Outbound marketing helps fuel demand in both B2B and B2C across channels such as cold email, LinkedIn messaging, SMS, calling, direct mail, and paid ads. As you review these benchmarks, focus on what changes outcomes—open and click rates, spam and personalization effects, consumer resistance, and the cost per lead. You’ll also see typical ROI and CPL ranges to help compare channel performance and set realistic expectations.
Key Takeaways
- Cold email open rates 24% with mobile optimization, per Litmus 2023
- LinkedIn outbound messaging CTR 0.44%, from Socialinsider 2023
- SMS click-through rates average 19%, per Klaviyo 2023 benchmarks
- 78% of consumers find outbound calls intrusive, per Salesforce 2023 State of Marketing
- 69% of B2B buyers ignore cold emails, from HubSpot 2023
- Only 3% answer unknown cold calls, per YouMail 2023 robocall report
- Average cost per lead (CPL) for outbound email is $53, per First Page Sage 2023
- Cold calling CPL averages $142 in B2B, from Belkins.io 2023 benchmarks
- PPC outbound CPL is $68 for tech industry, per WordStream 2023 Google Ads benchmarks
- Outbound marketing accounts for 50% of B2B leads per Gartner 2023
- Average outbound budget 28% of total marketing spend, from CMO Survey 2023
- Cold email benchmarks: 18% open, 2.5% reply B2B, per Woodpecker 2023
- Outbound marketing campaigns achieve an average ROI of 15:1 according to a 2023 HubSpot report
- Cold calling has a success rate of 2.3% in generating leads, as per Salesloft's 2022 benchmarks
- Email outbound lists convert at 1.5% on average, from Mailchimp's 2023 data
Most outbound tactics underperform without personalization, yet smart optimization can still drive strong ROI.
Related reading
01 · Category
Channel Effectiveness24 stats
01
Cold email open rates 24% with mobile optimization, per Litmus 2023
02
LinkedIn outbound messaging CTR 0.44%, from Socialinsider 2023
03
SMS click-through rates average 19%, per Klaviyo 2023 benchmarks
04
Direct mail opens 90% vs email 20-30%, from USPS 2023
05
PPC search ads CTR 3.17% Google average, per WordStream 2023
06
Cold calls connect rate 5.1% after 6 dials, from ConnectAndSell 2023
07
Trade shows generate 81% qualified leads vs online 65%, per MarketingCharts 2023
08
Outbound Facebook ads CPC $1.72, CTR 0.90%, from AdEspresso 2023
09
Podcast downloads per ad slot 5,000 avg effectiveness, per Libsyn 2023
10
Billboard impressions 50,000/day highway, from Geopath 2023
11
Door-to-door conversion peaks neighborhood 12%, per FieldEdge 2023
12
Fax open rates 89% in B2B niches, from eFax 2023
13
Radio drive-time slots boost recall 20%, from Nielsen Audio 2023
14
App push CTR 2-10%, per Braze 2023
15
Instagram outbound stories swipe-up 15%, from Socialbakers 2023
16
YouTube outbound video views 30% completion skippable, from TubeBuddy 2023
17
TV spot prime time reach 10M households, per Kantar Media 2023
18
Retargeting display CTR 0.7% vs new 0.07%, from SmartInsights 2023
19
Voicemail drop rates effective 10x calls, from Salesloft 2023
20
PURL direct mail CTR 9.5%, from Integrafax 2023
21
LinkedIn Sponsored Content CTR 0.39-0.65%, from Databox 2023
22
SMS series CTR 45% higher than single, from Attentive 2023
23
Booth scan rates 25% at shows, per 360 Chicago 2023
24
Video email CTR 2.4x static images, from HubSpot 2023
Interpretation
Channel Effectiveness Interpretation
Within channel effectiveness, the clear standout is direct mail with a 90% open rate compared with email’s 20 to 30%, showing that some outbound channels can dramatically outperform others when they’re tailored to how recipients actually engage.
