Email marketing can open a huge perspective to your business. If you ask yourself, “Does b2b email marketing work?” it pretty much does, according to the recent stats. If you don’t believe it, you just don’t know the main email marketing rules. Paying more attention to this can lead to a significant increase in your sales. On this page, we are going to have a closer look at the b2b email marketing and the ways to make it more effective.
What is email marketing?
Email marketing is one of the most popular ways of advertising products and services. Email marketing makes people aware of products and services you offer, sales, etc. It also has an educational purpose and enhances your brand value.
Pros and cons of email marketing
Here are the advantages and disadvantages of email marketing.
Advantages:
- · Affordability
- · Reaching many people instantly
- · Easy to analyze
Disadvantages:
- · Emails can be marked as spam
- · You may reach the wrong audience
- · Restricting the new ideas
Now, let’s define the four main types of marketing emails.
What are the 4 types of marketing emails?
A marketing email is not universal. There are many types, each having its goals and peculiarities. Here are four types of marketing emails you can meet the most often.
- Information
With this email, you notify interested people about certain changes or an upcoming event, or any other things your partners are interested in.
- Digital magazine or newsletter
Such emails are sent regularly, like once a week or month. As a rule, it is a summary of created content. Make sure these emails look attractive.
- Product update
If you are going to launch a new product or make an old one even better, let your partners know about it. This email should be simple and clear.
- Transactional email
This is an action-based type. They are usually sent to confirm the purchase, or finish register, or to confirm the subscription to the newsletter.
What is a B2B email?
First, let’s give a definition of a b2b email. A business-to-business email involves exchanging information, products, etc., between two or more enterprises. Apart from b2c type, when your aim is to convince customers to purchase your products or service, b2b email marketing is more logical and educational. The sales cycle of such emails is usually longer. Selling something to another business takes more effort and creativity.
And one of the most popular questions is: “When should b2b marketing emails be sent?” It depends on the situation, but we recommend you to send not more than five b2b emails monthly. It will be perfect if you send them once a week or two weeks.
8 Rules for Effective B2B marketing
Not all email marketing campaigns result in success. Here are our 8 rules to develop an email marketing campaign that would really work for your business.
- Pick a reliable email service provider
This will let you pass the strict antispam filters. Many of them block emails with attachments because they find them a security threat. The most popular solution for that is keeping a file in the server and just involving a link to it. A trustworthy provider will also give you pieces of advice on protecting the company’s sensitive data like IP address. We recommend you check the IP address provided by your ESP and, if necessary, ask for a dedicated IP address. If you know the service provider’s IP address hosts several companies, consider having your private one.
- Divide the contact database
This is made for reaching certain leads with more specific emails. Email marketing is not universal for all leads. Customize your content according to the requirements and interactions of leads. This will help you reach the right people with the right aim. We suggest segmenting your contact database for every product or service line separately. Personalizing the needs of each contact will create a positive brand image.
- Pay attention to information security
This is the crucial point as all online marketing campaigns deal with sensitive data. Many people download files or visit pages linked in your emails, and you need to be sure they are safe. We recommend using VPN services to hide your IP address and change your location.
- Be more educative rather than willing to sell
Don’t speak too much about the company, your values, and your benefits. Your contacts gave their personal details to get something useful, not phrases like “we can save your time and effort”, etc. Be creative and slow down. Yes, this way takes more time and creativity. But the results will be worth all the effort. Convince your leads you are an expert in a certain sphere, and you have valuable information and experience to share. Pay attention to the common problems and suggest solutions for them. Make your content helpful and engaging.
- Attractive design
Good and useful content is important, but remember that the readers scan your email with their eyes. Ensure the design looks attractive. Single out the headlines and involve blank spaces to enhance readability. The color palette should match your company logo. And place the logo in the appropriate places. Use photo and video content that is relevant. Improving user experience will lead to effective communication.
- Mind the company size
Dividing your contact list according to the role or job title can help you create personalized content for specific needs. But you may miss a significant point. Head of marketing of a huge international corporation and a startup have completely different requirements. To reach your audience more effectively, ask them about company size and provide more personalized content for each one.
- Be concise
There is a useful rule of 20 words for any email campaign. The reader only sees the subject line and the first 20 words before opening an email. It is like a preview of the whole content. Ensure they contain the most valuable and necessary information for your contacts.
When it comes to the subject line, be creative. It determines whether your audience will open your email. Great subject lines are brief, precise, and relevant. They should evoke interest. But don’t be too smart and explain your ideas in simple words.
- Respect the privacy
While you are interacting with your audience on business, avoid being personal. This can harm your reputation. Be friendly, but don’t overdo it. Create an image of a professional company.
Following our advice, we hope that following our advice will help you have a successful email campaign and grow your business.
Rachel Burnham is COO of Marketing in VeePN VPN service. Rachel has had dozens of successful online marketing campaigns. At the moment, Rachel is sharing her experience with aspiring professionals.