It’s always exciting to receive emails from your favorite brand. Those catchy, creative subject lines just jump out at you, begging to be opened! And when you finally give in and open the email, you’re not disappointed— the content is interesting, useful, and relevant. You may even forward it to a friend or colleague.
Now imagine that same feeling when your customers receive emails from your business. It may be a lot tougher to achieve, but it’s not impossible. B2B email marketing can be just as effective as B2C email marketing, but it takes a different approach.
This blog post will explore B2B email marketing tips and tricks in creating email campaigns that engage and convert your target audience. Let’s dive in!
What is B2B Email Marketing?
First, let’s start with the basics. B2B marketing is the process of promoting products or services to other businesses.
This means your email marketing strategy will be slightly different than if you were targeting individuals. You’ll need to focus on creating content that appeals to business decision-makers and demonstrates the value your product or service can bring to their company.
You may not notice the difference at first, but upon closer look, it’s easy to see how B2B marketing is distinct from B2C marketing (B2C stands for Business to consumers). The tone may seem more serious, the messages more formal, and the offers geared towards business needs rather than personal desires. Also, you won’t be communicating on the same channels and will have to adapt your wording and your copywriting. Writing a B2B email isn’t the same as writing a cold message on LinkedIn!
However, B2B marketing is more than just sending emails to businesses. It’s about building relationships and trust with your target audience. After all, you’re not just trying to sell them a product - you’re trying to establish a long-term partnership that will benefit both parties.
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s look at things to remember when formulating a B2B email marketing strategy.
What are the Insights of B2B Email Marketing?
The most important thing to understand about B2B email marketing is that businesses are not people. It might seem obvious, but it’s still crucial to remember that fact when creating your email strategy.
People are driven by emotions. They make decisions based on how they feel. Businesses, on the other hand, are driven by logic. They want to see data and facts that support a decision.
Understanding the different stages of the buyer’s journey is also important. This is the process your potential customers go through when considering a purchase. Why learn them, you ask? Because the content of your emails should be relevant to where they are in their journey.
Let’s take a closer look at these three stages:
- Awareness: The customer is aware of their problem or need. If you’re trying to reach customers in the awareness stage, your email should educate them on their problem and why they need to solve it.
- Consideration: The customer is considering their options for solving their problem or fulfilling their need. At this stage, emails should provide more information on your product or service as a potential solution.
- Decision: The customer has decided on a course of action and is ready to make a purchase. Your email should include a call-to-action (CTA) that encourages them to buy your product or service.
Dividing your email list into smaller groups based on demographics, job titles, or company size, is also essential. The goal of segmentation is to create small, targeted groups that you can send highly relevant emails to. This will help you achieve a higher open and click-through rate because your emails will be more targeted.
Now that we’ve gone over some general insights, let’s move on to the best practices for B2B email marketing!
What are the Key Components of a Good B2B Email?
If you want your B2B email marketing campaign to be successful, there are certain key components to include. These elements will vary depending on your business and what you’re trying to achieve with your email, but in general, every good B2B email should have these:
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A recognizable sender name and email address
The first thing your recipients will see when they receive your email is the sender name and address. With phishing scams and other malicious emails on the rise, it’s now crucial that businesses ensure their sender name and email address are recognizable to recipients.
Here are a few tips for creating a recognizable sender name and email address:
- Use your company name or brand name as the sender name. Avoid using generic names like “info” or “sales.”
- If you have a personal email address associated with your brand, use that as the sender address. This helps build trust and credibility with recipients. For example, if your name is John Smith and you work for ABC Company, your sender address could be [email protected].
- Make sure your email domain matches your website domain. This will also help prevent your emails from being marked as spam.
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A clear and concise subject line
The subject line is one of the most important elements of your email. This is what will decide if people receiving your email will actually read it. Keep your subject lines short—ideally around 50 characters or less. And make sure they’re clear and concise.
Be upfront about what’s inside the email so recipients know what to expect. For example, “New Whitepaper: The Top 5 B2B Email Marketing Best Practices” is a clear and concise subject.
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Personalized content that’s relevant to the recipient
Gone are the days of batch-and-blast email campaigns. Your recipients are much more likely to engage with emails that contain content that’s relevant to them. There are a few ways to personalize your email content:
- Use dynamic content blocks that change based on who’s receiving the email. For example, you could include a section with recent blog posts specific to the recipient’s industry or job title.
