B2B Email Marketing Best Practices You Should Already Be Using

email marketing

Email marketing remains a key mode of communication for businesses in the B2B space. No wonder several B2B businesses send emails at least once a month. The strategy is not unique to B2B firms since B2C marketers also connect with their customers with email.

However, a common mistake with the email marketing strategy is the failure to differentiate between B2B and B2C tactics. While many tactics overlap between these two markets, they are not to be approached in the same way. B2B and B2C customers have different interests and goals, which your strategy must recognize.

So how do you make your B2B emails tick? How do you increase your open rates and conversion rates? Find out below:

9 Strategies For B2B Email Marketing

1. Use Short Subject Lines

An email subject line is the first text people will see when they receive your email. So, we can argue that it is the most essential part of the email. According to studies, 47% of email recipients open an email based on just the subject line. Further, 69% of email recipients report an email as spam because of the subject line alone.

Therefore, you must prioritize sending emails with short, concise, catchy, and attractive subject lines. While there is no universally accepted ideal character length for subject lines, you should target between 28 and 50 characters.

Going with a short subject line is particularly helpful since most people (even in B2B) open their emails on their phones. So, while the subject text may fit one line on a computer screen, it wouldn’t fare too well on a smaller mobile screen.

Furthermore, best practices suggest that your subject line succeeds at either: driving the readers' curiosity or addressing their needs and purchase intentions.

2. Must Be Highly Personalized

Personalization is an excellent feature to convince the email recipient you care about them. After all, B2B buyers are people too! Personalization is growing into a must-have for any brand communication, given that over 50% of customers across industries respond better to “custom” communications.

You can adopt personalization in various ways, right from the subject line. Then, down to the content, addressing the recipient by their name during the introduction to your email can go a long way. Also, personalizing the call to action (CTA) section can lead to better conversion than regular CTAs.

However, you will want to be extra careful with your personalization features to avoid mistakes. For example, if you addressed a new client representative, "Megan," as "John," the email will almost certainly be reported as spam because it appears to be for someone else.

Alternatively, if you indiscriminately sent ALL your contacts “Diwali holiday" or "Chinese New Year" greetings. It already looks like a generic email for clients that do not celebrate either of these holidays!

3. Keep It Short and Sweet

When sending B2B marketing emails, less is more. It may seem contradictory, considering these emails are often designed to be highly informative. But, for an email to be informative, it does not have to be unnecessarily long and boring.

For starters, you want to find the ideal length for the type of email you want to send. "Ideal" here means long enough for the recipient to grasp the message but not too long that they get tired of reading.

Once you get the length right, you need to optimize for the email's "interest factor." Because it is a business email, you do not want to sound too casual or playful. But, you want to keep it engaging enough for recipients to want to read it completely.

4. Don't Sound Like a Robot

A common mistake businesses make with B2B emails is losing the human touch when creating content. So, when you read the email, it almost feels auto-generated, which is a big turn-off for many people.

True, you often have to use automated tools to ease the process, especially when sending many emails. But you must still proofread each email before it goes out. 

Also, conversational writing styles have been proven to work best for B2B email marketing. Write as though you are just chatting with the recipient at the office. Your clients will appreciate an email that relates to them and thus will likely follow the CTAs. 

5. 1-3 Visuals Works (Not Too Few, Not Too Many)

Speaking of adding a human touch, visuals like images are essential for breaking your email text and making it more enjoyable to read. But even so, don’t overdo it.

According to a ConstantContact study, emails that have between one and three images have the highest click-through rates (CTR) from email subscribers. Beyond that range, the CTR when using even four images is similar to when using 20.

Furthermore, only use quality, high-resolution visuals. Also, account for different devices and Operating systems because these affect how your email appears to the reader

6. Maintain an Average Frequency

The frequency of your emails will make or break your B2B email marketing strategy. It keeps your clients engaged and your brand top of mind. Sending too many emails is an easy way to increase your unsubscribe rate while sending too few makes you forgettable.

Research suggests that between one and five emails per month will give the best result, with two to three being the most effective among B2B email marketers.

7. Add Appropriate Calls to Action

A B2B marketing email without a CTA might generate interest in your product and services but may not do much for your conversion rates. Remember, email subscribers, are probably already interested in your product. Thus, sending emails without directions for the next course of action is redundant.

Furthermore, when creating CTAs, favor the “more info” style over the “buy now” style, as these often resonate better with business customers. Best practices suggest limiting these to one strong one, surrounded by compelling content. Such would increase the likelihood that readers will click.

Email CTA

8. Keep Emails Rational and Benefit-Based

B2B marketing emails are different from their B2C counterparts in terms of target audience and purpose. While the latter may appeal to emotions, the former is often more informative and data-driven. 

B2B email marketing campaigns target businesses already interested in the product. So, don't try to generate interest as with B2C emails; instead, build on the already-present interest.

As such, you should tailor your email to add value and offer more information about your products. You are dealing with businesses looking for solutions to their problems. So, clearly show them the relevant data, how it helps them and what they can do about it. 

9. Create Email Sequences

With the B2B audience, one email is rarely enough. Considering the email must be short and precise each time, you cannot possibly give your reader all the information they need in just one email. That is where email sequencing comes in. 

Email sequences allow you to nurture your prospects with regular emails containing valuable additional information. You will need email marketing automation to help you create these sequences. Otherwise, it can be time-consuming.

Even so, ensure your emails are not repetitive and offer valuable information each time. They must also be relevant to customers at specific points of their journey.

Final Thoughts

B2B email marketing strategy is critical for your lead management. It enables you to nurture prospects and drive conversions for products and services. Therefore, you must get it right. These proven practices should help you with that.

However, to be most impactful, you will need an email automation partner to execute these strategies cost-effectively. That is why we offer you a comprehensive solution and a team of experts to bring your email strategy to life. Reach out today, and let us discuss how to help your business.

SUBSCRIBE TO FUNNELBUD NEWSLETTER


... and be in the know about marketing automation trends!

About the Author

Priscilla Achieng

Priscilla Achieng is a lead Technical Content Writer at Funnelbud. A Content marketing professional by day, a passionate soccer fan by night, she also provides copywriting and SEO services for businesses of all sizes.

Related