B2B Email Marketing
5 Tips for an Effective B2B Email Marketing Newsletter. E-mail newsletters are a true classic of online marketing.
The reasons are obvious: With hardly any other medium, you can reach such a large number of recipients at such a low cost. This also applies to use in the business customer sector as a B2B newsletter.
With an optimally set up newsletter campaign, you can link visitors to your website and further develop them into customers. But what exactly do you need to pay attention to when creating your optimal B2B email marketing newsletter so that it effectively achieves its goal?
I would like to share with you the 5 most important lessons from my experience as a B2B newsletter marketer.
Marketing Newsletter in B2B
The technical functionality of a marketing newsletter is hardly different in B2B and B2C. For both target groups, the choice of a powerful email marketing newsletter provider is crucial. This is the only way to ensure that your newsletter actually reaches the recipient! This is especially important for B2B campaigns, as it is intended to target a specific person as the decision maker. I therefore recommend a professional B2B newsletter software like Cleverreach.
Furthermore, the e-mail newsletter templates should comply with the current state of the art. They should be kept as simple as possible in order to avoid problems with the correct display of the newsletter in various e-mail programs (mail clients and browsers).
The specifics of B2B email marketing are therefore less in the technical field, but more in the content and tonality of the newsletters. Where the retail business usually attracts customers to web shops with discounts, the B2B newsletter is intended to convince customers of complex products and services.
The main focus is on the initiation of project transactions and the strengthening of your own brand image. To achieve this, the newsletters must be geared towards these
specific objectives.
Therefore, you should consider the following points when creating your Email Marketing Newsletter, not only for B2B Newsletter!
• The Optimal Newsletter topic
• The right tone
• A "relevant" subject
• The optimal shipping time for your newsletter
• Testing and Reporting
The optimal newsletter topic
If you are looking for the right topic for your next newsletter, please ask yourself the following question:
Why should the recipient right now open this newsletter from me?
Because these 3 questions decide on the number of clicks on your newsletter and thus on the visitors to your website!
Now:
A " news " letter should, as the name implies, transmit news. Therefore always try to choose a current thematic reference. In the web store area, of course, offer promotions and discounts. In the service sector, on the other hand, news on new business areas or on the current success story for B2B newsletters has proven itself for B2B newsletters.
Also, try to set up a time pressure at the receiver. As a business consultant you can offer a free consultation for the first 10 enquiries. Or you can provide your B2B customers a professional white paper for free download, but only within the next 24 hours.
This newsletter:
The B2B newsletter should offer the recipient a clear added value. It should not contain any redundant information that the recipient already knows from your website or from
the catalogue.
If your recipient feels that they are getting particularly exclusive information through your B2B email marketing newsletter, you can counteract the otherwise significantly declining
opening rates in Europe!
From me:
What do you have that your competitor does not have? Always put out your special value as a company. Present your most important core competences already as fixed menu items
in the template of your B2B newsletter.
Also use confidence-building signals such as seals of approval, test wins, customer reviews, and ISO certifications. All this can decide whether your recipient ultimately clicks or simply closes the newsletter again.
The right tone
"The sound makes the music"
This ancient wisdom is also confirmed in the choice of the optimal customer approach and tonality. Especially in the B2B area, the B2B newsletter templates should be a bit more restrained. In the B2C sector very "loud" designs are often used to attract the attention of the recipient.
My B2B experience shows that these designs are only partially suitable to present themselves as a serious business partner. I therefore recommend that you personally address
your contact person with his name.
B2B address databases should always include the name of the recipient. After importing this address data, professional software for b2B newsletters usually offers you a possibility to insert this personal salutation.
A "relevant" subject
The aim of the subject line of the B2B email marketing newsletter is to motivate the recipient to open the message. Only a few characters are available for this purpose, so always create the subject with special care.
Professional newsletter software also offers you the possibility to test different newsletter subject lines against each other! In this A / B test, 2 different subject
versions are sent to a small group of recipients.
Subsequently, the opening rate of the newsletter is measured and evaluated. The winner version will be automatically sent to the remaining total distributor. These tests guarantee you optimal opening rates and a significant increase in visitors to your website! Among other things, in my subject line search for B2B newsletters, I have found that a particularly "loud" subject does not always have to be the best strategy. Also test “restrained” subjects to stand out from the competition. Such a conservative response can be a refreshing change from the run of the mill Newsletters of your competition!
The optimal distribution time for your newsletter
The right delivery time decides in which situation your B2B newsletter meets the recipient.
My tests have repeatedly proven that there are very big differences between B2B and B2C mail marketing newsletters:
• Delivery time for B2C: You should try to reach your recipients in a relaxed after-work mood. Send your newsletter therefore primarily after 6.00 pm and on the weekends. For technical articles even the delivery at night makes sense, as many nerds are still active online until the morning hours. The B2C primetime remains the Sunday evening.
• Delivery time for B2B: Plan your B2B email marketing counter-cyclically to the classic B2C business. The highest opening rates are from Tuesday to Thursday and from
09:00-12:00 am to 01:00-03:00 pm.
When planning the optimal delivery time, also pay attention to holidays and public holidays!
In particular, business customers returning to their office after a long holiday often have more than 100 newsletters in their inbox. What do you do after your holiday: Do you read all these newsletters or do most of them disappear in the recycle bin?
Testing and Reporting
Test whenever you have the time and the technical possibilities! Try different subject lines and content for your recipients.
You will receive valuable insights into the expectations of your target group and will find the specific optimal newsletter for your business!
Generate detailed reports after each shipment or request them from your newsletter marketing agency. You should always keep an eye on the following online marketing
newsletter KPIs:
• Recipients
• Opening rate (single openings and openings total)
• CTR (single clicks and total clicks)
• Number of bounces (undeliverable newsletter)
• cancellations (unsubscribes)
Conclusion on B2B Mail Marketing
Successful newsletter marketing is not rocket science and can of course be implemented without the help of an online marketing agency. By following the B2B newsletter tips above, you have a solid foundation for your own campaign.
When implementing it on your own, please also note that you must gather all the experience yourself through tests on your own recipients. A professional partner can take away the majority of the burden of this learning curve off you. This can save you long-term nerves and money!
I hope that with this post I have been able to show you some practical tips for an optimal B2B email marketing newsletter.