If you’re interested in Email Marketing for B2B (business to business) – What Works, you’re in the right place! In this blog post, I’ll share what’s working in email marketing for B2B companies. I’ll also dispel some common myths about email marketing, and provide practical tips that you can put into action today. As an integral part of your digital marketing strategy, email marketing done right can be wildly successful. Let’s go!
Define your target audience
Knowing your target audience is one of the keys to success when it comes to creating a successful B2B email marketing campaign. It’s important to take the time to understand exactly who you’re trying to target with your message and what makes them unique. That could be anything from understanding their job title, interests and needs, or just being aware of the language they use – whatever it is, getting to know your target audience is an essential part of achieving your email marketing goals.
Keep your subject lines short and to the point
When it comes to email marketing, value-driven subject lines are key! When crafting subject lines for B2B emails it is important to keep them short and to the point. After all, busy business professionals have many emails flooding their inbox everyday, asking for their attention. Make your value proposition immediately visible in those few words and you can expect greater engagement rates. A successful email campaign requires just the right balance between context, value and brevity to capture a reader’s attention. Get that formula down and you’ll be one step closer to mastering successful email marketing for your B2B contacts!
Write compelling content that speaks to your audience’s needs
Creating content that speaks to your audience’s needs can be a powerful tool when it comes to B2B email marketing. Crafting content that is engaging and focuses on delivering value to the reader is an invaluable asset in today’s competitive climate. You want content that is both informative and personable; content that helps readers solve problems, surface important insights, and discover new opportunities. If you’re looking for content with a casual yet authoritative tone that effectively engages the various stakeholders at the customer end of your business relationship, then you’ve come to the right place. Align your content with the needs of your customers and make sure it delivers real value – then reap the rewards of a successful B2B email marketing campaign!
Use images sparingly, but make sure they’re relevant
Emails with images can really stand out in cluttered inboxes, but use them wisely. Try to only include images that are relevant and of high quality. Although images are eye-catching, too many of them can overwhelm recipients and actually distract from the core message. For example, if you’re explaining financial data or industry trends, try using charts or graphs instead of images; this will present complex information more succinctly. For images that you do decide to include, make sure your files are optimized for desktop and mobile displays – because no matter how great content looks in an email, having a slow loading image is a definite buzzkill (and unsubscribe button magnet).
Include a call-to-action in every email
If you’re using email marketing for B2B, an essential part of your strategy should always be including a call-to-action in every message. Having a CTA that is clear and obvious will enable potential customers to take the next step quickly and easily. Whether it’s contacting your team directly, downloading an ebook from your website or signing up for an online course, a CTA can be the difference between a successful campaign and one that falls flat. Make sure to include this vital element in every email you send – don’t let your hard work go to waste!
Test, test, test!
When it comes to email marketing for B2B, test, test, test! What do we mean? Make sure you test every element of your campaigns from subject line to body copy, images and CTAs. Pre-testing will help you identify any undesired outcomes such as low open rates or unsubscribes before launching. Once in launch mode, use the invaluable metrics collected over time to test and analyze different elements. Whatever works best for you go with that then rinse and repeat because test, test, test is what sets high achievers apart.
Repetition isn’t a bad thing
Typically when I run an email campaign it consists of 3 parts or touches. Based on my experience I find that clustering them together gets the best results. Now what I mean is that if I start a campaign on a Tuesday, I send #2 on Thursday, then #3 the following Tuesday. This keeps things top-of-mind for the recipient and hopefully if your content is compelling enough it will trigger them to respond to your CTA.
Once as an experiment I sent the exact same email 5 times without changing a bit of the content. My open and click rates peaked at #4 and not one person mentioned that it was the same exact content. This definitely surprised me… the rates peaking at #4, that is.
When it comes to email marketing in the B2B (business to business) space, there is certainly no one-size-fits-all approach. Finding genuine success with email campaigns means finding the right formula for your own specific target audience. I’ve outlined some great tactics to ensure your emails get opened, read, and appreciated. From clearly defined audiences and direct subject lines, to attractive visuals to increase engagement, and of course always concluding with a call-to-action—you should now have a solid base from which to create effective email campaigns. Your ideas, strategies, and successes are the driving factors behind optimizing results further still.
What tips and tricks do you have? Comment below! As we continually strive together to make our B2B emails more effective, any advice you can add helps us all!
