The first promotional email was sent in 1978 and generated $13 million in sales, marking the beginning of one of the most popular marketing channels that still survives today. Precisely because it started so early and is included in outbound marketing, email lacks the brilliance of some newer channels, such as that of social media.
For B2B email marketing campaigns in particular, it has always been said that they are more serious and much less interesting than B2C campaigns, which are driven by emotion. This, however, is not true in all cases, with this strategy still an effective way to build your own target audience successfully.
Therefore, the notion that “B2B email marketing is dead” is far from reality, with a large percentage of marketers today believing that this marketing practice is the pillar of their business.
Why use B2B email marketing?
An e-mail marketing campaign serves two purposes: acquiring new customers and retaining existing ones. Therefore, if implemented effectively, it can convert prospective buyers into your customers and also increase purchase frequency.
So, for those of you who have a B2B business and want to start an email marketing campaign, we’ve compiled a list of strategies that will help you build a solid foundation for proper content.
- Define your audience and goals
We suggest you set your strategy goals based on the customers you want to reach. In other words, regardless of the products for sale, you need to have a clear idea of who your audience is in order to communicate effectively with them. This may sound like an easy task. However, it is important to do market research to find out where you are targeting so that you can personalize your services.
You can then dig a little deeper to identify segments of your audience so that you can send them personalized emails, which will increase the effectiveness of your campaign.
- Create your mailing list
An email list is a group of users who have given you permission to send them relevant content. Once they are added to your list, they will begin to provide a lot of useful information about their interests and buying behavior.
B2B buyer personas include information related to the type of business you’re targeting (e.g. business size, location, budget, pain points you can solve). So, by talking to industry people, you can ask the right questions or send a survey to your existing customers to gather information about their business.
It doesn’t matter if you only have 10 people on your email list…as long as it’s 10 relevant contacts who are interested in your product. You can, however, try to grow your email list organically by contacting your network or creating a sign-up form. Although this will take time, in the case of B2B email marketing campaigns, it will bring about very positive results and is also much easier if you have already established buyer personas.
- Segment your customers
Customer segmentation works in a similar way for B2C and B2B email marketers. To avoid sending the same content to all recipients, segment your customers into groups. This will make your email marketing campaigns more relevant and more targeted.
Tips for segmenting your customers:
- Refer to your buying personas: Think about the attributes you assigned to your target audience when you created the personas. You could combine and assign many of these attributes (such as job title and location) to create more specific segments.
- Use your existing data: This is a great opportunity to gain more information about your customers. Create a segment with these attributes and feed in engaging content to encourage them to make a purchase.
- Pay attention to the design of your e-mails
You don’t need to be a graphic design expert to create a professional email campaign. In order to improve the design of your e-mail, we advise you to research your industry. Notice what kind of campaigns your competitors are sending, as well as what kind of design and copywriting they’re using, so you can get inspired.
Also use pre-made email templates. Most ecommerce marketing services have built-in templates for a variety of purposes and industries. Use templates designed for your industry, adapting them to your brand and style.
- Measure your performance
You need to track all results, analyze which factors have led to successes and failures, and optimize campaigns based on this information. Don’t forget that what works now may not work in three months, so you should measure your performance over time.
Success looks different for every business, so remember to focus on what you want to achieve.
It is also very important to set measurable goals. Specifically, we recommend setting SMART goals at the beginning of each campaign, so you know if they have been achieved. Also, if the goal of a campaign is to generate more followers on social media, then you should keep track of visitors to your profiles.
Conclusion
Overall, B2B email marketing will be very effective once you master the ways you can make it work for you. Use the tips and techniques we’ve highlighted to design your own ecommerce marketing strategy.
Remember that as your business grows and develops, so will your target audience and therefore your email marketing strategy will have to change. Having an effective strategy can help your business convert more leads into real customers and increase revenue, thus helping you reach your sales goals faster.