B2B Email Marketing Strategies

Though social media marketing has advanced leaps and bounds, it’s still no match for email marketing. The same can be said for B2B email marketing – when used properly, it can be a valuable marketing strategy.

The reasons for which are simple:

• Email marketing is more scalable and less intrusive than telemarketing
• Email marketing can be more personalized and interactive than direct mail
• It’s cheaper and more measurable

But what businesses often forget is to pair email marketing with other means of marketing. Email marketing alone will not suffice. To make matters worse, businesses often think of marketing as a tool to sell to customers a certain way, instead of using marketing to let customers buy their own way. So businesses send out unwanted sales messages or company news just so their name and product are “heard.” While you may get a modicum of notice, it’s a waste of energy.

A study by the Corporate Executive Board found that at least 57 percent of B2B buyers have researched the product they intend to purchase before they contact the seller. However, the study also commented that buyers contact possible vendors after 70 percent of their own research.

With that in mind, companies are using content marketing to position themselves into that first 57 percent of buyers’ research. It’s a no-brainer, then, that a company’s email marketing campaign should also focus on this 57 percent margin.

The best way to do so?

Align email marketing with your sales cycle. Speak with the sales team about the process leads and other customers deal with before and during the buying process, such as:

• What questions are possible buyers asking the sales team?
• What are their biggest points of aggravation?
• How long is the sales cycle?

After compiling answers, performing content mapping, or a content audit, is the best way to ensure that the information on your website is giving customers the answers they’re looking for.

Not surprisingly, engaging and personalizing each email communication makes for the most successful email marketing. By using the behaviors they demonstrate on a business’s website, email marketers can personalize each stage of the sales cycle, showing the way to a more effective business strategy. Behavior segmented email coupled with a lead scoring system can improve conversion rates from marketing to sales. Email can be a powerful way for B2B organizations to drive action with contacts, as well as nurture leads throughout the sales process.

Source: https://www.business2community.com/b2b-marketing/b2b-e-mail-marketing-pro-tip-understand-sales-cycles-0808488