B2B email marketing where you are promoting your services to other businesses is very different from B2C email marketing. Often the B2B buying cycle is much longer and depending on the purchase you often need to engage with people at different levels of the organisation. Often the person making the buying decision will not be the end user, they may also be reliant on influencers covering a wide group to help make the buying decision. B2B purchasing decisions take time and you should use email marketing to build a relationship and trust with your audience.
With B2B email marketing you are often trying to turn a cold prospect into a lead. How you define a lead will vary from business to business however more likely than not at some point the buyer will interact with the sales team. If your sales team is proactively following up these leads then you need to use your email marketing to gauge how ‘hot’ these prospects are. If you are waiting for leads to approach you then your email marketing needs to nurture the recipient to a point where they are ready to buy.
B2B emails should reflect the tone of voice and brand guidelines your business uses. You need to be consistent with how you approach your market.
Have a clear call to action. With an inbox full of emails readers will want to consume information and move on to the next email as quickly as possible.
As with any email campaign metrics are really important. What are you trying to achieve and how will you measure it? Email marketing tools have varying capabilities. For example if you want to measure the reaction of a recipient over time then you need to ensure you system has the capabilities to do so.
As a B2B email marketer you probably know by now that the approach you take to B2B email marketing is very different to B2C. Some best practice guidelines may help you refine your campaigns even further.
Audience – Sending one email to your entire email list is unlikely to be successful. It’s very difficult to write a compelling email with a call to action that attracts both a CFO who may be interested in cutting costs and an user who just cares about functionality. Split your email list as a minimum across your target groups.
Reading emails on mobile devices – Its becoming increasingly likely that your email could be read on a mobile device. What does your email look like on a blackberry or iPhone? On a mobile device the recipient will be look at your email surrounded by more distraction than they would be in the office. Your email needs to grab the attention of the user quickly. Also include a link so that recipients can read your email online.
From – Most recipients will prioritize emails based on who they are from. The name of a person is likely to appeal more than the name of a company, the name of a person they know will work even better.
Subject line – Your subject line needs to sell your email. Appeal to the needs and wants of your audience in just a few words. In a busy inbox why should the recipient open your email? Stay away from words that can ring spam bells such as ‘free’ and ‘buy now’.
Avoid the hard sell – People receive sales calls and email everyday that promise the earth but deliver very little. In B2B it’s unlikely anyone is going to make a substantial purchase on the back of one email. Successful email marketing in B2B is about building relationships. Don’t attempt to sell everything about your product in one email instead drive small actions that gets the user engaged and receptive.
Keep to the point – The longer your email the less likely it will all be read. Unless there is a clear benefit recipients are unlikely to make the investment in reading a long email. In email marketing especially in B2B you are asking for recipients to spend their time reading your email. Use that time wisely, if the recipient feels you are wasting their time it’s likely they will delete your future emails if not filter them out automatically.
Differentiate your email – B2B emails often offer a free whitepaper, promote a webcast or some other form of ‘free’ information. What can you offer that the recipient may have never seen before? This really comes down to the value of the goods you are promoting. For low value items think of free online training or for high value goods how about free on site consultancy.
Value your words – the words you use are very important, choose them carefully. We have used the word ‘Free’ many times in this article, however using the work free could devalue what you are offering. Everything has a value and you need to ensure your recipients know the value of what you are offering. For example instead of a ”Free consultancy day” why not offer “A complimentary day of consultancy worth $1999?
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