You have a big favor to ask someone you don’t know. Maybe you’re organizing a charity ball and need sponsorships, or perhaps you want to make a case for why your company would be the perfect partner for theirs.
Either way, you’ll need to get the attention of an executive at another company, and it’s up to you to capture their interest in just one email. Since writing that email is no small task, I’ve compiled this list of best practices for writing a B2B marketing email that gets results:
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Craft a Compelling Subject Line |
| 2. Address the Recipient’s Pain Points |
| 3. Provide a Clear Value Proposition |
| 4. Personalize the Email Content |
| 5. Use a Strong Call-to-Action |
| 6. Maintain a Professional Tone |
| 7. Test and Optimize for Maximum Impact |
| 8. Segment Your Audience for Relevance |
| 9. Keep the Email Design Clean and Readable |
| 10. Analyze Metrics for Continuous Improvement |
1. Get To The Point
You should get to the point in the first line.
Getting to the point has two benefits. First, you’re likely to get more opens by being concise and direct, which will help your company look professional and trustworthy.
Second, because you’re getting right down to business instead of wasting time on something other than providing value (like an introduction).
Any recipient who reads all of it will appreciate that they didn’t have to do any guessing about what was important or relevant within your message.
The fewer words you can use and still convey something useful, the better off you are as a marketer—and this means that every word counts even more than usual when it comes time to writing copy for email marketing campaigns!
There are two ways that many marketers make this mistake: either they go overboard with their introductions or they neglect them entirely in favor of just jumping right into whatever product pitch came next on their list for today’s writing session.
Neither approach is ideal here; both leave room for improvement by injecting some personality into what would otherwise be very dry/formal text blocks from which nothing really shines through except maybe some boring stock images like those found at places like Adobe Stock Photos™©®™©®™©®™ (seriously don’t use those).
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2. Use A Compelling Subject Line
Make sure it’s relevant to the content. If you’re sending an email about a sale on your products, don’t use a generic subject line like “Hello.”
Use keywords that relate back to your product or service. You want people who are interested in what you have to say and might be looking for more information about it.
Use numbers in the subject line if possible (but be careful not to overdo it). This makes it easy for someone who is just scanning their inboxes to see what’s happening at a glance without having to open up each message individually!
Emojis can work well here too just make sure they’re relevant! Otherwise, it will look like spam . . . and we all know how much people love receiving unsolicited emails from companies they don’t know anything about!
If there was one thing I could improve upon in my marketing efforts, this would probably be it: Making sure my subject lines were always interesting enough so that recipients couldn’t help but click on them right away out of curiosity alone (or lack thereof).
One way I’ve found success doing this is by starting with something short and sweet that piques curiosity while still being straightforward enough where they know exactly what type of information will follow afterward once they open up our email itself.”
3. Write Your Email In A Conversational Tone
Your emails should be friendly and professional without being over the top. You don’t have to unnecessarily use exclamation points, but you can still achieve that fun, engaging tone that makes people want to read more of your emails!
Use a friendly tone (with the occasional exclamation point). A friendly tone is the most useful way to communicate with customers because it makes you seem like an actual person rather than some distant corporate entity.
A friendly tone helps build trust between you and your customers as well as makes it easier for them to relate to, which ultimately leads to higher sales and a better customer service experience overall!
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4. Optimize Your Calls-To-Action
Optimizing your calls to action is critical. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:
Make sure they’re easy to find. If a user has to hunt around for the CTA, then they probably won’t bother clicking on it. It makes sense that the more visible your CTAs are, the more likely they’ll be clicked on by users.
When designing your email template, make sure that you have at least one CTA per page with a contrasting color and text so it stands out from the rest of your email’s design elements.
Make sure they’re easy to read (and click). Your CTAs should be written clearly so that anyone who reads them knows exactly what action you want them to take when presented with an opportunity for conversion (i.e., purchasing something from you).
Not only does this ensure that users don’t hesitate before clicking through, but also helps build trust between brand and customer – after all, nobody wants their inbox full of spammy email messages!
5. Keep Your Copy Short And Sweet
Make your messages short and sweet. This is something you should do in an email, but also on your website, Twitter feed, and other marketing materials.
You can have a very long paragraph if you want to show off how much research you did (and this is usually a good thing), but most of the time it’s better to break it into shorter chunks.
We recommend using fewer than 10 words per line and no more than three paragraphs per message and each paragraph should be no longer than two sentences.
It’s even better if they’re just one sentence! If a customer reads through what you’re sending them before they decide whether or not they want to click through, then great but if not? Well, that’s ok too because most people don’t read past two sentences anyway!
6. Be Mindful Of Your Tone
Once you’ve got a few lines of the email written, it’s time to focus on tone. The tone is the most important thing in an email when it comes to B2B marketing.
You can have the best subject line and content in the world, but if your tone isn’t on point, your message won’t reach its full potential.
What does “tonal perfection” even mean? It means being professional, but not too stiff; polite and helpful, but not boring; friendly without being too familiar or overly casual; concise without being too short-and so on.
The goal here is to strike a balance between these extremes while still sounding like yourself (so long as that self is someone who knows how to communicate professionally).
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7. Avoid Icky Corporate Talk
Remember, you’re trying to connect with someone who might not know you or your company. If they can’t understand what you’re writing, they’ll delete it. So avoid jargon and buzzwords like the plague.
