Are Your B2B Email Marketing Skills Strong?
There was a time when B2B email marketing was the go-to move for organisations looking to communicate with their prospects, leads and customers. However, the arrival of more contemporary channels such as social media and content seem to have taken the shine off email’s apple, but does that mean it’s no longer the force it once was? Certainly not. A report by Marketing Cloud found that 73% of markers agree that email marketing is core to their business. So, perhaps now’s the time to double check that your email marketing is as good as it can be.
Subject lines
Although subject line styles and formats can change over time, there are a few rules that should still be followed. With 53% of emails being opened on a mobile[i], it has never been more important to keep subject lines short (ideally to 40 characters or less). Any more characters than this and you run the risk of the email provider cutting the subject line short and key message being lost. So, the rule here is to keep it short and sweet, and of course, to the point.
Body
When a recipient opens your email they are no doubt in the middle of doing something else or simply concerned with clearing out their inbox. So, when your email is opened, it better speak to them quickly and a in a language they can understand without a great deal of effort. The solution then is to keep copy brief, to the point, and most importantly, above the fold. The fold is the name given to the visible space on a webpage before the reader has to scroll down, and they are more likely to delete your email than scroll, so don’t give them an excuse to.
Formatting
Given that you may have to convey quite a lot of information in an email that has to be very short and sweet, get smart with your formatting. There are certain tricks which you can use to communicate your message in a concise way such as using bullet points or numbered lists. Additionally, a picture speaks a thousand words, so consider conveying information in an image, if it’s suitable for the communication. For example, an image can work well in an HTML newsletter, but not so well in a one-to-one lead generation email.
Call to action
Having gone to all the trouble of writing a catchy subject line and engaging body copy, if your email doesn’t include a strong call to action then all your work has been for nothing. To ensure the best click-through rate, make sure the email includes only one CTA (anymore and the reader can become confused) and that it’s clearly visible. In order to drive the reader’s attention to the call to action, consider making it bolded, a larger font, or even a clickable image.
Testing
As with all things email-based, start with a best practise approach and then start to test every element individually. Use A/B split testing to analyse what works best but be sure to only change one factor at a time. For example, test subject lines until you identify what works best, then move on to testing body copy formats and layouts etc. Once you’ve done all this you should have an email style that is proven to work for your target audience.
To find out more about email and how it can fit seamlessly into your multi-channel lead generation activities…
