5 Key Steps for B2B Email Marketing Strategy

A recent study shows that 93% of B2B marketers use email to distribute content, but convincing potential customers to purchase your product through this method alone can be quite tough. By following a few key steps and incorporating email in to your broader marketing approach, you can generate exposure and in turn additional revenue.

# 1: Identify Your Audience

Start by analyzing your current customers . Who are the people that buy from you already and what do they have in common?

It’s also good to take a look at who your competition is marketing to as you might get a different perspective on what types of businesses identify with the pain points that your product solves.

Keep in mind that your target audience may consist of people of different ages, but regardless they should all share an interest in the information you are providing.

# 2: Have a Purpose

Ask yourself the following questions:

• What does your audience want to know?
• What content would your customers find useful?
• What are you looking to gain from your campaign?

Remember, the recipients might not have an initial interest in your brand or product so you’ll need to provide them with information that will clearly help accomplish their mission . That doesn’t mean you can’t talk about your specific product itself. Just keep it interesting and try to showcase it as a solution to a problem customers are facing.

# 3: Determine Your Goals

Spend some time thinking about the goal of your email marketing campaign. Are you looking for an increase in sales? Do you want to boost your subscriber list? Maybe you want to generate new product inquiries or demonstrations?

Once you know what it is you are looking to accomplish, determine two things:

• How do you achieve it?
• How do you measure it?

A proper understanding of your aim through emails will help you get the desired results.

# 4: Content is King

It still holds true that content is king, yet according to a survey done of B2B companies only 37% have a documented content strategy. Decide on the content you will be sending to your readers, and layout a timeline with specific topics you plan to promote. 

The email itself should be appealing to the eyes, including calls to action that encourage engagement. With a proper campaign management platform, you can easily embed images, video links, buttons and info-graphics. Plain text-only messages might turn some readers off, but be weary of over-designing your campaigns at the same time. The layout and design should look professional and the content be easy to understand.

Size also matters, so don’t over-stuff the message with large files or lengthy articles. If you want to provide a longer piece on a topic, consider a summary with a “read more” link to a page on your blog or website.

# 5: Know the Metrics

It’s essential to determine what frequency is be best for your audience and content. If you send emails too often, your readers might get annoyed and not open or read them. If you wait too long between messages, they may forget you or even report your email as spam.

It is also critical to know if your target audience is receiving and opening your emails, or clicking on any of the provided links. This step is necessary as it will help you to proceed most efficiently with your campaign tactics.

So, how can you do that?

Some email service providers have an option for using ‘read receipt’ requests. These may let you know if the recipient has opened your email by simply ticking an option before sending. However, this method is not very useful because your reader can choose to ignore the option of receipt, and it provides the sender with limited information.

A much better answer is to use a dedicated tool that sends and tracks emails and activity. These are superior to read receipts because no recipient participation is needed, and by having advanced reporting functions you can get a complete snapshot of how your audience is reacting to each message.

Bottom Line

Formulating marketing strategies is tricky, but when you apply them accurately and use professional tools to help achieve your goals, you can see success as quickly as overnight.