There are two types of companies. The first type of company sells its products and services to individuals. These are the companies whose advertisements we see every day and whose products and services we use. The second type of company does not sell to consumers but to companies like themselves. The type of business in which both the seller and the buyer are companies is called “Business to Business”. Its acronym is B2B.
The B2B world has its own dynamics. Purchasing companies have a lot of information about the product or service they are going to buy. When making a purchase, they receive offers from several vendors. They even open tenders to find the best price for big works. Large companies have “purchasing” departments that specialize in this.
In recent years, both the increase in competition and the fact that every buyer can easily access all kinds of information thanks to the Internet has caused the prices to fall and profitability to decrease. All these developments have radically changed the dynamics of the B2B world. Today, those working in the purchasing departments of large corporations know as much, if not more, about the product they are going to buy than the vendors. It is not easy to sell products and services to such knowledgeable people.
B2B Email marketing strategies and tips
Among all the different marketing channels, the B2B email marketing strategy is above the rest. In fact, email marketing is a great business marketing strategy. It has been shown to provide a $44 return on investment for every $1 invested, as it encourages both new and back sales.
B2B email marketing is a strategy designed to drive attention to a particular product/service and convert it into sales. It is the process of generating leads and converting opportunities into sales through the marketing funnel.
B2B buying journey:
- Awareness: This is where you introduce yourself, and the service/product to the buyer.
- Thinking: This is when your customers start looking for potential providers to solve their problems.
- Decision: The decision-making phase. This is where your buyer starts comparing different solutions, products, and services to choose between you and your competitors.
Your B2B email marketing strategy should take all of this into account, so you don’t expect to send an email and strike a deal. You should maintain a strong and close relationship with your customers/new customers. That’s why you send them personalized emails.
Steps to a Successful B2B Email Marketing Strategy
Here’s an actionable list of what needs to be done to get one more step forward in the game:
- Identify your customer’s personality
- Choose your email marketing provider
- Focus on growing your database organically
- Personalization is important
- Carefully send cold emails
- Build automation and sales funnels
- Create your B2B email template
- Measure and optimize
How to Write a Perfect B2B Professional Email?
Done right, email marketing is a great way to build and maintain relationships with your customers and prospects. That’s why we need to write professional emails that take our customers in the right direction without scaring them off. Here are a few email marketing tips:
Focus on sales
Don’t focus on sales, listen, learn about your potential customers, keep this information in mind and ask them the next time you meet them, and build a real personal connection with your customers.
Don’t focus on yourself
Another thing you never do when you first meet someone is you CAN’T ALWAYS TALK ABOUT YOURSELF. You don’t go to people and tell them you graduated from Harvard with a high CGPA. Same thing with an email, you can’t email your company history to new users.
Focus on the needs of your target customer
Focus on your demographic. Listen carefully and ask open-ended questions. Here’s how to do this:
Instead of asking “Are you satisfied with your current (product) supplier?”, you should ask questions such as “Please tell me what you like and dislike about the current (supplier)”.
The first question is yes or no and will probably end the conversation in 3 seconds. However, the second question can stretch into a 20-minute Q&A session.
Be clear and essence
No one has time to read a 600-word email article to find out what you want or what you have to offer. Be clear and direct, don’t tell them about your company’s history in an email. Your email should not be longer than 150 words unless you are specifically asked for details.
A B2B email marketing best practice is to create a landing page to engage your readers. This may be displaying information about a new product you are trying to push.
