Without exaggeration, I have sent out MILLIONS of emails, and proudly, with minimum “unsubscribes.” One reason for these results is, well… I always keep top-of-mind that I am sending SPAM. This is a mindset that keeps me humble and forces me to edit and re-edit the content before I hit send.
Part of any successful B2B marketing strategy involves the integration of email. Strategically crafted emails can achieve optimal results in the areas of lead generation, lead nurturing and convert existing customers into repeat buyers.
Benefits of B2B email marketing
- Inexpensive brand awareness
- Lead generation / customer journey steps
- Database development
- Highly targeted and dynamic
- Shorter lead time
- Easy to test and refine
- Measurable ROI
- Better conversation rates
- Unlimited global reach
- Infinitely scalable
- 100% flexible
Here are my 12 IMHO email marketing tips. (that’s In My Humble Opinion, BTW.)
IMHO 1 | Use many opt-in forms
The best way to build a list of email subscribers is to use opt-in forms where ever you can. Even you think you have placed a lot opt-forms in your site, your forms may be still invisible to your visitors.
You can put your opt-in forms in the following places on your website.
- The feature box
- Sidebar
- After single post
- Footer
- On your about page
- The little bar across the top of your site
- Lightbox pop-up opt-in forms
- On your LinkedIn pages/posts
IMHO 2 | Emails should be optimized for mobile devices
We all use our mobile devices to read emails. If your emails are not optimized for mobile, the penalty is severe. Most mobile recipients will delete those emails that are not optimized for mobile. Don’t make me have to pitch and zoom your webform.
IMHO 3 | Create a custom thank you / please confirm process
A “thank you page” is the final page that your visitors will see after they fill up and submit the opt-in forms. This is a good opportunity to give a pleasing end to the experience by customizing the page and offer more content.
Don’t use a default thank you page. That’s the marketing equivalent of a 404. Create use custom thank you page for every opt-in form:
- A custom thank you page can make your page look more personalized, leaving good impression for your subscribers.
- A custom thank you page can allow you to add additional information on the page, such as your contact information, links to some of your popular articles, images, additional calls to action, etc.
IMHO 4 | Use the double opt-in process to get permission from subscribers
This is very important, especially in context to EU’s GDPR and Canada's CSTL. Trigger a “please confirm” email to get confirmation from real subscriber to keep your domain off blacklists. Double opt-in also eliminates the opportunity of abuse where a bad actor submits other’s email address without their knowledge and against their will.
IMHO 5 | Optimize the call-to-action button
Make the button obvious, by any manner that suits your page. Here are some random ideas when optimizing your call-to-action button.
- The size of the button should be 20% larger than its surrounding elements.
- The button should be placed in an obvious location throughout your site. For example, on the top of your page or sidebar.
- Use whitespace around a call-to-action button to have the button stand out in areas where there are many visual elements.
- Use highly contrasting colors for your call-to-action button.
- Always have one on your footer.
IMHO 6 | Openly allow people to unsubscribe
Yeah. It’s the law. But it’s also good marketing:
- Assures the transparency and authenticity of your brand.
- Self-cleanses your list.
- Helps mitigate blacklisting and “SPAM” tagging with commercial ISPs.
IMHO 7 | Have a plan
Before drafting a campaign, consider the objective. Is it to send out an email newsletter purely for informational purposes? Is it for lead generation or to share information to solve a customer’s problem? It all starts with knowing the objective.
IMHO 8 | Consider the ‘from’ moniker
The name that displays in the ‘from’ field determines if a recipient will delete the email. Remember to match this field to something familiar to the recipient – such as the brand the customer knows and trusts. Having a trusted from name encourages higher open rates from customers.
IMHO 9 | Create a compelling subject line
Just as the from name determined if a recipient will delete the email, the subject line will determine if the recipient opens the email. Try to utilize words that relate to the purpose of the email. If the email is for a product offer, leverage action words to stir a sense of urgency.
IMHO 10 | Test and retest
It seems silly to say, but it’s imperative to test emails before final sending. This includes testing items such as: email recipient platforms i.e. Outlook, Gmail, etc.), email templates, spam detection rules, formatting for mobile email recipients among other factors.
In B2B email marketing, we are predominantly Outlook-based. No matter what, get THAT perfect.
IMHO 11 | When to “blast”
To ensure optimal delivery, research a specific date and time to broadcast your email message. There are plenty of guidelines, but NO set rules. I use common sense and my own A/B testing.
- I don’t send on weekends as I don’t want my messaging to be buried in the Monday Morning email purge we all have to do.
- I have had great success sending a “week in review” email after 9:00 am ET on Mondays. I have trained recipients to look for it and get complaints if it’s late!
- I have had great success sending a lighter content “blog review” after 1:00 pm ET on Fridays.
- If it’s a large, “blast” comprised of several unorganized lists (especially with the <first name> field in doubt), I will send either at 11:15 am ET with a ‘Good Morning’ salutation of at 3:15 pm ET with a ‘Good Afternoon’ salutation.
IMHO 12 | …and on the topic of salutation
For clients communications, you MUST have your clients’ first name parsed and correct for personalized emails.
- In B2B, I never use ‘Hi <first name>, or ‘Hey <first name>,. Always ‘Dear <first name>. Formal, perhaps. But it’s always safe.
- If you REALLY want to use Hi as your salutation, don’t use the Oxford Whatever Approved format of ‘Hi, Bradley’ – it just looks wrong.
One point that is not just MY opinion: Learn and improve with analytics
Based on the KPI metrics, re-work the areas that show sub-optimal performance. If a particular area of the B2B email marketing campaign identified requires improvement, such as subject lines, A/B experiment with multiple subject lines and see which performs the best. With such dramatically improved results possible from email, it’s critical to understand the art and the data behind B2B email marketing.