The great thing about email as a marketing tool is how remarkably flexible it is. It can be used to generate B2B leads at the top end of the sales funnel, it can be used to push prospects through the sales funnel if they happen to be stuck in the middle, and it can be used to convert a prospect at the bottom end of the sales funnel. With that in mind, here’s a brief look at 4 proven email tips for generating B2B sales.
Tip #1: Segment your email messages to different audiences and sets of buyers
This may sound obvious, but it’s always surprising how many companies blast out the same message to every prospect or every lead. With the wealth of new email vendor packages available today, it’s possible to do far more than just customize messages for certain titles or certain functions – you can also customize messages for exactly where those buyers are in the sales process. If there’s one big takeaway message here, it’s to scale back on the “one-size-fits-all messaging” that so many companies still embrace.
Tip #2: Focus on information and education, not promotion
If you’ve just released a brand-new product and you happen to think it’s fantastic, it’s easy to just send out emails telling prospects how wonderful this new product is. However, buyers have very little tolerance for purely promotional emails. Odds are, they won’t even open the email – they’ll just delete it entirely. To avoid that problem, you need to provide content that’s educational and informational. Maybe provide a case study of why that product works so well. Or provide a vendor buying guide that compares this product to other competitors on the market.
Tip #3: Send all email prospects to an optimized landing page
Within the email itself, there are ways to optimize the Call-to-Action (CTA) – as well as the link where you are actually sending people. Studies have shown that it’s best to direct prospects right to an optimized landing page, where the solution has been highlighted, and not just to the homepage. After all, you don’t want these prospects to have to work too hard to find the right information! Also, the landing page copy should be optimized for conversion. Make it very clear what the prospect is supposed to do.
Tip #4: Constantly refine the subject headlines
When deciding whether or not to read an email, prospects will always consider the subject headline. So you have to make sure that it’s not so long that it “breaks” when the prospect is reading it on a tablet or other digital device. And you have to make sure that it is compelling and relevant enough that people are inclined to click. Actually, when it comes to email, there’s a lot of room to use simple A/B testing here. You can try out and compare how different subject headings perform. This is particularly true when reaching out to prospects at the top of the sales funnel.
With these email tips, you’ll have a lot easier time moving people through the sales funnel. You’ll have an effective way to attract new prospects, as well as a way to maximize the conversion rates of existing prospects as they make their way through the sales funnel.
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Dane
Dane Cobain is a published author, freelance writer, book blogger, poet and (occasional) musician from High Wycombe, UK. Before going freelance, he worked as a social media marker, now specialising in writing about publishing, technology and marketing.