and a lead becomes a client.

B2B E-commerce Conversion Rates

Currently, the average ecommerce conversion rates are between 2.5% to 3% according to industry leaders, which represents the amount of orders on a store. It is derived by dividing the total orders by the number of visits to your e-commerce store. Companies can improve the dynamics around B2B e-commerce conversion rates taking these steps;

  • Streamline the Sales Process: If clients only need to go through a few simple steps from selection to checkout, the conversion rate is sure to increase. 
  • Offer Discounts and Bulk Deals: Conversion is swifter when customers have discounts for bulk orders, encouraging them to purchase in higher quantities.
  • Enhance Product Descriptions: In the product description, it is important to have realistic images and clear explanations about the products on your website.
  • Offer Flexible Payment Options: Clients may be discouraged when their payment option is not available in your store, so avoid this by offering a variety of payment methods.
  • Enable Customer Support: If clients encounter challenges along the purchase, real-time support can easily address these issues, providing instant solutions.

How to Calculate B2B Conversion Rates

Since they are rates, B2B conversion rates have a straightforward formula and are reported in percentage form. It is the rate of unique visitors that take a required action.

Conversion Rate = Total number of expected action / Total number of unique visitors/leads* 100. The calculation takes place in 4 steps. 

  1. Add up all conversions you have recorded, whether the number of lead generations, filled forms or purchases.
  2. Gather and add the number of unique visitors to your site over a period of time. 
  3. Then, divide the total action/conversion number by the total number of visitors registered on your site. 
  4. Multiply this result by 100 and the value is your conversion rate.

Comparing Conversion Rates Against Industry Benchmarks

It is not enough to know the benchmarks in conversion rates, agencies also need to understand how to compare these benchmarks with their conversion rates. If you are in e-commerce, you should focus on e-commerce benchmarks, and if you are into traditional B2B, you should use the necessary benchmark for comparison. This is because you will only get accurate results when you use benchmarks specific to your industry, business model, and sales channels.

Comparing your conversion rate with your industry standards can help you identify your business success, strength and weakness. For example, if you have a conversion rate lower than the benchmarks, you may analyze strategies from competitors and learn from their sales intelligence tools.

Best Practices for B2B Conversion Rate Optimization

  • Website Optimization 

If you spend so much on ads and marketing only for clients to land on a substandard landing page, you may experience low conversion rates. So, focus on improving the outlook of your website and making it faster for a great user experience. 

  • Optimize for Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Have you considered that low conversion rates may be as a result of aiming your sales targeting strategy at the wrong people? It is possible and you can correct that by implementing account based marketing tips. Using available data, research who exactly will benefit from your products, make them valuable prospects and concentrate your efforts on these accounts.

  • Strong Online Presence

Having a strong online presence goes a long way to optimize B2B conversion rates, as it helps your business rank highly in search engine results. There are several effective SEO techniques you can employ to help Google recognize your company as reliable, driving more traffic to your page. 

  • Regular Tests

Industry benchmarks arise from different entities like pricing models, product features and marketing strategies. Running tests help you improve conversion per time- the more tests you run, the more insights you get about consumer sales relationships.

  • The Role of A/B Testing and Data Analysis in Optimization

Alongside A/B testing, data analysis is crucial for B2B conversion rate optimization. Not only will you test headlines, web layouts and CTAs to determine the most effective, you can also discover insights into user behavior within the sales funnel. Data analysis helps companies determine the best approaches out of all the ones tested, ultimately increasing return on investment.

Key Takeaways

  • B2B conversion rate signifies the percentage of visitors on a company’s website who take desired actions, compared to the total number of visitors. 
  • In each industry, there are benchmarks which provide a standard for evaluating performance. These benchmarks are important in understanding where a company needs more attention or a change in strategy.
  • Generally, the average B2B lead conversion rate is between 2% and 5%. If your conversion rate as a B2B company is not up to this, contact BookYourData, a lead generation company that guarantees a whopping 97% accuracy on B2B prospecting.
  • Some of the effective strategies for improving conversion rates include optimizing landing pages, personalization and leveraging A/B testing and data analysis.
  • Overall, it is important that your company has a strong online presence to increase visibility and credibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 25% a Good Conversion Rate?

Considering the average B2B conversion rate to be 2% to 5%, 25% conversion rate is excellent in most B2B contexts as it significantly surpasses the average range. While this average is general, the rates differ depending on the specific industry. For instance, professional services has an average conversion rate of about 12%, indicating that 25% is a very good rate for any company within the sector.

Are B2B E-Commerce Conversion Rates Lower Than B2C?

B2B e-commerce conversion rates are usually lower than B2C due to the lengthy B2B buying funnel. You can move from overcoming multiple decisions and unpredictable longer sales cycles, whereas in B2C transactions, people buy as soon as they need a product.

Is B2B Conversion Rate Optimization Expensive?

If you consider some of the necessary cost, B2B conversion rate optimization may be expensive for one company and affordable for another. Some of the key expenses are advanced analytics tools, website designers, regular A/B testing among many others. Ultimate, it is the return of investment that determines how expensive optimization is.

What is a Poor Conversion Rate?

Anything less than 2% in a B2B setting is considered a poor conversion rate, and we see this value mostly at the top of the sales funnel.

Do B2B Conversion Rates Affect Revenue?

B2B conversion rates directly affect revenue, which is evident in top industry standards. If a company generates high conversion rates, there will be more sales and consequently more revenue. Conversely, low conversion rates can lead to a stunted revenue growth.

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