Email Marketing Beginner Guide + 8 Tips for B2B Companies

What is email marketing?

This technique, also called emailing or e-mailing , is based on the mass sending of emails to a list of contacts. The email marketing is a mix of communication and direct marketing . Its decline has long been predicted, but this veteran marketing technique remains as prevalent as years ago. The email marketing of recruitment or loyalty continues to be one of the most profitable and effective actions for advertisers in terms of return.

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Potential customers are easily and efficiently reached. Not only to the inboxes, but directly to the customer's hand thanks to mobile devices. Many users have personal and business email configured on their smartphone or tablet. About half of the emails are opened from a mobile and this forces us to make their designs responsive. Thinking about email marketing today is thinking about mobile format, if we don't do it like that, our message will be dead even before reaching the consumer's hands. Hence, it is said many times that the evolution of email marketing is mobile email marketing.

Definition: what is email marketing?

The email marketing is a communication tool that allows the user to send messages to your email, adapting the content to different audiences for a variety of marketing objectives.

Although email marketing is traditionally thought of as a conversion-oriented channel, in reality this tool can fulfill many functions and adapt to a multitude of situations. These are just some examples:

Capture emails , to attract new customers to our brand (similar to "cold door" strategies).
Newsletters or informative bulletins to maintain the user's contact with the brand and communicate the news (changes in policies, product launches ...).
Administrative emails , for example, to send the user downloadable content or thank them for subscribing.
Loyalty emails , in which we seek to generate repeat purchases.

Email Marketing in Numbers

We can talk about the benefits and wonders of email marketing , but advertisers and marketing managers want to hear about metrics and numbers.

It is interesting to be able to see the results of the ADigital Research report on the use and perception of email marketing for 2019.

Accessing the internet has become a daily activity , 100% of those surveyed claim to connect daily, as a result of the high penetration of mobile devices. Men between 35 and 44 years old are somewhat more active, but there are hardly any differences by sex and age.
80% of users check their email several times a day and social networks . Next are the consumption of multimedia content, instant messaging services and the consumption of news media.
Gmail , with 74%, is the email service provider preferred by users, but Hotmail is the most used to subscribe to email marketing content .
Internet users have a fairly positive perception of email marketing in general , especially when it comes to product offers. The negative aspect would be the large number of emails received.
Consumers establish the optimal frequency of receiving emails at 1 a week , and it may be a maximum of 3 depending on the case.
The mail must be direct, simple and frank, have a short and clear subject and the presence of the terms "offer" and "promotion" can favor the opening.
The contents of travel, hotel and tourism offers are the ones that most favor the subscription to bulletins or newsletters.

Other sources also give us these good numbers:

The email marketing channel continues to have a high ROI (return on investment), since on average it returns $ 38 for every dollar invested.
48% of mail openings are made from smartphones.

The 4 fundamentals of email marketing that you should keep in mind for B2B email marketing

1) SMART objectives and a contact strategy

It's worth going back to the basics for setting SMART goals. The email marketing is one of the techniques that marketers use when they need to get out of trouble and to increase sales and conversions.

But as the saying goes, it is not the one who goes the fastest who arrives first, but the one who knows where he is going. And marketers must take our time to establish the objectives of each email. This is when the SMART technique comes in:

Specific (specific)
Measurable
Achievable (achievable)
Realistic
Timed (time)

SMART objectives will allow you to define clear KPIs, the contact strategies for each campaign or scheduled email and the frequency with which emails are sent to subscribers or contact bases and in response to what events.

2) The 3 Values to get leads via email

There are many techniques to grow your subscriber base and it is vital that you make the most of your own media and get contact emails thanks to new registrations.

Keep the 3Vs in mind for this.

Visibility . It's pretty obvious, but make sure the subscription method and CTAs are obvious. Some potential locations are the home page, on product or destination pages, on social media profiles, on transaction confirmation pages, in transactional emails, among other places.
Value . Why should anyone subscribe? List the benefits in the email you send.
Speed . It makes email registration a quick act. Put a simple form where the person leaves their email and with a single click on a button you will be given the quick answer to what the consumer wants. Do not first put a button that takes you to another landing, where the subscription is made, but you complicate the process and you can lose potential contacts along the way.

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3) Identify the correct metrics about email marketing

If you have clear goals, then these should reveal the right metrics to track.