And don’t use corporate-speak: “The goal of this email is to increase sales.” Instead say something that feels natural and conversational, like “I want to help you increase sales.”
Finally, punctuation matters! It’s best not to use exclamation points in emails because they come across as desperate (even if they’re not).
Lastly: remember that subject lines matter too! Your email subject line should be simple and concise no more than five words at most and mention what’s in it for them immediately so that recipients will open it up without hesitation.
8. Include Relevant Content Offers
The next step is to offer relevant content offer. This is where you give your audience something of value in exchange for their email address and permission to continue sending them marketing emails.
In short, it’s a bribe. But it works because people want your product or service, so giving them extra value will make them more likely to commit by giving up their email address for a chance at something bigger.
It can be something related directly to the message or offer you just made (like an ebook), or it could be something else that would interest your target audience (such as a webinar).
Either way, this should be relevant content that helps reinforce why they should sign up now instead of later it also serves as another incentive for them to join to get access before anyone else does!
9. Tap Into Industry Trends And Newsworthy Topics
There are always newsworthy topics to tap into and take advantage of the best marketing emails are those that integrate the latest trends, newsworthy events, and new product launches into the email copy.
For example:
If there’s a scandal in your industry, use it as an opportunity to talk about how you won’t be following suit (and instead do things differently).
If a competitor releases a new product or service, use this information as an opportunity to talk about why your customers should choose you instead.
You could even mention an existing feature or benefit that makes your offering better than theirs or just mention it in passing so that people remember all the value they get from working with you over them!
10. Personalize Your Emails With Dynamic Content
Personalization is one of the most powerful tools you have in your B2B email marketing arsenal. It shows you care about your prospects, and it shows that you’re paying attention to them and their unique needs.
Dynamic content is an easy way to personalize emails because it allows you to embed information about each prospect into the body of your email as well as into the subject line and any links within the email.
This can be accomplished using a simple formula like [First Name] + [Last Name].
For example: “Hey John Smith! Here’s my proposal for helping grow your business…” Or even better, if his name was not John Smith but instead Wilfred Smith III (who doesn’t love a good Dr. Seuss reference?), then maybe something like this would work better: “Wilfred Smith III!
Here’s my proposal for helping grow your business…”
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11. Build Credibility By Leveraging Trust Symbols
Trust symbols can help build credibility, which will increase the likelihood that your subscriber will believe you when you say something. These include logos, seals of approval, and testimonials.
You should always have these three things on hand in your email marketing system because they are so powerful at helping you establish trust with your subscribers.
When you start a new campaign or send an update on one that’s already been going for a while, consider adding them to the email.
For example: “The best way to make sure you get the most out of our blog posts is by subscribing…,[insert trust symbol here].”
Use trust symbols to increase the credibility of your content and brand as well as that of individual emails in campaigns over time.
12. Do Not Use Excessive Exclamation Points
It’s incredibly easy to fall into the trap of using excessive exclamation points in your emails. But before you do that, remember that you’re writing to a professional audience, not a friend. Excessive use of exclamation points makes your message look unprofessional and amateurish.
This is especially true at the beginning of sentences or emails as it can be interpreted as an attempt to sound excited or enthusiastic about something when there isn’t anything exciting taking place (or should be).
For example: “We have some exciting news! We’ve decided to expand our team!” doesn’t sound right because it comes off as too jovial because of all the extra punctuation marks used by the writer.
It’s far better simply to state what happened without any unnecessary commas or periods for emphasis and then let them draw their conclusions about how excited they should get about this news!
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Conclusion
As you can see, there are plenty of opportunities to be creative with your B2B marketing emails. The best way to get started is simply by launching an email campaign and seeing what works for you.
More likely than not, over time you will have created a company-wide standard that meets your needs and resonates with your audience. If you haven’t already, set up an account for your team on HubSpot today!
Further Reading
Explore these additional resources to enhance your understanding of B2B email marketing campaigns:
Deskera’s Guide to B2B Email Marketing Campaigns: Discover effective strategies and best practices for running successful B2B email marketing campaigns.
Mailtastic’s Ultimate B2B Email Marketing Guide: Dive deep into the world of B2B email marketing with insights on crafting compelling emails and maximizing engagement.
HubSpot’s Comprehensive Guide to B2B Marketing: Learn from industry experts about B2B marketing techniques, trends, and proven strategies for driving business growth.
FAQs
How can I create impactful B2B email marketing campaigns?
Crafting impactful B2B email marketing campaigns involves understanding your target audience, personalizing content, and delivering relevant value propositions.
What are some key elements of a successful B2B email marketing strategy?
A successful B2B email marketing strategy includes building a segmented email list, creating compelling subject lines, designing responsive emails, and analyzing campaign metrics for continuous improvement.
How can I optimize B2B emails for higher engagement?
To optimize B2B emails for higher engagement, focus on delivering valuable and relevant content, using clear and concise language, incorporating strong calls-to-action, and ensuring mobile-friendly formatting.
What are some effective ways to measure the success of B2B email campaigns?
Effective measurement of B2B email campaign success involves tracking metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and overall ROI to gauge the impact and effectiveness of your campaigns.
How can I leverage automation in B2B email marketing?
Automation can streamline B2B email marketing by enabling personalized workflows, timely follow-ups, and behavior-triggered emails, ultimately enhancing customer engagement and nurturing leads.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.