You probably know this already: email marketing, such as newsletters and email loops, is one of the most important ways to increase sales. Even in this age of ads and social media, email marketing still has a high ROI because you can send your campaigns directly to those who have actually agreed to receive information from you. Could it get any better?

That sounds fantastic, and email marketing is still effective. But many companies fail to get results from it. Why?

Why companies fail at email marketing

The easiest way to understand the dos and don'ts of email marketing is to put yourself in the customer's shoes. And we've all been there when we start subscribing to a newsletter, for example.

Did you start subscribing to be sold to? Hardly. You already know where you can read more about their products or services. Instead, you want to get to know the company, share their knowledge, and learn more. And if you like what you see, then it's a natural step to actually contact them to book a demo.

However, many companies feel that they must maximize the channel they now have access to: direct contact with potential customers. Therefore, every email contains an offer, a link to the product page, or a request to book a demo.

The newsletter that was intended to keep in touch with potential customers instead becomes an advertising channel. And what happens then? Well, your contacts get tired of it because they already know what they will see when they open the email, and they either become inactive or unsubscribe altogether. That is the worst nightmare for email marketing.

"The newsletter that was intended to keep in touch with potential customers instead becomes an advertising channel. And what happens then? Well, contacts get tired of it because they already know what they will see when they open the email and either become inactive or unsubscribe altogether. It's the worst nightmare for email marketing."

What email marketing is really about

If email marketing isn't about selling, what is it about? Think back to the times you've subscribed to a newsletter. What did you want to get out of it? We're guessing you wanted to know more about how to solve a specific problem you have. A problem that this company specializes in. You probably hoped they would send you more information about it, tips and tricks on how to solve the problem.

Perhaps you also wanted to learn more about the company, get to know them to see if they are actually right for you.

As a business, you want to achieve this by building relationships with your contacts. You want to be able to show that you have the knowledge they need and that you can actually help them. Email marketing is an excellent way to do this. You have the opportunity to become the source they turn to when looking for information about your industry.

How to do email marketing the right way?

So how do you build those relationships and succeed with your email marketing? Here are a few things to consider.

The right information to the right contact

Building relationships via email is not so different from building them in real life. And just like normal relationships, it's important to talk about things that are relevant to the person. If you ask how their vacation to Rhodes went when they previously said they were staying home, then the relationship will be affected.

An easy way to do this is to collect and save information that is important to your particular industry, your sales process, and what you will be sending out. This could include the role of the contact (there is no point in sending information on how to sell better to marketers), whether or not they are customers, and if so, what products or services they have already purchased.

Then add that information to your CRM and marketing system, tag all existing contacts, and make sure to collect the information for all new contacts.

Educate and assist

Building relationships is about showing that you can help them and building trust based on that. You have knowledge that they don't, and they subscribed to your newsletter to learn from it. Give them tips and tricks, help them correct common mistakes, and give them as much knowledge as you can about how to best solve their problems.

When you focus on helping rather than selling, the relationship develops naturally, and you automatically become the company they think of and want to turn to when they are ready to buy.

Be personal

It is still not very common to be personal in B2B marketing, but it can be incredibly effective for relationship building. Your contacts want to know and feel that there are actually people behind all communication. Don't be afraid to use more personal language, share how you solved your problems, or show how one of your customers succeeded.

Another tip is to write emails using only text (just as you would when writing to a colleague or customer) and not with lots of design elements. This makes them even more personal.

"Remember that you can't sell via newsletters if your contacts don't even open them. So by building a reputation for sending out good mailings that people actually want to read, you'll get a good open rate and thus increase your chances of making a sale when you do send one out."

Sell at the right time

When you do sell, do it at the right time. Perhaps one of your blog posts fits perfectly with one of your services, or your latest customer success story is a perfect example of why your products are better than your competitors'.

You can sell in your emails, but make it a natural part of what you write about rather than a standing point in your emails. A good rule of thumb is to sell in 1 out of 4 emails. The rest are for relationship building.

Remember that you can't sell via newsletters if your contacts don't even open them. So by building a reputation for sending out good mailings that people actually want to read, you'll get a good open rate and thus increase your chances of making a sale when you do send one out.

Send out regularly

Just like any other relationship, email relationships need to be maintained. You can't build a relationship by contacting someone sporadically, as there is even a risk that the contact will forget about you and all your previous work will be for nothing. 

Be patient

Building relationships doesn't happen overnight, and B2B companies don't buy on impulse. Instead, it's important to invest in email marketing for the long term, continue to build relationships, and show that you can actually help them, and the results will come naturally.