Email marketing metrics can be divided into two types: process and results .

A few of each type:

Process metrics . These types of give indicators of trend over time, but by themselves they do not necessarily indicate that the campaign has been successful. Some examples are:
Accepted rate . The percentage of emails delivered with respect to the number of emails sent.
Bounce rate . The percentage of emails not delivered.
Open rate . The portentage of open emails.
Click-through rate (CTR). The percentage of recipients who have clicked on any of the links in the email.
Click-to-open rate (CTOR). It is the percentage of recipients who have clicked on any of the links contained in the email divided by the number of open emails, and the result is multiplied by 100. Thus, the quality of the content and the level of engagement can be evaluated.
Results metrics . They measure the objectives of a company or brand and are a better indicator of the success of an email marketing campaign. Some examples are:
New subscribers or registration fee .
Conversion rate . The percentage of recipients who sign up based on the purpose of the email.
Value of an email address . Average lifespan of an email. This kpi is used to determine how much money you are willing to invest in obtaining a new customer.
Cost per acquisition . The average amount required to acquire a record or customer.
Return by email . The amount of income obtained during a campaign divided by the number of emails delivered, opened or clicked.
Return per customer . The average or median of income generated across all contact base members or converts.
Average order value .
Lifetime value . The money that a subscriber spends with you during their lifetime in your contact base.

4) The 3 metrics of unsubscribing

The 3 Vs do not only apply to registration capture, but also to unsubscribe or unsubscribe processes.

Visibility . Do not put it in a lowercase font. Make the option look good so recipients can easily unsubscribe.
Value . Provides unsubscribers with an easy-to-use preferences process. This will allow recipients to change their registration address, alter the frequency of mailing or content preferences. This allows them to update their data quickly. You can also offer to contact them by other means, such as by SMS or direct mail.
Speed . Again, it should be quick to unsubscribe. Optimized for mobile, no need to log in and no waiting two weeks.

Email re-targeting or email re-marketing

The email retargeting is based on recording the behavior of your users through cookies to offer email campaigns really tailored to your needs.

These are the basic steps of an email retargeting plan :

1) A user visits your website and fills in the form to subscribe to your mailing list.
2) Their name and contact details are automatically added to your email tool.
3) You create a series of personalized emails to convert the interested user into a customer.
4) You send a first introductory email and measure the responses: has the user opened the email? Have you clicked on any of the links? Have you visited the page?
5) Depending on the results of step 4, you can now create personalized emails for any situation and continue to interact with your potential customer every step of the way to conversion.
6) Based on the following interactions, you can classify users into categories to offer them specially tailored email series.
7) Step by step and email to email, users consume your content until they are ready to become customers.

From this generic process, the possibilities are practically endless. Here are seven ideas to personalize your email retargeting campaigns and make your email marketing truly effective:

1) Customize your campaigns based on searches made by the user on Google and other search engines.
2) Personalization based on the products they have seen, the actions they have taken or those they have left halfway through (for example, abandoning a shopping cart).
3) Create differentiated campaigns according to the channel through which users have reached your website.
4) Target specifically users who are active and interact with your emails, perhaps to offer them some kind of reward or special offer.
5) Target users who have visited a site affiliated with yours and that is focused on similar topics.
6) Create a specific campaign for individuals who have interacted with your brand's online games and applications.
7) Focus on users who consume similar content as your brand's customers.

Email Marketing: How to Really Connect with B2B Companies

1) Provides value

Nobody (or almost nobody) gives something for nothing. When a user subscribes to your mailing list, they expect to get a reward that is valuable to them: the answer to a question, the solution to a problem, information or even just entertainment.

The more value you contribute to your subscribers, the more they trust you and the more likely they will want to do something for you ... like buy your products.

So when designing the content of your emails, ask yourself a simple question: how can you add value to your audience of e mail marketing ? To get off to a good start, you can offer guides, ebooks, or other valuable content as an incentive to subscribe to your mailing list.

2) Segment and personalize

Sending the wrong message to the wrong person can be a disaster for connecting with your audience. When a subscriber receives irrelevant messages, they may feel like you are wasting their time and start ignoring your messages, unsubscribing, or worse, marking your emails as spam.

How to solve it? Start by knowing your audience in order to establish segments. Age, city where they live, marital status, interests ... use the most relevant parameters for your brand and divide your email marketing audience into groups. Creating personalized content for each group takes more time than sending mass emails, but it is a worthwhile investment.

