Email for B2B: The Basics of Creating E-mails

Email marketing is becoming a reliable promotion channel for many b2b companies (from the English version of “business to business” - “business to business”). This model involves business interactions not with the end user, but with companies. The specificity of email marketing for b2b differs significantly from b2c. What are these distinctive features and how to work with them, we will try to understand our article.

What is the effectiveness of email marketing in Western b2b companies?
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More and more b2b companies are using this marketing channel. Its effectiveness confirms the result of the Regalix poll. To the question: “Which of the marketing channels do you consider to be the most effective?”, 71% of b2b respondents said that this is email marketing.



According to the results of the same study, 48% of b2b representatives of companies surveyed are planning to increase spending on email marketing. This is explained by the fact that email marketing increases ROI: for every $ 1 spent, email marketing brings in $ 40 .



Analyzing the development trend of email marketing in the West, we can say that this channel does not need to be circumvented by domestic b2b companies. Follow the key rules for developing a letter, form a clear understanding of the interests and needs of your target audience. Only under these conditions, the email list can give the desired results.

When developing a strategy for b2b email marketing, you need to understand some of the features that influence the decision making of your audience. They appear as follows:

• A long decision making process. Before planning an email campaign and selecting content for distribution, you need to realize that buying for business needs involves a collective decision. When receiving a letter, the subscriber does not make hasty decisions, since no one will ever buy a plane after reading a single email letter. Before agreeing to a proposal, a whole series of “approvals” from specialists, managers, financiers and directors is needed.
• Decisions are not made emotionally. Keep in mind that the subscriber will take a decision not spontaneously and emotionally, as often happens after receiving mailings from b2c companies, but weighing all the pros and cons. This decision will be dictated by logic, analysis of all risks and will be rational in all respects.

Before agreeing to your proposal, the subscriber will conduct all the necessary commercial calculations, calculations related to forecasting, risk, because modern business requires rational economic thinking. The more correct the calculation, the more profitable the result.

And now consider the main elements of the letter and tips for creating each of them for the b2b segment.

Topic of the letter

Use less than 10 characters in the subject line of the letter, so you can increase the opening to 58% .
To search for the most effective words for a topic, we used the Adestra rating, which is based on discoveries, clicks, CTO (the ratio of unique clicks to unique discoveries). For the b2b sector, the most effective are:

1. Words that describe the content:

• "reminder"
• "Sensational"
• Mention the name of the copywriter in the letter

The themes of several blocks, separated by a horizontal bar, also showed excellent results: openability +27.5%, CTR +90.7%, and CTO +14.2%.

2. Words that describe the time of mailing:

• "daily"
• "this week"

3. Words related to the subscription process:

• "is free"
• "subscription"
• "Update"
• "trial"

CTA

There are no calls to action in the form: “Only now”, “Only today” or “2 days left until the end of the action”. These methods of persuasion do not work in mailings for b2b companies, since such an audience does not make spontaneous purchases. Give your reader time, convince with the help of multiple touches, but without unnecessary obsession.
Place a call to action at the top of the letter so that the subscriber does not have to scroll for a long time, and he immediately understood what he needs to do next.

Content of the letter

Considering the peculiarity that b2b decisions are made rationally, select content that will satisfy the rational thinking of the subscriber. Below is a sign that will familiarize you with all the types of content that can be used in the b2b email distribution, depending on the stages in which the client makes a decision:



You can learn about other types of content and how to use them in b2b in our previous article .

To understand what information your audience needs, use site analytics, analyze questions from existing customers. Your sales managers or customer support managers face them every day.

It is necessary to dispel doubts. “Dubito ergo sum” - “To doubt means to exist,” this Latin wisdom is just about those who make rational decisions. Therefore, try to e-mail the newsletter to dispel all doubts of the addressee with the necessary facts and listing benefits. In the example below, a manufacturer company makes the technical characteristics of its goods a feature of the letter.



Moderation and rigor in design and fonts

If you analyze the design of b2c mailing lists of companies, the first thing you notice is the bright colors, a large number of images and screaming calls to action. It is better not to use all this in the b2b mailing list, since the effect on emotions will not pass. If you are going to use images, choose those that tell about the benefits and characteristics of your product. No matter how modern b2b marketers try to use visual content, the main priority is still the text. But do not make it too long, because the subscriber simply will not have time to get acquainted with everything that you sent.

In order to ensure good readability of the letter, follow these guidelines:

• The font should be contrast. Most often in email newsletters compilers use black font color on a white background. But you can use the opposite option. As in the example below. Sony uses a white font on a black background in its email, and the letter is easy to read, because the contrast between the font color and the background color is respected.

• Do not use more than three fonts. Use one for the title, another for the text itself. If you need to select something, you can take the third version of the font. Using more than three colors, the letter looks illegible and tasteless.

• Choose the most appropriate font size. Do not use too small a font. The best for reading is considered to be a font from 10 to 14 kegel. This size also needs to be used in email, especially if there is a lot of textual information. The most important thing is not to tire the eyes of the subscriber so that he can read the message to the end with ease.
• Use corporate colors. Develop a pattern and color scheme in accordance with your corporate color, keeping the palette of colors that you use on the landing page of the site, in printed materials, exhibition stands. This will increase the visibility of the company.

Writing style

To begin, we recall that in the Russian language there are five text styles: official business, conversational, journalistic, scientific, artistic. In our case, just fit three:

1. Official business style. It is characterized by the following features: accuracy, unambiguity, the presence of specialized terminology. But the goal of email distribution is not only to maintain business relationships, but also to inspire the reader to purchase, to arouse interest in their product. Therefore, this style of writing is best used in the mix with the following two.
2. Publicistic style - designed for the general reader and is aimed not only at the logical, but also at the emotional perception. This style includes articles, reports, essays. Without a doubt, this style should be used in letters, it will perfectly complement and brighten up the business tone of your email communication with the subscriber.
3. Scientific style is also suitable for the educational content of your letters. The target audience of this style are scientists, specialists from diversified industries. The tasks performed by this style are to transfer technical information, describe patterns, prove judgments, train a subscriber. Characteristic features is strict logic, terminology, unambiguity. This style is written articles, research reports, lectures.

The formal style of the texts of these three styles will suit everyone. But whether to use the artistic and colloquial style of communication in your letters is up to you.

Some more tips for your b2b mailing:

Let's choose

If the information that is embedded in the email is 100% consistent with the recipient's expectations, its openability and clickability will grow with each email sent. To do this, offer 3 or even 4 different subscriptions, of which the subscriber can choose during registration. In the example below, the domestic metallurgical b2b company offers its subscriber to selectively subscribe to 4 different subscriptions.



Segment

In order to send relevant content, you need to divide your audience into groups, that is, to segment. The main types of segmentation for b2b:

• by company size;
• by position held by the contact person;
• on the authority of the contact persons to make an important decision;
• by interest;
• on the financial performance of the company;
• on the degree of readiness to make a purchase;
• on the history of purchases.

Post conversations

Automation of email distribution in the form of chains of letters will help to lead the audience to the decision to purchase gently and carefully. Using a chain of automatic letters makes it easier to argue for your product or service. Such letters will successfully encourage subscribers to make decisions soon. We recommend sending no more than one letter per week, because the purchase cycle in the b2b segment is longer.

Ship on time

Business owners in the B2B segment prefer to view commercial offers in the morning, from 8 to 10 hours. Entertainment content is better perceived in the evening, from 19 to 22.00.

We hope our recommendations and tips will allow you to successfully apply email marketing in the b2b field and get the best results. After all, email marketing, with rather small investments, expands your client base and forms a loyal attitude towards the company.