• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, 3 hours ago

Despite hoopla to the contrary, B2B personalization remains at a fairly rudimentary level. But return on investment has risen for brands, judging by a study from TargetNXT titled “Email Pulse 2026.” 

The average ROI now ranges from $39 to $45 per one dollar spent, up from $36-$40 in prior reports.

As for personalization, 45% use the first name and 35% the company name. Another 35% perform role-based segmentation. But lesser percentages ise pain-point messaging (30%) and behavioral dynamic content (20%). 

“Basic personalization remains dominant despite growing interest in more adaptive content,” the study concludes.

Still, segmentation capabilities may be improving. The respondents say they use: 

• Behavioral/Engagement—50% 
• Industry—35%
• Job Function—35% 
• Company Size—25%
• No Segmentation—5% 

Based on this, behavioral signals that presumably imply intent “are becoming more influential than broad demographic targeting,” the study continues.  

But, as shown by other studies, B2B companies have trouble getting there. Their leading challenges are: 

Duplicate records—40%

Outdated contact information—38% 

Hard/soft-bounce management—32% 

Compliance management—25% 

Missing company or role data—25%

Unable to measure ROI—20%

Limited advanced personalization adoption—20%

According to the study, email is primarily being used for lead generation:  

• Lead generation—52%
• Lead generation & nurturing—28% 
• Nurturing—15%
• Not actively using—5%

What is driving the stronger ROI? Perhaps improvements in deliverability. Of the companies surveyed, 68% consistently monitor deliverability, while 25% do so occasionally. Another 7% say “other.”  

It may also be that automation and artificial intelligence are helping—60% have adopted automated CRM platforms and 40% AI content generation. In addition, 15% are using predictive AI. 

But here is the real success strategy. "Email marketing isn't losing relevance, it's becoming more accountable," says Clement D, founder & CEO of TargetNXT, in a statement. "Buyers are more selective today, so reaching an inbox isn't enough. The teams that focus on relevance, audience understanding, and quality over volume will continue to see the best results."

TargetNXT surveyed 1,534 B2B marketing professionals from its network of 5,000+ between March and May 2026. They are from these industries: Healthcare Providers, Healthcare Technology, MedTech, Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences, Healthcare Services, B2B Software / SaaS, Financial Services Technology, Logistics & Supply Chain, Marketing Services.

The full study may be found here.