If your organization focuses on B2B sales and you haven’t yet used email as a tool for marketing, you’re missing out on a lot.
Regardless of technological advancements, emails still rule the roost. They are ubiquitous, easy to work and contribute significantly to your firm’s revenue.
Statistics show that the average ROI of emails stands at $38 for every $1 spent. This proves why email is still the preferred choice of most businesses.
Heard of the maxim, Old is Gold?
Well, it stands true, at least, as far as emails are concerned. Though very old, email remains the most effective and impactful channel to market and sell your offerings.
In fact, email marketing is one of the best B2B sales strategies that can help you reach out to your potential customers, build a better bond with them, and convince them to choose your brand over others.
With endless strategies out there to help you with lead generation and sales, why would you opt for emails?
Here’s the answer.
- Email marketing works for businesses of all sizes.
- Emails are a great way to establish a personal connection.
- It’s quick, easy and convenient.
- Remember that not all your customers are extremely active on social media, which makes email the best option to reach out to them.
Why do you need emails for influencing B2B sales?
- 78% of businesses consider email marketing as one of the most common and effective strategies for lead generation.
- Emails help in establishing a personal connection with prospects. This helps in nurturing leads and converting them into revenue-generating customers.
- Email marketing works great in promoting your offers, discounts, free trials, etc. Reports suggest that 81% of online purchases are a result of targeted email campaigns.
- Emails are a great way of following up and closing deals and clocking repeat purchases.
How to generate B2B sales with email marketing?
#1. Quantify your goals
Having vague organizational goals is a big NO. You need to be crystal clear as to what you want to achieve over a particular period. Remember that your marketing objectives are closely linked to your firm’s goals. If you cannot figure out your real goals, setting objectives for your email marketing campaign will become all the more difficult.
For an effective email marketing campaign that drives sales, the very first thing you need to do is identify your goals and quantify them.
#2. Know your database properly
Your database is not just a bunch of email IDs. It is a list of your potential customers with their names, preferences, requirements, and much more. Segregating your contacts into potential customers, regular customers, or repeat customers can help you personalize your email marketing campaigns and target the right audience.
You can also segment your email subscribers and deliver targeted, personalized, and relevant email marketing to them – something that is in alignment with their interests, buying patterns, geographic location, etc. A generic campaign will do no good, as the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach doesn’t fit well in all scenarios and for all types of customers.
#3. Solve, don’t sell
Being a B2B business, you shouldn’t forget the fact that your target market comprises companies that are either in the industry for long or have just taken the plunge. But, one thing is for sure – these firms are run by people who have in-depth knowledge about the industry and are well-versed with selling and marketing strategies. So impressing them is not going to be a cakewalk.
The key is to adopt a problem-solving approach instead of a sales-centric one. You can do this by focusing on providing prospects with relevant solutions. Once you show your capabilities, you will not have to indulge in direct selling of your products.
Let prospects know how your products can help them increase their efficiency or solve a problem. What can be a better way to do this than through emails. Make sure that you share interesting and valuable emails with your clients at regular intervals. This will draw their attention to you, which means half of your battle is already won. This is one of the best B2B sales techniques that can go a long way in growing your sales.
#4. Make your subject line your trump card
Let’s face it – we all tend to ignore emails most of the time if we don’t find them relevant for us. But, there is an exception. Emails with catchy, mind-bending subject lines do get our attention, and we end up reading the entire email. I can’t generalize, but I have experienced it many times.
A subject line acts as a teaser to a full motion picture, so you have to make it interesting. No one likes to read a lackluster, irrelevant, and vague subject line. Email subject lines need to be attention-grabbing, convincing people to click and act. Besides making them creative, you can personalize the subject lines so that readers feel a connection as soon as they read them.
If you realize the importance of customer experience, you will understand how crucial it is to keep these little things in mind when it comes to emails.
#5. Keep it simple
One of the most common mistakes in B2B emails is that they get too formal. Most marketers make this mistake due to the perception that business emails need to be a certain way – formal, systematic, technical, etc. This is where things go wrong.
You need to understand that even if it is a B2B sales email, it doesn’t always end up in a CEO’s mailbox. There’re various hierarchies in a firm, and your email might reach someone who is a junior in a team. If he or she doesn’t understand what your email is about, likely, it won’t be shared with the higher management. And you lose a potential lead here.
This says it all. The language of your B2B emails needs to be business-like but not technical to the point that it becomes difficult to understand. Keep it as simple and straight-forward as you can.
#6. Avoid landing in the spam folder
Ending up in a spam folder is the last thing you want, as it can drastically decrease the success rate of your email marketing campaign. When an email goes to the spam folder, it automatically loses its chance to be noticed or read.
To avoid this situation, you must always authenticate your domain. An authenticated email validates your authority, identity, and intent. It is the first step towards letting your potential clients know that you mean business. Often, marketers overlook this small detail, which negatively impacts their entire strategy. This is why authentication is crucial.
#7. Make surveys your best friend
To turn your email marketing into a roaring success, you need to know what your prospects are up to. This can happen if you ask them questions, and the best way to do so is by creating and sharing surveys over emails with the help of an online survey maker.
Consider the online survey as your best friend, as it will give you a peek into the preferences, needs, purchase behavior, and attitudes of your potential customers. It will also give you a chance to ask for feedback or suggestions in case they have tried your product. Leverage this information for your product development and process improvement.
Do online research for some survey question examples pertaining to your industry, take a cue from them, and accordingly create the questions that you feel are relevant for your customers.
Final verdict
At a time when technology has made in-roads in various industries, and new methods of attracting clients have surfaced, it’s surprising that emails today are not just relevant but also effective.
Marketing through emails has endless benefits. It helps you in initiating a direct conversation with customers. It establishes a formal point of contact, enabling you to put your point across directly. Email marketing also promises a handsome ROI, both financially and lead-wise.
It’s the go-to strategy to reach out to your target audience and increase your B2B sales. Regardless of whether you deal with individuals or businesses, emails are instrumental in striking the right chords. Email marketing works wonders, especially when it comes to reaching out to prospects and convincing them to choose your brand. It helps you sow the seed of a fruitful relationship that keeps growing with time, provided you continue watering and nurturing it.
Guest author: Angela White is an ed-tech enthusiast with a passion for writing for the consumer market in the areas of product research and marketing using quizzes and surveys. Having a knack for writing and an editorial mindset, she is an expert researcher at a brand that’s known for creating delightfully smart tools such as ProProfs Survey Maker.
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