3) Welcome new users

The welcome email can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship ... or the end. First impressions count, so you have to fine tune your shot to hit the first message you send to a new user after subscribing.

To connect with your audience and get your relationship off to a good start, be sure to include at least these points:

A thank you for joining your list. Everyone likes to feel important and valued!
A presentation of your company.
An explanation of the type of content that they will receive in the emails.
Some extra valuable content (of course, if you've promised users an ebook or guide in exchange for their email, don't forget to include it!).

4) Listen to your subscribers

All relationships have two parts, so if you want to connect with your audience, you will have to learn to listen to them. Encourage them to send you feedback and always respond to their queries to build a relationship of trust. And of course, their comments will help you refine your strategy more and more, so you too will win.

8 email marketing tips for B2B companies

1) Optimize your database

Every email marketing strategy starts from the creation of a database, that is, a contact list of people, companies and entities with whom you are interested in establishing business relationships.

To create a good database, keep these principles in mind:

Include all the necessary information . The name, company and email are essential, but you are also interested in knowing the position of that person, if they are responsible for making decisions, how you got in contact for the first time or if they have responded to your previous emails.
The data protection is very important, so you should make sure your list meets all standards of the RGPD. In particular, it is essential that the user has given their consent to be included in the list and that you offer them the possibility to unsubscribe at any time.
The contents and the product demonstrations are a classic "hook" to expand the database, but don't forget that you can also pull professional or even social contacts .
Remember that quality is more important than quantity. Only include contacts who are genuinely interested in your products and services and who have an influential role in purchasing for your company or organization. As you launch email campaigns, you can filter those users who do not respond.

2) Know the recipients

The B2B companies typically have one or more public specific to their email marketing campaigns. Before launching your message blindly, you need to be clear about who the users of your products or services really are and create a buyer persona that helps clarify what they need.

To create effective email campaigns, you must clarify at least the following points regarding the recipients:

Type of company in which they work.
Position they occupy.
Challenges they face in their work.
How they prefer to solve these problems.

3) Create emails focused on action

The ultimate goal of any email marketing campaign is to get users to do something. For example, you may want your users to take advantage of an offer, hire a trial or buy a specific product.

Well, the good news is that your actions have a great influence on the outcome. The most decisive factor is the call to action : choosing the right one can increase click-through rate by 371% and product sales by 1617% (yes, you read that right).

The most important keys are to include a single call to action for each email and make it attractive, arouse curiosity and activate the sense of urgency of users.

4) Take advantage of affairs

Most B2B business buyers receive dozens or even hundreds of emails a day. So it makes sense to think that many of them are overlooked.

To get the attention of your potential audience and get them to open the email, you have only one chance: create an irresistible subject . Not sure what might work? Brainstorm different types of titles and put them to the test with A / B tests .

5) The brief, yes well ...

One thing that almost all B2B email marketing campaigns have in common is that they target very busy people. And this means that they simply don't have time for long emails.

You have very little time to convince your recipient to take the action you are looking for, so take advantage of it. Write short emails, with a few short paragraphs and the necessary white space. And remember that many times they will be read diagonally, so highlight the most important aspects of your offer in bold and repeat them at the beginning and at the end.

6) Customize the messages

Personalizing messages increases the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns. It is no longer just a matter of including the name in the greeting, but of creating personalized micro offers based on the needs of each user. (Hence the importance of having a complete database).

In addition to ensuring that the email responds to the needs of the recipient, it is also interesting to personalize the texts in such a way that the user has no doubt that we are addressing him and only him. After all, we all like to feel special.

7) Offer value

In the end, the key to an effective email marketing campaign is to add value to users and make them have a good reason to click. Some ideas: offer free advice, include discounts, host events, or give away free samples and trials. The important thing is that it is something valuable to the audience you are addressing.

8) Use social proof

We can't help it: human beings are "copycats" by nature. At one point or another, we are all tempted to imitate what our friends do, or to buy a product just because someone we admire uses it.

To take advantage of this very human trend in your email marketing campaigns, include statistics about your products, user testimonials or logos of the brands that already trust you.

