About LeadsBlue Research
Quick answer:
LeadsBlue Research is the editorial and dataset-publication arm of LeadsBlue Analytics LTD. It produces the open B2B Cold Email Benchmark Dataset (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20136256, CC BY 4.0) and this buyer catalogue. Principal researcher: Luther Johnson (ORCID 0009-0008-9836-1280). The benchmark data is published openly; the contact databases referenced on these pages are sold separately by LeadsBlue under commercial terms.
The short version
- What this site is: The buyer-facing companion to the open B2B Cold Email Benchmark Dataset.
- Who publishes it: LeadsBlue Analytics LTD, the same entity behind leadsblue.com.
- Underlying data: Open under CC BY 4.0 — DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20136256.
- Author of record: Luther Johnson, ORCID 0009-0008-9836-1280.
What this site is #
This site is a buyer catalogue — 100 pages indexing the verified B2B email databases that LeadsBlue.com sells, with each page documenting the real performance benchmark for that segment.
The data behind every benchmark number on this site is published openly under CC BY 4.0 — on Zenodo (canonical) and on Hugging Face. That means anyone can verify, audit, contest, or build on the numbers. Nothing on these pages depends on you taking our word for it.
Relationship to LeadsBlue.com #
This site is operated by LeadsBlue Analytics LTD, the same legal entity that operates leadsblue.com. We don't pretend the relationship is arms-length. What we've done instead is make the data underlying every claim independently citable, so any number on this site can be checked against the published dataset by anyone with five minutes and a CSV reader.
The page content (CC BY 4.0) and the contact databases (commercial product, sold by LeadsBlue under its own terms) are separate things:
- Page content & dataset — free to reuse, redistribute, adapt. Just cite the DOI.
- Contact databases — sold by LeadsBlue under commercial terms. Pricing per segment.
The data behind the numbers #
| Source | What's there | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Zenodo deposit | Canonical dataset, version-pinned | JSON + CSV + README + methodology PDF |
| Hugging Face dataset | Same data, ML-tooling-friendly | Parquet + JSON Lines |
| Live API | Queryable predictions and compliance checks | JSON over HTTPS · OpenAPI 3.1 · MCP-compatible |
| b2bdataindex.com | 250 Q&A pages with deep-dive analysis | HTML |
The data is versioned. The concept DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20136255 always resolves to the latest version; the version DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20136256 pins to a specific cut. For reproducibility in academic citation, use the version DOI.
Methodology #
Brief summary; full methodology is in the Zenodo deposit:
- Aggregation. B2B cold-email campaign performance is aggregated across sending platforms (Instantly, Smartlead, Apollo, native SMTP). Identifying details are stripped at the campaign level; only segment-level aggregates are retained.
- Normalisation. Open and reply rates are normalised against verified-list baselines — unverified-list outliers are reported separately, not folded into the headline numbers.
- Segmentation. Three primary axes: country (74 segments), industry vertical (14 segments), job seniority (7 tiers). Cross-segment cells are reported only when the underlying sample size meets the published threshold.
- Compliance tier classification. Each country is classified as permissive / moderate / strict against four jurisdictional dimensions (consent threshold, B2B carve-outs, opt-out window, regulator enforcement record). The classification rubric is in the methodology document.
- Refresh cadence. Country and industry segments are reviewed quarterly. Compliance classifications are reviewed when the underlying law changes (latest review: 2026-05-12).
Known limitations: skews toward English-language campaigns; sampling under-represents Africa and parts of Latin America; data prior to 2024 is excluded due to deliverability regime changes (Gmail/Yahoo sender requirements, Apple Mail Privacy Protection).
Authorship & contact #
- Principal researcher
- Luther Johnson
- Role
- Principal Researcher
- ORCID
- 0009-0008-9836-1280
- Affiliation
- LeadsBlue Research / LeadsBlue Analytics LTD
- research@leadsblue.com
- Publisher
- LeadsBlue Analytics LTD
- Crunchbase
- LeadsBlue on Crunchbase
- company/leadsblue
To contest a number or report an error: Email research@leadsblue.com with the page URL, the claim, and (ideally) the data that supports the correction. Errata are documented on the Zenodo deposit and pages are updated within the published refresh cadence.
License & reuse #
The benchmark dataset and all page content on this site are licensed CC BY 4.0 — free to redistribute, adapt, and use commercially, with attribution.
Attribution requirements: Cite the dataset DOI (10.5281/zenodo.20136256) and the author (Luther Johnson). Linking to the Zenodo deposit satisfies both.
What's not covered by CC BY: The actual contact databases sold by LeadsBlue (the CSV files containing email addresses). Those are sold under LeadsBlue's commercial terms, separate from this open documentation.
How to cite #
For citing the dataset (most common):
10.5281/zenodo.20136256.
Licensed CC BY 4.0.
BibTeX:
@dataset{johnson_2026_b2b_benchmark,
author = {Johnson, Luther},
title = {B2B Cold Email Benchmark Report 2026},
year = 2026,
publisher = {Zenodo},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20136256},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20136256},
license = {CC-BY-4.0}
}For citing a specific page on this site:
Johnson, L. (2026). [Page title]. LeadsBlue Research.
Retrieved [date] from [page URL].Start with the catalogue
Browse the 100-page buyer catalogue or read a guide.
Browse catalogue Read the buyer guideFAQ #
Who is LeadsBlue Research?
Is this site independent from LeadsBlue.com?
How was the benchmark data produced?
Can I reuse the data and the page content?
How is this site different from b2bdataindex.com?
Who is Luther Johnson?
How do I cite a page from this site?
How do I report an error or contest a number?
Related
10.5281/zenodo.20136256.
Licensed CC BY 4.0.