7 Guidelines for Effective B2B Email Marketing
For B2B contacts, email marketing is a go-to lead
generation activity. Although the emphasis on B2B marketing has increased among
businesses of all sizes, you can't simply slap together a B2B mailer and expect
the best results.
What is required is an understanding of the
fundamentals of B2B marketing! You must use a calculated formula and approach,
as outlined in this article about the 7 best B2B email marketing practices.
Here are 7 B2B email marketing best practices you can
implement right away to jumpstart your campaign.
1. Limit subject lines to 28 to 50 characters
The first step to mastering email marketing is writing
compelling subject lines that will entice recipients to open your messages.
It's essential to ensure that the subject line is the
proper length.
According to a recent Backlinko study, the ideal subject lines range in length from 28 to 50 characters.
To test the reaction of your audience, you may create a
set of mailers with brief subject lines and a second set with longer subject
lines. To ensure that the recipient can read it in one go, keep the subject
line to under 50 characters.
A wider range of recipients can be attracted when the
subject line is kept under 40 characters, especially for mobile users.
According to the Campaign Monitor study, email subject lines with between 36
and 50 characters have the highest open rates.
2. Make your B2B emails specific to the recipients
The email experience is fundamentally based on
personalization. Personalization is a tactic that is employed in almost every
aspect of marketing.
Your email's click-through rates and conversions can
increase by 10% on average when you personalize it. This is due to the fact
that when you make your email about your B2B contacts and their interests, they
will read it with greater interest.
Create a user list that is highly targeted rather than
sending out generic emails to hundreds of contacts.
Knowing who will receive the email in advance allows
you to customize it and address them appropriately.
Encouraging recipients to continue the conversation is the best
personalization strategy. Being assured of your knowledge of the target
indicates to the reader that you are capable of assisting them.
The personalization really starts to take effect when you leave an
open-ended question for them to answer.
For instance, if you are aware that your contact is the General Manager
of a local Superstore, you can always start a conversation by sharing
interesting information about the city's obsession with shopping.
3. Limit the word count in your email body
to 50 to 125
The text length is another factor that makes a B2B email successful. The
email click-through rate is influenced by text length.
Ideally, you should be able to explain the offer, its advantages, and
why your B2B contact should accept it. Usually, the key is to find the sweet
spot between 50 and 125 words.
Long emails don't work well because the reader might feel overwhelmed by
the text. By keeping the text concise enough to make the point, the email's
clear intent is demonstrated, which encourages recipients to click or respond.
Additionally, it's crucial to divide the text into manageable paragraphs
for the best viewing.
People don't want to waste time, especially in B2B transactions. The
reader will respond to your offer more favorably the easier you make it for
them to do so.
4. Use conversational phrasing and tone
Not too formal, please. You don't need to make an email complicated just
to sound professional and intelligent and to include a great offer.
The best B2B emails are designed to start a conversation with the
recipient. Use a conversational style so that your emails are interesting and
entertaining.
Key elements of B2B email marketing that shouldn't be overlooked include
keeping emails conversational, humorous, and personable.
Instead of sticking to a formal academic introduction, you might start
your email with "Let's get to know each other" to establish a rapport
with an incoming lead.
The email's tone is crucial, and it will guide interactions with your
B2B mailers as the discussion progresses.
By using the right combination of words that allow for dialogue, you
should be able to interact with readers in a way that makes them feel
comfortable approaching you.
5. Use 1 – 3 images
It's common practice to include images in B2B emails.
Visual imagery is regarded by 32% of marketing experts as being the most
crucial component of marketing campaigns.
However, how many images are to be included in a B2B email?
According to a study by Constant
Contact of more than 2.1 million emails, companies that
used 1 to 3 images had the highest CTRs.
Visuals are important to B2B subscribers, but only to a certain extent.
Sending them an email that is overflowing with images can have a negative
effect on the reader's experience.
You want them to receive your emails at the ideal moment and with the
ideal message. Keep your visuals focused on what is required.
6. Every B2B email responds to three main
queries
In order to make the process of using your product or services as simple
as possible, your B2B emails should typically only address these 3 important
questions.
1. What do you have to offer?
2. How can the reader benefit?
3. What comes after this?
You must captivate the reader's interest and compel them to act.
To entice the reader, you must describe your offer in the simplest way.
It's crucial to keep your B2B email compelling with a tone that
encourages people to invest. Ensure that the advantages are conveyed using
straightforward language and minimal text.
Of course, you also need to entice them to click, whereupon you instruct
them to follow certain steps in order to take advantage of your offer.
You've presented a convincing case for them to take the next step with
no room for doubt as long as your B2B email provides the reader with answers to
these three questions.
7. Send 1 to 5 emails monthly at most
The frequency of emailing B2B contacts is a delicate subject that calls
for restraint.
You need to be able to keep the reader interested in your company so
that, eventually, you can turn them into a client.
However, you don't have to overburden their inbox with emails.
Ideally, B2B email marketing should strike the right balance.
According to CoSchedule's research, B2B
businesses perform best when sending "at least one email per month, and no
more than five."
However, depending on your goals and the nature of your business, you
must tailor your strategy to the responses and engagement patterns of readers.
It's always a good idea to keep your email marketing efforts between 1
and 5 emails per month and adjust the frequency as necessary to suit your
campaign's needs.
Even if you're giving the reader a lot of information and accessibility,
it's still important to avoid being a bother.
They should remember you for how easily they can approach you, not only for how frequently you remind them that you are waiting in their inbox.
Also read: How Targeting the Right Person Can Double Your Cold Email Response Rate
Wrapping up!
The best strategy for B2B brands to nurture and acquire leads is email
marketing.
You can use email, which is a fantastic channel for having personal
conversations, to move leads from the top of your funnel to the bottom. What more?
You can create solid, enduring relationships with people who will
support your business goals using targeted email marketing lists.
The 7 best practices to adjust to in order to optimize your B2B
campaigns are:
1) Limit subject lines to 28 to 50 characters.
2) Make your B2B emails specific to the recipients.
3) Limit the word count in your email body to 50 to 125.
4) Use conversational phrasing and tone
5) Utilize 1–3 images.
6) Responding to the three main B2B queries: what do you
offer? How is it beneficial to readers? What comes after that?
7) Send 1 to 5 emails monthly at most.
Naturally, you'll want to
fine-tune and modify your campaign over time, but using best practices should
enable you to achieve a minimum level of success.
By incorporating these best practices into your upcoming campaign
strategy, you can reach the right people with your products/services.
If you require a highly
targeted B2B email list to get started, FalconLogix extends our expertise
to take your business to the next level.