B2B e-mail marketing is something many companies do every day. It is a crucial part of a full-service online marketing department. Yet, there are often questions about how certain things can best be put in a newsletter. In this article Jelba gives tips for the successful implementation of B2B e-mail marketing. Not every point fits every e-mail but the tips are meant to improve the overall quality of e-mail marketing.
Tips for B2B e-mail marketing:
- Tip 1: Place the most important things above the fold
All content that is below the fold is seen less and will therefore disappear more. The fold differs per device and size of the device. That is why it is important to by all means put the most important thing at the top. There are people who do scroll to the bottom of the e-mail but this is a small percentage compared to the people who only see the top.
- Tip 2: Highlight the important things
While this seems obvious it is not always easy. Options for making important things stand out are the use of banners, bright colors, short texts or meaningful images. Make sure that there won’t be an overkill and instead focus on the essentials to jump out. Draw attention to one item. Many marketers tend to share everything in the newsletter. It is better to focus on one item and then try to move the visitor to other relevant and related content once he is on the page.
- Tip 3: Limit the use of capital letters and exclamation marks
The use of too many exclamation marks and capital letters has an aggressive effect and may result in deterring the reader rather than calling for action.
- Tip 4: Offer a web version of the email
Not everyone can always open the e-mail on his device properly. Not offering a web version of the e-mail will result in the loss of this group. By offering a web version of the newsletter you offer the viewer an alternative to e-mail.
- Tip 5: Use a maximum of 2 sentences per paragraph
An e-mail is meant to quickly inform and incite to a certain action. A huge piece of text scares off the reader. He will be more likely to read a short paragraph with a few sentences that summarize the essence. If the reader then wants more information you can always refer to the website.
- Tip 6: Think about what you send to whom
You have different databases for people who have applied for an e-book, who have subscribed to a newsletter or who only want to receive promotions. It is logical that these people also receive different content. When designing the content it is imperative to carefully think about the characteristics of the target group. What kind of target group is it? What expectations do they have of the e-mail? What are they interested in?
- Tip 7: The subject has to be interesting
The subject line is the first thing one sees of your e-mail. Hence is self explanatory that it is very important what the subject line says. Only when it is interesting and appeals to the user the mail will be opened to be read. Once again, it is important to think about your target group when producing the interesting subject line. What are they looking for? What do they want to be informed about? What are they excited about?
- Tip 8: Experiment with sending times and learn from the data
Certain times provide a higher opening rate than others – that is a fact. For B2B it is often not recommended to send on the weekend and mondays. Popular days are tuesday and thursday. However, this entirely depends on the type of company. The advice here is to experiment with days and times and keep track of when the newsletter is opened the most. Also keep in mind what type of content or subject line you have used since this can also be weigh in.
- Tip 9: Make the text scannable
People read about 25% slower and remember less from a screen than from paper. Hence, you do not want to exhaust your visitors with long texts. It is therefore good to put important information in the title, the first two headlines and at the front of the sentences. Tips for making the text scannable are: highlight keywords, use enough headers, use links, limit the number of topics per paragraph, keep it concise.
- Tip 10: The ratio for the recipient to take action is 1:1
If you want to achieve a specific goal with your e-mail do not create too much distraction. If you want the reader to buy a product because of a big discount, do not put much other information on it. You can repeat the action but it is important that the ratio remains 1:1. This means that you focus someone’s attention (1) on something specific (1).
- Tip 11: Vary subject lines, banners, CTA
It is not always easy to estimate what triggers your target group to open and read the newsletter. Consequently, it is important to test different things and to look at the results to see what works best. It is important that you try one item at a time so that you can see that certain results actually come from the the specific change.
B2B e-mail marketing with Jelba
At Jelba we are specialized on the entire range of online marketing for the B2B. B2B e-mail marketing is also a part of this. Many B2B companies are increasingly using e-mail marketing but are uncertain about how to implement it successfully. Are you looking for a B2B marketing agency? Please contact us and we will analyze your company and discuss the possibilities without obligation. We would like to help you out.
Do you have additions or remarks about B2B e-mail marketing? Let us know and send an e-mail to collega@jelba.nl. Thanks in advance.
Finally
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