There are several different marketing strategies a business can use to attract new customers and convert consumer interest into sales. Once you have determined your goals and who you want to target, you need to choose a channel of communication to reach potential customers.
While word-of-mouth and social media marketing might be sufficient for small businesses, a comprehensive marketing strategy is needed to reach people who may not even know about your company.
When it comes to B2B marketing, B2B email marketing remains the quickest and most effective way to deliver quality content to your audience and turn leads into clients.
B2B email marketing doesn’t just involve an intelligent subject line and appealing content. It’s about informing other businesses about how you can help their company grow and developing a call-to-action that will increase conversion rates.
In this post, we have outlined everything you need to know to learn how to be effective with B2B email marketing.
What is B2B Marketing?
B2B marketing differs from B2C marketing in their strategies and how they communicate to their audience. Business-to-business marketing involves the sale of products or services to other businesses, and business-to-consumer marketing is oriented towards individual customers.
B2C email marketing aims to create an emotional connection to customers in order to get them to buy your product, whereas B2B email marketing is more informational and based on logic.
When partnering with another business, it is crucial to understand the reasoning behind a decision and the bottom-line revenue impact of that decision. This means that your B2B email marketing strategy should focus on things like ROI, time, and resources.
Why Should Every Business Have a B2B Email Marketing Strategy?
Every business should have a dedicated B2B email marketing strategy for lead generation and customer retention. Here are a few statistics shared by Vital Design from Salesforce.com that show the positive impact an effective B2B email marketing strategy can cause:
- 72% of B2B buyers share useful content via email (Experian): If your targeted audience receives your emails, there is a high chance they will share that email content through email with friends or family.
- You will receive $44 on every dollar spent on an email marketing campaign (Earnest Agency): With a successful B2B email marketing campaign, you will see a measure of profitability that other marketing platforms can’t deliver.
- 77% of consumers would rather receive permission-based marketing communications via email (ExactTarget): Consumers prefer marketing through email over direct mail, text messages, or social media.
B2B email marketing engages more customers, which means more leads, more conversions, and more revenue. If you aren’t leveraging this profitable marketing strategy, then you are missing out.
How Can You Make Your B2B Email Marketing More Effective?
There is always room to improve your B2B email marketing strategy. Here are some ways your small or large business can increase the effectiveness of your email campaigns.
Set Your Strategy
An email marketing platform is easy to set up, cost-effective and can reach a large number of people at a time. But without a clear email marketing strategy, this tool won’t be effective. You need to set your strategy and define your objectives to achieve the results you want.
Set a Goal
Once you have a B2B email marketing strategy, set your goals and what you want to achieve. Think about how you will reach these goals in terms of content and design.
Set Your Target Audience
You need to decide who your intended audience is and determine how you will create relationships with that audience. Use this to direct your tone of voice and content.
Engaging Intro
Ensure the introduction of your email content is intriguing and concise. Think about how you are going to capture your reader and keep their attention. For example, you could tell a story or ask a question.
Re-engage Inactive Subscribers
With your email marketing platform, you can see who hasn’t engaged with your content. You should continuously check this throughout your email marketing strategy and try to re-engage these customers.
B2B Email Marketing Best Practices
Here is a list of the best practices to follow for successful B2B email marketing:
1. Enticing Email Subject Line
Use your subject line to lure in your audience and attract their attention. To get your customer to click on and open up your email, you need to get them hooked. Create a clear and intriguing subject line to gain their interest.
2. Attractive Header
Considering the number of emails the average office worker receives, you only have a few seconds to gain their interest. The header section is the first thing your audience will see when they open your email, so it is important to have an appealing and engaging header that looks professional.
3. Stick to One Call-to-Action per Email
Another B2B email marketing best practice to remember is to create one CTA per email. You may have noticed that some emails have two, three, or even 5 different CTA’s. This can leave your audience overwhelmed and uninterested. By only using one CTA, your customer can focus on the content and one action.
4. Segment Emails to Your Audience
Your email may not be suitable for every person on your list as your audience might be looking for different solutions. That is why it is crucial to narrow down your email list according to your audiences’ needs. This will make your email seem more personal and authentic to your customers.
5. Ensure Your Email Layouts Are Responsive
Most email users access their inboxes on their iPhones or iPads at some point. When they click on an email that doesn’t show up correctly or is difficult to read, they delete it within 3 seconds. So you want to ensure your email is mobile-friendly to avoid lost sales.
5. Take Advantage of Cold Emails
Cold emails are sent to potential buyers who you have no relationship with. In B2B email marketing, cold emails are a short yet powerful way to intrigue customers. They should be highly personalized and focused on the recipient. If done properly, cold emails turn strangers into business partners in no time.
Tips for a Successful B2B Email Marketing Strategy
To create a relationship with your current and future B2B clients, use these tips in your B2B email marketing strategy.
1. Think About Your Clients
In B2B marketing, business clients make rational and informed decisions based on what they need and the quality and price of a product or service. When you market to this audience, you need to consider their specific needs and focus on the benefits you can offer them.
2. Build Lists
For a successful B2B campaign, you should develop a careful list of email addresses that are curated appropriately so that when it is time to email your intended audience, you will know exactly who to send it to.
3. Get Automated
Automation options allow you to respond to current or future customers in a timely manner. An autoresponder can email a prospect who has visited or downloaded a document from your website. This is an effective B2B marketing tool to ensure you are constantly communicating with your audience.
4. Personalize as Much as Possible
Every B2B marketer should know customers love personalization. By leveraging the data and information you have about a customer, such as their name or when they visited your site, you can increase sales and ROI. If your customer receives an email that is targeted to them specifically, they will be more interested in your company.
Why Choose SalesHive
At SalesHive, we offer cold email marketing for B2B that will give you the results you’ve been looking for. A team of expert sales strategists and email engineers will help you attract and gain buyers and ensure you will stand out from your competitors.
With high-quality technology, we can enhance performance and get your prospects to open up your emails in their inbox. Once we catch the attention of potential customers, we will coordinate meetings so you can close a deal.
Let us help you reach your goals. View our sales outsourcing pricing today!
