B2B email marketing: why include it in the mix and things to consider

Are you including email as part of your marketing activities this year?

According to a survey by HubSpot, 83% of B2B marketers will be using email newsletters as part of their marketing content programme in 2022.

For 86% of professionals email is still the preferred communications channel.

It may not be the shiny new tool on the block, but email is a proven, effective method of directly reaching your customers, and future customers, to promote your brand and provides the potential to increase sales.

It remains a key channel, effective in building connections with your customers and placing your business at the front of their minds when it comes time for purchasing decisions.

Here are five things we suggest considering for your email marketing:

1. Identify the purpose of your email.
   Why are you sending it?  Are you launching a product or service?  Is it a membership or subscription email?  Is it a monthly/quarterly newsletter?  The goal and purpose of your email will dictate the style, content, messaging and Call to Action (CTA), as well as the audience list or segment of your list that you send to.
2. Prioritise and prepare your audience lists.
   Often there is a tendency to jump into creating email content and design first, with the audience list becoming an afterthought. Depending on whether you have a well-functioning CRM system in place or a good, clean database of customers and contacts, this process can result in a scrabble to pull together names and email addresses.Make it a priority and organise your audience and customer lists into a master list.  You can then use this to segment into further sub-lists.  For example, specific products of interest, by geography, by sector, customer versus prospect, or whatever is relevant for your business and the email you are sending.Think about the purpose, who your audience is and build your target list appropriately.
3.  Choose a style and layout that fits with your brand and a layout that lends itself to the type of email you are sending. The layout you choose for your monthly newsletter may be very different to the one you would select for promoting a new product or range of products.  There are many helpful templates and layouts available to select from within your chosen Email Service Provider, (three of our favourite ESPs are Mailchimp, HubSpot and Madmimi) or you can create your own.
4. Create your content for your customer.
   This email is about them and adding value for their business.  Keep your copy in-line with your brand and make it relevant, engaging and easy to read.  Wherever possible include personalisation.  When using graphics and images use good quality images optimised for email and with a consistent size, look and style throughout.  Don’t be tempted to cram too much into one email, there’s a fine balance between getting it just right and overwhelming the recipient.  Keep it focused and on message.  We’d suggest if it’s a newsletter style email then stick to 5 or 6 key articles using the call to action links and functions to direct recipients to a dedicated landing page on your website or to items such as downloadable resources to read more.
5. Include a clear ‘Call to Action’.
   What action do you want recipients to take on receipt of the email?  There are various calls to action you can use to support your different goals, whether it’s selling a specific product and therefore directing them to that product on your online shop, signing customers or prospects up for a new programme or service, sharing your knowledge and directing them to an online video with tips and advice, or downloading a guide or brochure.Whatever the call to action; make it clear, easy to follow and offer value to the recipient.

If you need any help or guidance with your email marketing to promote your business and attract sales, then feel free to talk to us.  If you’re interested in exploring and implementing a CRM system to support your customer relationship management, we can be of help with that too.