Sinch Mailgun’s Kate Nowrouzi on How B2B Marketers Can Improve Email Deliverability, Personalization, and ROI
B2B email is shifting from isolated campaigns to an always-on engagement channel, with deliverability, clean data, and relevance driving performance. Marketers should look beyond open rates and measure email by its impact on engagement quality, pipeline progression, deal acceleration, and customer retention.
According to Kate Nowrouzi, VP, Email Evangelist and Product Strategy, Sinch Mailgun, the biggest trend in email marketing for 2026 is the evolution of email from a campaign-driven channel into a continuous engagement channel. B2B buyers are more self-directed than ever, and email is one of the few owned channels where brands can meet them with relevant, timely communication throughout that journey.
The Email Impact Report 2026 highlights that performance is no longer driven by volume alone, but by how well deliverability, data quality, and personalization work together. The highest-performing teams are those treating email as part of a broader, always-on strategy, not just a series of isolated sends.
Open rates are becoming less reliable as a primary KPI due to privacy changes and evolving inbox protections. Strong programs are seeing open rates in the 20-30% range, but what matters more is whether those opens translate into meaningful engagement, such as clicks, conversions, or contribution to pipeline.
Email deliverability is considered “extremely important” by half of surveyed senders because it directly impacts revenue. Inbox providers are becoming more sophisticated, using engagement signals and sender behavior to determine placement. Common pitfalls in email deliverability include poor list hygiene, sending to unengaged audiences, and irregular sending patterns, which can damage sender reputation over time.
To effectively measure email ROI, marketers should connect email activity to broader business outcomes, such as pipeline progression, deal acceleration, and customer retention over time. Email ROI is driven by a combination of deliverability, targeting precision, and timing.
AI is shaping the future of email marketing by optimizing send times, identifying high-value audience segments, and generating or testing variations of content. It also plays a growing role in analyzing engagement data in real-time, allowing marketers to adjust campaigns dynamically. AI enables true one-to-one personalization at scale, which is increasingly what B2B buyers expect.
To adapt to evolving customer expectations, B2B marketers should move beyond batch-and-blast approaches and focus on behavior-driven communication. This means leveraging better data, aligning messaging with buyer intent, and ensuring email is integrated with other channels. Sending fewer, more relevant emails will outperform higher-volume strategies that don’t add value.
To ensure email programs remain scalable and effective, B2B organizations should have a strong foundation, including clean, well-managed data, consistent sending practices, and infrastructure that supports high deliverability. Automation and AI can help extend reach without sacrificing personalization.
Best practices for improving inbox placement rates include maintaining a strong sender reputation, authenticating your domain, keeping lists clean, and consistently engaging with active recipients. Engagement itself is a key driver, and inbox providers are increasingly prioritizing emails that recipients open, click, and interact with. The more your audience values your emails, the more likely they are to consistently reach the inbox.