Benchmark Learnings: Emailing Marketing

‍Marketers aren't ignoring your email. They're grading it.

The biggest pattern in the data is this: marketing buyers respond to emails that look like they were written by someone who understands how marketing actually works. Not someone who sells to marketers, someone who gets the function.

That means your observation can't be generic. "Are you looking to scale into new markets?" could be sent to literally anyone. A marketer reads that and immediately knows you didn't do the work.

What works is the opposite; specificity. Prove that you've looked at their campaigns, their most used channels, their recent initiatives, and that you understand how those connect to pipeline and performance.

Here's a summary from what the data shows is working and not working when emailing marketing:

What works: Relevant personalization tied to campaigns, channels, or recent initiatives. Outcome framing connected to pipeline and performance. Conversational tones with a concise structure. Social proof that builds trust.

What doesn't: Generic pitches with unclear differentiation. Walls of text. Vague CTAs ("thoughts?"). Overpromising without proof.

That last one is important. Marketing buyers are surrounded by hype in their own work. They can smell it in yours. If you claim a result, you'd better name the customer and place those results in context so they can understand it before you drop “the multiplier”.

But, what you say and how you frame it shifts depending on who inside marketing you're emailing. A CMO and a demand gen specialist are thinking about very different things. So let's break it down by seniority.

Selling to Marketing Executives (CMO, VP of Marketing, Head of Growth)

Titles you're targeting: CMO, VP of Marketing, VP of Growth, Head of Marketing, Head of Digital

What the data says about executives: C-Suite buyers reply at 4.8%, VPs at 3.4%, and Heads at 4.4%. Heads see a 42% lift on A emails — the highest across the executive tier. This is likely because Heads tend to operate in smaller organizations or sit in a more execution-oriented seat inside larger ones. They’re less likely to be thinking “should I delegate this to…”

What this means for marketing execs specifically: Marketing executives are under constant pressure to prove marketing drives revenue. Everything they hear gets filtered through one question: does this help me hit my revenue contribution number? Is it enough pipeline? Is that pipeline converting?

If your email can't answer that in the first three sentences, it's getting archived.

The tone should lean casual. Marketing leaders tend to be more conversational than finance or legal. But casual doesn't mean fluffy. They want substance delivered efficiently. (think texting) And they want those outcomes framed at a strategic altitude: pipeline, revenue, competitive positioning.

What to do

Lead with a company-level observation about something visible — a campaign shift, a product launch, an enterprise push. Connect it to a pipeline or performance challenge execs at their stage typically face. Back it up with a named customer and a specific metric. Keep the CTA collaborative, and specific. And give them a path to delegate if they're not the right person for the tactical conversation.

What not to do

Don't lead with your product category. "We're a website personalization platform" is a feature, not a value prop. Don't overpromise without proof. Don't use multiple asks. Don't write more than 100 words. And don't pitch without clear differentiation. If your email could have been sent by three competitors with a logo swap, you've already lost. Save the technical details for a lower seniority.

Example: You're an SDR at Mutiny, emailing a VP of Marketing

You noticed their company recently launched a new enterprise landing page and is running LinkedIn ads driving traffic to it.

Rachel,

The enterprise push looks like it's in full swing (the new landing page + LinkedIn campaigns are sharp).

I’m gonna bet teams are pushing to get all sorts of custom content together. Just looking at the ads, right now your ad landing pages are generic to big companies.

Imagine if those, product one pagers (for your new ENT sellers) etc were all specific to the person reading it?

Rippling started w/ us on ad landing pages. Now, it’s across everything GTM.

Have you noticed ops getting strained w/ the new push?  

Why it works:

The Opener: Referencing both the landing page and the ad campaigns shows you understand the click path they’re expecting of enterprise visitors. But, the framing of those tactics under the enterprise push is intentional to elevate the strategic importance. 

The Problem: The problem is elevated to how the entire team is pushing to achieve the strategy. Calling out a short fall in the ad landing page.

Solution: The solution is to automate the customization of this shortfall. The bigger picture of all of their initiatives are tagged by referencing supporting the new enterprise sellers as well. Credibility is given to a relevant case study that sets up a logical referral path for the reader.

CTA: Connects the pain back to the larger problem which is the constraints of the team as a whole.

Tone: The message is 91 words and the parenthesis and interchange of abbreviations for words like enterprise with ENT make the message more casual.

Selling to Marketing Directors and Senior Leaders

Titles you're targeting: Director of Demand Gen, Director of Marketing, Director of Product Marketing, Director of Content Marketing, Director of Digital Marketing, Senior Marketing Manager, Director of Growth

What the data says about this tier: Directors reply at 3.4% overall. Senior-level buyers jump to 8.4% on A emails — the biggest absolute lift in the entire seniority dataset.