02 · Category
Consumer Preferences29 stats
01
78% of consumers find outbound calls intrusive, per Salesforce 2023 State of Marketing
02
69% of B2B buyers ignore cold emails, from HubSpot 2023
03
Only 3% answer unknown cold calls, per YouMail 2023 robocall report
04
91% of emails land in spam if not personalized, from Return Path 2023
05
64% prefer email over phone for sales outreach, per RAIN Group 2023
06
Direct mail preferred by 57% over digital ads, from Direct Marketing Association 2023
07
73% ignore LinkedIn InMails from unknowns, per LinkedIn 2023
08
SMS opt-out rates 1.5% but 92% read rate preferred, from MobileSquared 2023
09
82% of trade show attendees research vendors pre-event, per CEIR 2023
10
Personalization makes 75% more likely to engage outbound, from McKinsey 2023
11
B2C consumers block 45% of outbound calls, per Truecaller 2023
12
88% unsubscribe from generic email blasts, per HubSpot 2023
13
Radio listeners tune out ads 25% of time, from Nielsen 2023
14
Billboards glanced at 50% less by mobile users, from Geopath 2023
15
Door-to-door pitches rejected by 92% on first visit, per Sales Insights Lab 2023
16
Fax preferred by 11% in regulated industries only, from Litmus 2023
17
Podcast ad skip rate 10% if not host-read, per Spotify 2023
18
Magazine readers 70% ignore ads under 1/2 page, from FIPP 2023
19
App push fatigue leads to 40% disable rate, from Gartner 2023
20
Instagram DMs from brands annoy 62%, per Hootsuite 2023
21
YouTube ad skip after 5s by 70%, per Google 2023
22
TV zapping during ads 25-30%, from Kantar 2023
23
Retargeting ad blindness affects 61%, from Nielsen 2023
24
Voicemails listened to by only 4.8% fully, from InsideSales 2023
25
QR codes on mailers scanned by 20%, per HubSpot 2023
26
LinkedIn connection requests accepted 25% from strangers, per LinkedIn 2023
27
SMS preferred over email by 90% for urgency, from Forrester 2023
28
Booth interactions preferred face-to-face 85%, per Event Marketer 2023
29
Video personalization boosts preference by 80%, from Wyzowl 2023
Interpretation
Consumer Preferences Interpretation
From the consumer preferences perspective, people are clearly signaling they do not want traditional outbound outreach, with 78% finding outbound calls intrusive, 69% ignoring cold emails, and 91% of non personalized emails landing in spam.
03 · Category
Cost Analysis26 stats
01
Average cost per lead (CPL) for outbound email is $53,per First Page Sage 2023
02
Cold calling CPL averages $142in B2B, from Belkins.io 2023 benchmarks
03
PPC outbound CPL is $68for tech industry, per WordStream 2023 Google Ads benchmarks
04
Direct mail CPL stands at $190per qualified lead, from DMA 2023
05
LinkedIn outbound ads CPL averages $80,per LinkedIn 2023 benchmarks
06
Telemarketing hourly cost is $25-50, leading to $200 CPL, per Upwork 2023 data
07
SMS marketing CPL is $10-20, from Textedly 2023
08
Trade show booth costs average $40,000per event, per CEIR 2023
09
Outbound SEO link building costs $150-500 per link, from FATJOE 2023 pricing
10
Radio ad spots cost $200-5,000 per spot nationally, per RAB 2023
11
Billboard monthly rental averages $1,500-30,000, from OOH 2023
12
Door-to-door sales team costs $15/hour per salesperson, per ZipRecruiter 2023
13
Fax blasting services cost $0.10per page, from iFaxApp 2023
14
Podcast sponsorship CPM is $18-50, per AdvertiseCast 2023
15
Magazine ad full-page costs $20,000-100,000, from AdAge 2023
16
Mobile push notification campaigns cost $0.001-0.01 per send, per Airship 2023
17
Instagram DM outreach agency fees $5,000/month, from Influencer Marketing Hub 2023
18
YouTube TrueView ads CPC $0.10-0.30, per Google 2023
19
TV ad production costs $100,000-1M for 30s spot, from Kantar 2023
20
Retargeting pixel implementation $2,000-10,000 setup, per Criteo 2023
21
VoIP cold calling software $20/user/month, from RingCentral 2023
22
Personalized URL printing adds $0.50per mailer, from 48HourPrint 2023
23
LinkedIn Sales Navigator $99/user/month for outbound, per LinkedIn 2023
24
SMS platform fees $0.0075per message, from Twilio 2023
25
Tradeshow travel costs 20% of total budget, per Freeman 2023
26
Video email tools $49/month, from BombBomb 2023
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Under the Cost Analysis lens, outbound outreach is highly channel dependent, with CPLs ranging from as low as $53 for outbound email to as high as $200 for telemarketing, highlighting that cost efficiency varies dramatically across tactics.
