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B2B Email Marketing Best Practices

by Arthur Antigone

B2B or business to business email marketing is different from B2C (business to customer) marketing. It is important that you understand the differences between the two so you can design an effective B2B email marketing campaign. Below we’ll discuss some of the primary differences between B2B and B2C email marketing.

The B2B Sales Cycle

The biggest difference between B2B and B2C email campaigns is the distance from click to sale. B2B campaigns usually focus on creating leads, not on an immediate sale. This is different from B2C email marketing campaigns, which almost always encourage a customer to buy products or services initially. Thus, a B2B campaign will have a longer distance from the time a customer clicks on an email message to a sale. A B2B message must therefore be structured correctly to not only capture a potential customer’s interest but also keep that interest and close a sale over time. To do this the person sending the message should clearly understand their target audience’s needs.

Privacy in B2B Communications

It is critical that you tell your clients that you will keep their information private with B2B email marketing. Many business customers are leery of engaging in commerce with any company that fails to assure they will keep information private.

Expanding your B2B Database

While it is important you work to expand your contact database whether working with consumers or businesses, it is especially important you nurture relationships when creating B2B marketing messages. Competition is often far more fierce in the B2B world. Thus as a business owner you will likely be constantly working to retain your customers loyalty. There is always someone out there willing to offer a business a new way of doing things. Your job is to expand your business base but also convince your customer that you can continue to provide them the best service.

Perhaps the biggest difference between a B2B and a B2C campaign is the number of hours you will spend on your campaign. A B2B email campaign is a much more time-consuming and lengthy process than B2C, simply because you have to usually build a relationship before you can sell anything to your client. The good news is during that time you have ample opportunity to build customer loyalty. Because of this B2B email campaigns are more likely to focus on building customer relationships rather than simply nailing a single sale.

Last but not least, the content of a B2B message is very important. The B2B marketer has to consider his or her customer over the long-term. This may mean drawing information about a customer’s future interests as well as current ones.

Recommended B2B Email Marketing Software

We use and recommend an email marketing product called IntelliContact. IntelliContact makes is very easy to create, send, and track professional B2B emails newsletters, surveys, and autoresponders.

If you are are looking for a solution to your email marketing and list management software needs we recommend IntelliContact. You can learn more about IntelliContact here.