This group is underserved by good outbound. That's your opportunity.

What this means for marketing directors specifically: Directors and senior leaders own specific functions within marketing. They're not setting the overall strategy — they're executing a piece of it. Broad "transform your marketing" pitches miss completely. They want to hear about the specific thing they're responsible for: demand gen, content, product marketing, digital, events.

The data calls this out clearly: this group responds to clear relevance to functional priorities and specific use cases. Generic templates and overly salesy language are the top killers.

What to do

Get specific about the function they own. If you're emailing a Director of Demand Gen, talk about pipeline and conversion. If it's a Director of Content, talk about content performance. Anchor your observation in something visible: a campaign, a webinar series, a content hub — and connect it to a challenge specific to their function. Keep proof to one relevant example. Keep the CTA framed around gaining perspective, not buying anything.

What not to do

Don't pitch broad. Don't use multiple value props in one email: Pick one and go deep. Don't write long intros that bury the point. And don't use salesy language. Directors in marketing have a finely tuned radar for it. If your email feels like it came from a sequence tool, they'll treat it like one.

Example: You're an AE at Mutiny, emailing a Director of Demand Gen

You noticed they're running a multi-channel ABM campaign targeting financial services: ads, landing pages, and a recent webinar with a financial services-specific title are all visible.

Marcus,

How’s the financial services push going? Saw the webinar on the 15th, the ads, and the dedicated landing pages.

Right now - landing pages are focused on the industry… imagine the ads are part of a bigger abm campaign. What if they could be custom to the folks in those accounts?

Figma was running a similar vertical play… saw a 37% lift in page-to-demo conversion just by matching proof points to the viewer.

Want to see the campaign to compare notes?

Why it works:

The Opener: Naming three specific elements of their campaign (webinar, ads, landing page) proves you've done real research, not a surface-level LinkedIn scan. Asking how conversion is tracking opens a door for them to share context.

The Problem: The campaign is likely targeting accounts. But the campaign is industry specific. This shows a clear understanding for what could be holding back their ABM campaigns. The problems are more closely tied to the role of demand gen > the department’s constraints.

The Solution: Positioning the solution as a hypothetical "what if?" makes the messaging feel less like a pitch. 

Credibility: The proof is tied directly to their exact play (vertical ABM, industry-matched proof points). It's a relevant outcome instead of name dropping.

The CTA: "Comparing notes" frames the conversation as an opportunity to learn instead of a sales call. 

Selling to Marketing Managers

Titles you're targeting: Marketing Manager, Demand Gen Manager, Content Marketing Manager, Digital Marketing Manager, Campaign Manager, Field Marketing Manager, Growth Marketing Manager, Email Marketing Manager

What the data says about managers: Managers reply at 4.3% overall, with A emails climbing to 6.3% — a 49% lift. Nearly half as many replies added just from writing a better email.

What this means for marketing managers specifically: Managers are much closer to the execution of the work within specific functions. They're either directly involved in determining how a campaign should be set up and the reporting, or their directly involved in building the content / executing the work. 

This is why we see in the data that they care about practical usefulness: how does this make the thing I'm doing right now work better?

Abstract strategy doesn't land here. Neither do vague value props. The data is clear: managers respond to clear pain points and concise, structured emails. They disengage at "walls of text" and weak CTAs.

The tone at this level conflicts with the persona at large. While marketers tend to prefer a more casual message, managers tend to prefer something more professional. The correct blend lies somewhere in the middle. Think: a peer who works at a company one step ahead of theirs and is flagging something helpful.

What to do

Focus on a specific workflow or campaign challenge they're likely dealing with right now. Name the problem clearly. Offer a concrete outcome, not a feature list. Structure the email so it's easy to scan on mobile. We see an email's first impression is 8x more likely to happen on mobile, so pushing easy to read paragraphs proves especially useful at the manager level. Keep the CTA specific: reaffirming a specific problem you can solve, a specific thing you'll show, a clear next step.

What not to do

Don't talk about company-wide strategy — that's their VP's job. Don't use vague value props like "improve your marketing performance." Don't write long paragraphs. And don't use a weak or ambiguous CTA. "Thoughts?" is not a call to action. Neither is "would love to connect." Ask a real question or suggest a real next step.

Example: You're an SDR at Mutiny, emailing a ABM Manager

You noticed they are running a new ad campaign targeting healthcare enterprises, the ads and the landing pages feel generic.

Jamie, poking around your new healthcare ads. 