The best email marketing techniques for B2B Companies

1) Know your audience

If you shoot arrows with your eyes closed, you will almost certainly miss your mark. Well, exactly the same thing happens with your email marketing. Before starting to launch email campaigns, you need to be clear about the answer to these 5 questions:

Who is your target audience? (Age, sex, location, social class ...)
What do they buy?
Why do they buy it?
What motivates them to buy?
How do they buy?

Remember that the more you know your audience, the more persuasive you will be.

If you wanted to enrich your audience with email search engine you can use our software emailsearch.io

2) Write compelling subjects

If there is a definitive factor for the success of your email campaigns, it is the subject of your emails. And it is that it depends on whether the recipients open the message or discard it.

It doesn't matter how compelling your offer is or how well written the body of the email is: if the recipients don't open it, you will have lost your chance to reach them forever. So you have to use the subject to make them an offer that they can't refuse. These tips will help you get there:

Do not roll: you have a limited number of characters and a few seconds of attention.
Personalize the subject to the recipient.
Do not reveal all the details of what is inside the email. One clue is enough.
Use calls to action.
Avoid false promises and words that trigger spam filters.

3) The good, if brief, twice as good

Today, most emails are opened on mobile devices. And there is nothing less comfortable than reading long texts on your mobile. So apply these guidelines to be as concise as possible:

Use simple words and short phrases.
Do not put more than 2 or 3 sentences per paragraph.
Eliminate unnecessary words.
Use dashes and pens to present your ideas.

4) Customize the message

Personalization helps you grab the attention of your audience and let them know that you know and remember them. For this reason, personalized email marketing campaigns achieve much better results for startups.

How to get it? Follow these steps:

Collect data about your users (name, location, preferences ...)
Take into account the time of sending the emails and take advantage of the highlighted dates.
Configure automatic emails based on user behavior.

5) Do A / B tests

If you want to take your startup email marketing to the next level, A / B tests are essential . Experiment with one variable at a time, measure the results and don't be afraid to let your hair down and try your craziest ideas. You never know what might end up working!

Benefits of working with an email marketing company like Mailchimp

The majority of companies, 75%, assume the management of email marketing internally despite the fact that they recognize that they do not have the expertise or sufficient resources. In the same way, more than half do not carry out any type of testing prior to launching their email marketing campaigns , when this is essential to see if the contact base, the appropriate copies or the creativity with more are being chosen well. engagement. Experts recommend carrying out a test before launching the campaign, to put yourself in the user's shoes and see what they need. This is how it is possible to increase the opening and click-through rates of emailing .

If brands and advertisers work with an agency specialized in email marketing like Cyberclick , they will optimize their processes and improve results, apart from these benefits:

Initial consulting. Helps clarify communication and recruitment objectives. It is important that the marketing expert advises what is the best strategy to follow.
Create the campaigns. They support the design of email marketing creatives , landing pages, forms, with a focus on increasing CTRs and LTRs. With their experience you can choose the most appropriate content to increase the conversion rate.
A / B testing. The advertiser's investment should not be compromised without first carrying out a test with the creatives and seeing the reactivity of the market. Performance marketing agencies guarantee certain results, but they never forget to carry out the testing phase. In this phase, different types of creatives and messages are tested, to find the best formula. Marketers can also measure the response of the market during the campaign and the quality of the traffic received to the site, but for this it is necessary to work hand in hand with the brand and that it provides the data of registrations / sales to cross information and draw conclusions.
Analysis of the campaigns. It is important to look for an agency that transfers the metrics with as much transparency and detail as possible, breaking down the databases that have been used in the A / B testing phase.
Define the optimal costs for the viability of the email marketing strategy in the medium and long term. After the testing phase, it is possible to see if the economic investment with which the campaign has begun to be distributed is the best or should be changed (up or down). It is in this phase that the recruitment email marketing campaign and work dynamics would be launched on a large scale .
Diffusion. Agencies often have exclusive networks of quality, proprietary or third-party contact bases, which they know will give them good results depending on the type of campaign and segmentation they want to attack. We, for example, already know which support bases give us good results and then we can commit to high volumes of registrations, to establish a level of quality and to take care of optimal CPAs for advertisers.
Creativity and innovation. Actions on the internet are living, changing entities that evolve over time. For this reason, brands should seek that the marketing professionals who manage their email marketing campaigns incorporate new features in mature campaigns (and be a bit more conservative in new ones). You have to think that if a campaign works well, it can always work much better.

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