- Include the recipient’s name in the email subject line or body. This is a simple way to add a personal touch to your email.
- Use data from previous interactions with the recipient to inform your email content. If you know they clicked on a certain link in a previous email, you could include similar content in your next email.
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A strong call to action (CTA)
Your call to action (CTA) is what you want recipients to do after reading your email. It could be anything from registering for an event to downloading a white paper or making a purchase. Whatever your CTA may be, it must be clear, concise, and persuasive. Recipients should know exactly what you want them to do and why they should do it.
Here are a few tips for creating a strong CTA:
- Make it actionable. Use language that encourages recipients to take action, such as “sign up now,” “download this free guide,” or “get started today.”
- Make it specific. Be clear about what you want recipients to do. For example, if you’re promoting a webinar, don’t just say, “click here.” Instead, say, “register for the webinar.”
- Make it visible. Place your CTA prominently in your email so that it’s one of the first things recipients see. Use a large font size and/or color to make it stand out.
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Website and social media links for further engagement
Including links to your website and social media channels in your email signature is a great way to encourage further engagement with your brand. Your recipients can easily click through to learn more about your company or connect with you on social media.
How to Do B2B Email Marketing Properly?
Wondering why your B2B emails are not being opened? You might not be following recommended procedures. Here are some tips on how to create an effective B2B email marketing campaign.
Know your Buyer Profiles
Before you can create an effective B2B email marketing campaign, it pays to know your target audience. This means creating buyer profiles for the different types of customers that you want to reach.
Here’s a concrete example of a buyer profile: Jonathan, 37 years old, sales rep for a saas company. His favorite social media are Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and he’s very active on several LinkedIn groups such as Growth & Marketing stuff.
Segment Your Email List
As mentioned earlier, before you send out anything, you need to segment your email list. This means breaking down your list into smaller groups based on factors like job title, company size, or even industry.
The reason for this is that not all of your customers are going to be interested in the same thing. By segmenting your list, you can send more targeted and relevant emails that will actually get opened and read.
You can use email segmentation tools to streamline the processes. We’ll get into that in a bit!
Keep the Subject Line Short and Sweet
Your subject line is the first thing that your recipients will see, so you would want to make a good impression. Keep your subject lines short—around 50 characters or less. And make sure that it’s relevant to the email content. Note that we have a free Email subject line tester to help you craft the perfect subject line.
Personalize Your Emails
Personalized emails have a higher chance of being opened and read. So, instead of using a generic greeting like “Dear Sir/Madam,” use the recipient’s name instead. You can also include other personalization factors like their company name or city.
This is where your buyer profiles will come in handy!
Focus on Delivering Relevant Content
Your email content should be relevant to the interests of your target audience. This is where email segments come into play. By understanding what each segment is interested in, you can create content that appeals to them.
Remember, your goal is to provide value. So make sure that your email content is interesting and informative. It should also be concise—get straight to the point without being too wordy. And include a call-to-action (CTA) that encourages your recipients to take the next step.
Use Email Marketing Software
Email marketing software like Mailmeteor will make it easier to manage your email list, segment your contacts, and automate your email campaigns. This means that you can spend less time on the technical aspects of email marketing, and more time on creating great content.
Test, Test, Test!
Last but not least, don’t forget to test! Try different subject lines, email content, sender names, and even send times. See what works and what doesn’t. And then make the necessary adjustments to improve your open rates and click-through rates.
What are the Main Tools for B2B Email Marketing?
There are a number of great tools available to help with your B2B email marketing efforts. If you want to streamline your email marketing processes and create efficiencies, consider investing in one or more of the following platforms:
- Email Marketing Software: Email marketing software is a tool that businesses use to create, send, and track marketing emails. This type of software includes a number of features, such as email templates, list management, reporting, and more.
- Marketing Automation Software: Marketing automation software is a tool that helps businesses automate their marketing processes. It can include features such as email marketing, social media management, lead generation, and more.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software: CRM software helps businesses manage their customer relationships. It can include features such as contact management, sales automation, and marketing automation.
- Lead Generation Software: Lead generation software helps businesses generate leads for their products or services. It can include features such as web forms, live chat, and email capture.
Conclusion
B2B email marketing can be highly effective when done correctly. By following the tips and best practices outlined in this article, you can create engaging and relevant email campaigns that will resonate with your target audience. Now, you’ll only have to wait for them to open your email and, hopefully, forward it to their organization’s decision-makers!