More related reading
04 · Category
Industry Benchmarks21 stats
01
Outbound marketing accounts for 50% of B2B leads per Gartner 2023
02
Average outbound budget 28% of total marketing spend, from CMO Survey 2023
03
Cold email benchmarks: 18% open, 2.5% reply B2B, per Woodpecker 2023
04
US outbound spend $200B annually, per Statista 2023
05
61% companies use outbound as primary acquisition, from Demand Gen Report 2023
06
B2B outbound CPL industry avg $200,per FirstPageSage 2023 SaaS benchmarks
07
Email deliverability avg 83% for outbound, from GlockApps 2023
08
LinkedIn outbound lead gen 80% of social leads, per HubSpot 2023
09
SMS outbound used by 55% retailers, from Omnisend 2023
10
Tradeshow ROI avg 5:1, per Exhibit Surveys 2023
11
PPC accounts for 38% outbound budget, from Search Engine Journal 2023
12
Cold call quota attainment 57%, per Bridge Group 2023
13
Direct mail ROI 29% better than email in some sectors, from IWCO Direct 2023
14
Radio used by 22% B2B marketers, from Content Marketing Institute 2023
15
OOH/outdoor 7% of ad spend, per Statista 2023
16
Field sales teams 40% of outbound efforts, per Gartner 2023
17
Fax still 4% B2B comms, from IDC 2023
18
Podcast ads 19% marketer adoption, per IAB 2023
19
Print media 11% budget avg, from Forrester 2023
20
Push notifications 35% mobile marketers, per AppsFlyer 2023
21
Social outbound DMs 12% usage, from Hootsuite 2023
Interpretation
Industry Benchmarks Interpretation
Across industry benchmarks, outbound marketing drives half of B2B leads and relies on 28% of marketing spend, with 61% of companies using it as their primary acquisition channel, making it a central lever for growth rather than a supporting tactic.
05 · Category
Performance Metrics30 stats
01
Outbound marketing campaigns achieve an average ROI of 15:1 according to a 2023 HubSpot report
02
Cold calling has a success rate of 2.3% in generating leads, as per Salesloft's 2022 benchmarks
03
Email outbound lists convert at 1.5% on average, from Mailchimp's 2023 data
04
PPC ads in outbound yield 200% ROI for B2B, per WordStream 2023 stats
05
Telemarketing close rates average 4.7%, according to InsideSales.com 2022
06
Direct mail response rates hit 5.3% for targeted lists, from DMA 2023 Response Rate Report
07
Outbound LinkedIn ads generate 13.5% lead conversion, per LinkedIn Marketing Solutions 2023
08
SMS outbound marketing has 98% open rates, from Twilio 2023 benchmarks
09
Trade show leads close at 10.2% within 6 months, per Exhibit City News 2022
10
Outbound webinars convert 20% of registrants to leads, from ON24 2023 report
11
Cold email personalization boosts replies by 32.7%, per Yesware 2023
12
Outbound SEO-paid links drive 15% traffic uplift, from Ahrefs 2022 study
13
Radio ads generate 0.7% response rate nationally, per RAB 2023
14
Billboards yield 0.5-1% brand recall lift, from OAAA 2023
15
Outbound door-to-door sales close 8.4% of pitches, per Door-to-Door Sales Journal 2022
16
Fax marketing still sees 1.2% response in B2B, from FaxAuthority 2023
17
Outbound podcast sponsorships convert 12% listeners to leads, per Edison Research 2023
18
Print ads in magazines have 0.1% direct response, from MPA 2022
19
Outbound app push notifications engage 36% of users, per Localytics 2023
20
Cold DMs on Instagram yield 3.2% response rate, from Later 2023 influencer stats
21
Outbound YouTube ads have 0.65% CTR, per Think with Google 2023
22
TV commercials boost sales by 11% on average, from Nielsen 2022
23
Outbound retargeting ads recover 26% of abandoned carts, per Criteo 2023
24
Cold calling with scripts improves connect rates by 57%, from Gong.io 2023
25
Outbound email sequences generate 40% more leads than single emails, per HubSpot 2023
26
Direct mail with PURL increases responses by 34%, from Data & Marketing Association 2023
27
Outbound social selling on LinkedIn closes 16% faster, per LinkedIn 2023 State of Sales
28
SMS drip campaigns achieve 19% conversion uplift, from Klaviyo 2023
29
Trade show booth demos convert 15.6% visitors, per TSNN 2022
30
Outbound video emails boost open rates by 300%, from Vidyard 2023
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Across performance metrics for outbound marketing, the strongest signals come from higher ROI and response rates such as PPC at 200% ROI for B2B and direct mail at a 5.3% response rate, suggesting that performance improves most when outbound channels are tightly targeted and optimized rather than relying on low-performing methods like cold calling at a 2.3% lead success rate.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Felix Zimmermann. (2026, February 13). Outbound Marketing Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/outbound-marketing-statistics
MLA
Felix Zimmermann. "Outbound Marketing Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/outbound-marketing-statistics.
Chicago
Felix Zimmermann. 2026. "Outbound Marketing Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/outbound-marketing-statistics.
Sources & references
94 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level