How to send B2B emails that people actually open

Let’s be honest here, our inboxes are regularly filled with newsletters and in the spirit of this month, Black Friday discount codes. In B2B, you know that email marketing is an essential tactic. However, you haven’t got to grips with it for your business yet, even though you’ve been thinking about it for a long time.

You might even have some emails on an old database or an email system like Marketing Cloud already set up, and you just never use it.

The blocker you always face — what would I even say that my audience would care about?

Time-pressed teams without a clear strategy find setting up even a simple monthly email overwhelming. I recently spoke to a prospect who had implemented an email system 9 months ago and was only just seeking support on the first campaign.

Email is alive and well

Many will say ‘email is dead’, ‘inboxes are full’  etc – and the reality is, it’s just not the case. There are many benefits for b2b organisations, and the stats back it up:

  • Direct access to your clients and prospects — 77% of B2B buyers say they prefer to be contacted by email than any other channel.
  • Ability to segment & personalise messaging — Personalised emails are opened 82% more than generic bulk-send emails.
  • Build brand awareness, educate, promote and nurture those who aren’t ready to buy just yet — that 95% who are ‘out-market’.

 

Marketing Funnel graphic

 

Getting our customers up and running with email campaigns and automations has proved nothing but effective. One customer converted 88% of its clients with just one email and a Marketing Cloud client re-activation campaign made over £80k in revenue. Another regularly receives over 65% open rate and a 9.38% click-through rate on their campaigns – a clear example that they are building brand awareness and trust with their audience (average open rates sit at 21.3%, with average CTRs at 2.3%).

Here are a few things we recommend that support email marketing success:

  • Consistency — choose a schedule you can keep, and stick to it.
  • Ongoing Database Management — only send to your ‘engaged’ readers. To boost this list, send a re-engagement campaign every 6 months. Finally, keep your data clean to avoid poor deliverability.
  • Welcome Flow — after signing up, remind readers what to expect.
  • Human Tone — speak to your audience like the humans they are, which is essential in all modern communications.
  • Unique Value — offer something helpful or valuable to your audience. Perhaps it’s an interesting case study, solutions that will solve their pain points or articles that will demonstrate your expertise and offer unique insights.

 

No one-size-fits-all

The key to all of this is ensuring you’re offering value to your audience. For many Simpala customers, it’s about nurturing those leads through relevant updates, timely messages and delivering valuable content that cuts through all the online clutter.

But where to start? Here are three questions to help you get started in defining an email strategy:

  • What pain points does your audience face that you can address with insights, advice, or resources? Do you have a recent client story to demonstrate this?
  • What action do you want a reader to take after reading your email?
  • What does success look like? Choose metrics: open rate, click-through rate, leads, replies, and sales.

 

 

Simpala can help you easily get started with Marketing Cloud and maximise its value every single month with our marketing services. Each activity in the platform connects to leads and contacts enabling you to review and test your content.

Find out what works and what isn’t resonating with your audience. Plus, trigger actions and flows off the back of email activity to help nurture your audience in their unique buying journey.

So, what are you waiting for?

Fancy a chat?