You’ve probably heard the astounding statistic that email marketing yields an average 4,300% return on investment for businesses in the United States. (Direct Marketing Association). But, if you aren’t yielding those types of results, you may
believe that email marketing is on its way out.
However, Statistic after statistic proves that marketing via email is not only still a viable resource for B2B businesses; but dollar for dollar it is one of the best options to drive leads. So why aren’t you getting the same ROI as other companies? Check out these 8 B2B email marketing best practices and see how you can make email work for you!
1. Who are you writing for?
Your prospective customers get hundreds of emails per week-hundreds – did I mention hundreds? If your emails don’t address their pain points or give them answers on how to solve those pain points, then why should they read further? A well-researched and developed buyer persona helps you drill down and learn those pain points, giving you an edge over the majority of your competitors.
2. It’s a mobile world.
65% of all emails get opened on mobile devices first. What does this mean for you? If your message doesn’t grab immediate attention then a busy prospective customers may delete your email while sitting in a meeting or riding in a cab. On the other hand, a unique email with relevant content may be saved and re-read later.
3. Subject lines matter (a lot).
In the world of email marketing, subject lines are how prospective customers judge whether your email is worth opening. If you’re trying to win new business or maintain relationships with people you don’t contact very often, this is even more true. After all, emails are easy to delete or ignore. You want your prospective customer to take a quick look at your email and say, “I want to know more.”
4. Short and sweet.
We have so much information we want to share with our prospective customers; after all we think our product is the answer to all their problems. That passion for your product is important, but as marketers we have to find a way to bottle that passion and sell it in just a few lines. Why? Remember the mobile world from above? People now-a-days move fast. Unless they are stuck in a cab, on a bridge, at night with access to nothing else but your email, then odds are they won’t take the time to read something too lengthy. Long emails without clear calls to action will get skimmed and deleted. Make your value proposition above the fold and obvious to the people that will browse over your email looking for a reason to read (or delete).
5. Don’t oversell.
Too many promises, too much information, or pricing information may overwhelm your prospective customer and lessen your opportunity to have people click on a link where they can find the details of the service or product being offered.
6. It’s not all about your product.
Your job is to help sell your product, but in today’s world of marketing it’s not all about your product. It’s about educating and nurturing leads with relevant content. You have a better chance of turning a prospect into a customer if your email works on solving their problem or opportunity instead of trying to make a sale. Take a hard look at your latest emails and make sure that you haven’t stepped over the line from being helpful to helping yourself.
7. Respect the audience’s time.
One of the fastest ways to drive a prospective customer to the unsubscribe button is by over-emailing.Frequency is a significant issue for all mailings, if a business subscriber doesn’t respond to the first two messages, it doesn’t mean you should send to him even more frequently.
8. Invest In Analytics.
Analytics are the key to seeing which emails are actually working and which emails are duds. Using data and analytics will help you pick the right approach, right channel, and receive better results.
Marketing via email marketing is a quick, convenient and inexpensive way to get your message in front of your prospective customers. Using these best practices will help you see better results and have more customer interactions. Want to learn more? Check out our analytics guide to help you further improve your email campaigns.
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