What is the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear “email marketing”? Did you think about an antiquated marketing tactic that does not work anymore?
If yes, then you are wrong. Irrespective of whether your business operates in B2B or B2C space, email marketing is still an effective way to communicate your message and promote your products and services.
Is Email Marketing Beneficial For B2B Companies?
Let me answer this question with data.
According to email marketing statistics:
- 87% of B2B marketers consider email marketing as their top organic distribution channel
- 81% of B2B marketers said that most used form of content marketing is email newsletters
- 80% of business professionals think that email marketing increases customer retention
- 78% of email marketers have seen an increase in email engagement rates in last year
Email marketing is still the second most common tactic B2B businesses use alongside content marketing. Many B2B marketers use email marketing tools created by a custom software development company. Despite all this, most B2B companies fail to take full advantage of email marketing.
In this article, you will learn about effective email marketing tips B2B companies can use.
1. Create Your Email List
“Focus on growing your list all the time as newer subscribers are more engaged adding to healthier open rates and ROI.”—Karl Murray
“The money is in the list” Digital marketers in general and email marketers know about this famous proverb. In fact, an email list is at the heart of a successful email marketing strategy. The problem is that it takes time to build an email list, which forces email marketers to look towards shady tactics such as buying an email list.
Instead of adopting these tactics, you should look for legitimate ways to collect emails. You can easily do that by placing a form on your website or blog or offer a free eBook, case study or checklist in return for an email address. An email list not only allows you to build intimate relationships with users but also give you an opportunity to convert more subscribers into customers.
Enjoying this blog? Register now for your free monthly roundup email >
2. Personalize, Personalize, Personalize
“Emails has an ability many channels don’t: creating valuable personal touches at scale.”—David Newman
Are your subscribers unsubscribing from your email list? Are your emails not getting opened by the receiver? Even if it is opened it does not get read? There could be various reasons for it but one of the most obvious one could be a lack of personalization.
Successful email marketing campaigns leverage personalization. They make the receiver feel special and deliver a unique experience. As Ann Handley said, “Make the customer the hero of your story”. Add a personal element to your emails. In a competitive B2B space, personalizing your email messages can give your brand a competitive edge and make it stand out from the crowd.
3. Use a Mobile-Friendly Template
The majority of users now read their emails on their mobile devices. If your email does not load properly on their mobile devices, it will be deleted immediately. Even worse, a handful of users will also unsubscribe from your email list due to this. More importantly, you miss out on a huge chunk of users who are reading their emails on their mobile devices. Choose a responsive email template that adjusts email content according to device screen size, resolutions, orientation, and dimensions.
4. Make It Easy to Unsubscribe
What? Am I reading this correctly or there is a mistake? Yes, you are reading it correctly. You might be thinking if I make it easy for users to unsubscribe from my email list, I might lose email subscribers quickly but if you make it hard for users to unsubscribe, you will lose trust, which is more important for B2B companies. The harder it is for your email subscribers to unsubscribe from your email list, the more frustrated they might be or even worse, they will mark your emails as spam so your emails will directly go into their spam folder instead of their inbox.
5. Keep It Short and Sweet
Since most people are reading their emails on small screen devices, you do not have much space to play with. Instead of sending lengthy emails containing large blocks of texts, keep your emails short and sweet. The longer your email, the less likely it is of getting read. What’s more, some users just want to skim through your email to get an idea, so it is important to use bullet points and make your emails skim friendly. Remove useless sentences that do not convey any meaning. As Seth Godin said, “Why waste a sentence saying nothing” The less fluff your email contains, the more likely it is to get read.
6. Grab the Attention with The Subject Line
The first impression is the last impression and email marketing is no exception to this rule. The subject line is the first thing your recipient might see when they access your email. You can either grab the attention of the email recipient or lose them altogether.
As Amy Porterfield said, “The gateway to that email—the first thing your customers see—is your subject line. It has to contain hints of everything your email has to offer. It has to convey not only your knowledge and authority but also your empathy for your audience’s needs.”
As a rule of thumb, your subject line should not be too short or too long. It should be around 7 words and 41 characters long. If your subject lines are not enticing enough, your emails will not get opened let alone read. Avoid filler words and add the most important words at the beginning of the subject line. Make sure that your subject conveys the value your email delivers so it can grab the attention of the receiver.
7. Timing is Everything
What is the best time to send an email? The answer to this question might vary based on several factors such as time zones, user habits and daily routines. Find the best time for sending emails that works for you as your subscriber’s habits might vary from others. Use analytics to see what time your subscribers open emails, but also what time they click on them and convert, and then work out a useful schedule.