Sumeet Anand is a PR as well as Digital Marketing...
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It is rightly said; the right marketing strategy serves as a critical tool for converting customers. But when it comes to the B2B approach, the strategy and tactics to be followed are very different.
Marketers need a precise compilation of the strongest marketing tools, to target the newer platforms while practicing the customary strategies of marketing as well.
Since, the market today is all about leveraging customers on digital channels through social media marketing; many companies choose to forego the old chestnut of email marketing solutions, once proved to be fruitful for the effective growth of businesses all around the globe.
When it comes to embarking a journey for B2B marketing, you need to deliver logic to business personals, unlike the B2C marketing approach of tapping into the emotions of the customers. It is imperative to script a well-thought email marketing plan to give your B2B business a real boost in the market.
Unlock the Potential of Email Marketing for Business
A great product is all about a well-written and properly executed marketing strategy that was able to build a relationship with the customer and deliver them with valuable services at an affordable cost. Such is the story of email marketing as well.
B2B email marketing is all about buying or selling of products or services or any exchange of information between multiple business entities, to gather and analyze customer data sets.
Although marketers around the globe might have shifted their attention to social media marketing and its infinite advantages like, customer pool generation and brand promotion; email marketing is still the linchpin in the wide array of marketing strategies, the preferred form of to-go communication for many companies who wish to connect with their customers and have precise yet detailed conversations with them.
Emails are an integral part of every business and have become an indispensable indulgence in the tangled B2B process. If followed correctly, email marketing can result in gathering valuable data about clients, resulting in increased sales.
Gone are those days, when email marketing campaigns used to land directly into the junk folders, nowadays, relevant content and insightful data has the potential of catching the attention of the target audience and provide them exactly what they want.
Email marketing might indeed be an old alley for businesses to walk over; however, it is still the best tool for effective lead generation and building brand reputation.
Recommended: Master The Art Of Email Marketing With These 5 Steps
The Importance of Email Marketing for Your Business
According to a survey conducted by CMI, 93% of marketers still practice email marketing for effective distribution and promotion of the content; 87% of marketers use email marketing for lead generation, and 59% of marketers consider email marketing as an effective tool for revenue generation.
Considering such statistical information, it is clear that email is, therefore, an undisputed king of B2B marketing. Furthermore, rewarding email marketing strategies can aid in lead conversion, and ultimately expand the customer market as well.
Now the big question that arises is, how can brands profit from email marketing and alleviate their business productivity?
The answer is simple; through effective and impactful email marketing. Good email marketing practices are what will help your business to collaborate with other business entities, connect with your target audience, and provide them a satisfying customer experience.
Email marketing is, therefore, a valuable asset and a top priority for your business, to develop fruitful relationships with brands who hold the same vision as you. Some email marketing initiatives that can help you with the process include:
- Implementing lifecycle messaging
- Improving data analysis and segmentation
- Increasing subscriber engagement
Advantages of B2B Email Marketing for Your Business
Other than gathering customer data, B2B email marketing includes other benefits as well.
- Cost-effectiveness: In comparison with the other marketing channels that incur printing and advertisement costs, email marketing is a very low-cost approach for businesses to target wider audiences, be it, businesses or consumers.
- Approaching new clients about products and services: Email marketing is an invaluable tool for reaching out to new clients situated anywhere in the world and handing out a collaborative offer to them.
- Measurable results: Many email marketing software tools can help marketers in tracking the effectivity of an email marketing strategy. This includes studying the email marketing stats depending on the geographical location, market reach, lead conversion ratio, and many such factors.
- Easy design and launch process: A constructive email marketing plan doesn’t require much effort. Effectual email campaigns are all about relevant content, created on internal platforms, with a thorough and descriptive email body, and the market research details.
A Step-by-Step Plan for Developing an Email Marketing Strategy
A successful email marketing plan resonates well with your business and helps you to craft engaging emails. However, a well-structured email marketing strategy needs to be a picture-perfect pitch of your goals. The following steps will give a clearer insight into developing a rock-solid B2B email marketing campaign.
- Know what businesses to target: The first step towards a successful marketing plan is to figure out the target audience. A result-oriented email marketing plan should talk about the challenges faced by businesses in the target market and how your product can help in delivering fruitful results. The more you know about the target market, the stronger the foundation of the email marketing plan is, and the more precise will be the results. Do your homework on how your product can solve the issues of the targeted business entities and educate them about its benefits. Always remember, an email marketing plan should not be about selling your services but educating about them.
- Define the customer persona: Any email marketing strategy, ever devised, is concerned with the comfort of the end customers. This definite thought has to be explained through an email marketing strategy. Marketers need to have a clear picture of their target customers. You need to craft a proper email of the challenges faced by a customer and how can it be tackled.
- Devise achievable marketing goals: Strategies can only be rewarding if the goals they had to accomplish, were reachable and measurable. The goals of B2B email marketing plans should be about solidification of a businesses' position in the market and establishing a reputation in front of the existing customers. Unless you set goals, which are smart, tangible, and measurable, you will not have clarity about business growth.
- Plan in advance: Every member of the team should be versed with the email marketing plan and its implementation, once the campaign is active. A team without any clarity on the process will not be able to understand certain approaches and in the long run, might lead to a clash of interests as well. A marketer needs to work multiple roles at the same time like, communicate their ideas, segment the prospects based on various factors, customize email messages based on the replies and the genre of the company, test email campaigns to determine how responses can be improved, follow up with the list of prospects, and answer their questions.
- Improvise at every step: Improvisation is the key to every smart email marketing plan. Email marketing plans need to be changed with changing dynamics and goals, to help your business survive and stay ahead of the competition.
Takeaways:
Many marketers might debate on the importance of email marketing in nurturing leads and generating ROI for any marketing channel, however, time and again, email marketing has proved itself to be worthy of performing well in various segments.
Email marketing, when practiced effectively, is a cost-effective marketing strategy and is the best reliable way to generate more B2B sales, improve brand awareness and provide alluring customer experience.
Author: Sumeet Anand
Sumeet Anand is a PR as well as Digital Marketing Strategist associated with UnboundB2B , who specializes in Email Marketing, Social Media Marketing, and Content Marketing.