Am I off in thinking these are part of a new ABM campaign?

We can make the content individual specific (instead of health specific).

Won’t make it harder to ship campaigns either. 

Want to see how Uber is building ads w/ us to drive 33% lift post ad click? 

Why it works:

The Opener: Complimenting specific work (the case study, the results) creates warmth and credibility. It shows you actually read it, not just that it exists.

The Problem: Health specific is implied as a problem. 

The Solution: Very direct. We make content individual specific. We won’t make work harder to deliver. Two very clear value props tied to the problem. Won’t make it harder to ship campaigns, also foresees a likely objection from the reader.

The CTA: Specifically pointing to Uber’s campaign as the thing to review makes the response feel like an opportunity to learn. The specificity of results also makes it obvious to understand how that credibility could apply to my own context as a reader.

Formatting: Short paragraphs, easy to scan on mobile, nothing feels like a wall of text.

Tone: Terms like “poking around”, using w/ > with, and putting ideas (in parentheses) are intentional to create a more casual message for the persona. Meanwhile this is balanced by being very direct in how we believe Mutiny can help with Jamie’s workflow.

Selling to Individual Contributors in Marketing

Titles you're targeting: Marketing Coordinator, Content Specialist, Demand Gen Specialist, Marketing Associate, SEO Specialist, Email Marketing Specialist, Marketing Analyst, Social Media Manager, Campaign Coordinator

What the data says about ICs: Individual contributors reply at 5.3% — higher than directors, VPs, and managers. A-level emails push that to 8.0%, a 49% lift. ICs are one of the most responsive groups in the dataset.

What this means for marketing ICs specifically: ICs care about outcomes tied directly to their work. Not pipeline strategy, not brand positioning — the specific thing they're responsible for. If they own the landing pages, talk about landing pages. If they run the email campaigns, talk about email performance.

The tone should be the most casual across the seniority ladder. Brevity, clarity, and relevance are the top three drivers. Dense paragraphs and salesy tones are the top killers.

One important caveat: ICs often don't have buying authority. Your goal isn't to close. It's to start a conversation that either gets you useful information or an introduction to someone who owns the budget.

What to do

Keep it short. Really short. Name the specific thing they work on. Show you've looked at their output — a page, a campaign, a piece of content. Frame the benefit around their day-to-day. Keep the CTA tiny.

What not to do

Don't talk about ROI or business outcomes — that's not their lens. Don't write long emails. Don't use vague positioning. And don't use a salesy tone or an unclear next step. ICs are the most likely group to just not reply if the email feels like work to process.

Example: You're an SDR at Mutiny, emailing a Paid Media Specialist

You noticed they recently set up a new landing page for a webinar targeting mid-market accounts.

Taylor,

Checked out the new healthcare webinar page- clean setup w/ the ads you’re running.

Are you using anything on those pages to swap out headlines for different types of site visitors? (ex. Insurance co’s vs life sciences)

Didn’t see anything on page - figured I’d ask you 1st.

Why it works:

Length: 48 words (but very 1:1)

Personalization: The observation is specific to their actual work, not their company's strategy.

Tone: clean setup w/ the ads your running is an informal softener. The close “didn’t see anything… figured I’d ask you” invites a response rather than demanding one. It says: I’d admiring your work and want to help.

The CTA: “are you using anything for X today?” is a discovery focused question. It says “I know you’re not the budget holder” without being rude. The problem and solution are implied in the CTA. (and would likely be reinforced by your signature line on your email)

The through line

Marketing is a department that grades your messaging the way they grade their own. They respond to specificity, proof, and relevance — and they punish hype, vagueness, and lazy personalization.

But what changes as you move up and down the ladder is the altitude of what you're being specific about.

For a CMO, it's about a company level initiative.

For a director, it's about the function they own — the specific channel, campaign, or program where they're measured.

For a manager, it's about making the thing they're building right now work better.

For an IC, it's about the page, the email, the campaign they're staring at today.

The tone stays conversational throughout. But the framing and asks shift. And the proof needs to be real — named customers, specific numbers, relevant examples. Marketing buyers are professional skeptics. Hype doesn't work on them. Specificity does.

85.7% of emails landing in marketing inboxes don't earn an A grade. The bar isn't high — it's just specific. Show them you did the work. Match the altitude to the seniority. And give them proof that isn't hand-waving.

That's how you earn a reply from someone who writes messaging for a living.

If you want to see the full benchmarking data across all departments, seniority levels, and industries, the Cold Email Benchmark Report is live.

And if you want to write emails like these — with real-time coaching adapted to your buyer — see what Lavender can do for you.

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