B2B Monday Myth: My Email Blast Should Be a Product Promo Machine
by MGB2B
The Myth: My Email Blast Should Be a Product Promo Machine
The Truth: Email Should Be Used to Distribute Relevant Content (with Some Product Promo Mixed In)
How many emails do you delete a day? Perhaps you don’t even take a peek before deleting. A barrage of daily promotions often ends up in the trash folder. The fact is, people don’t want to be bombarded with B2B product promotions in their already-crammed inboxes. Audiences will get email fatigue if you send them product promotions every day. So how do B2B companies successfully keep their prospects interested? Answer: Engaging content.
Email blasts can be a powerful tool, especially since the lists of contacts you’ve created are people who have willingly supplied you with their information. You’ve already captured them in your marketing funnel: they know of your company and your products, and have probably expressed some interest or purchased in the past. They’ve subscribed, so you’ve already won half the battle. But how do you create emails people actually want to open? The goal is to regularly send relevant insights via email, to provide information and position yourself as a trusted brand in the minds of your prospects.
Newsletters Are Great, But You Can Do More
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 77% of B2B content marketers are using email newsletters to update their audiences. These scheduled blasts are informative, often contain links to blog posts and other interesting pieces of content, and can be easily sent out to your audiences en masse. But you can go further, especially with tall of the automated email programs out there today.
B2B prospects are especially hungry for informative content that is relevant to their list. And going beyond the newsletter enables you to segment, and target by industry and interest. You are the experts in your field. All you have to do is own it. One of your engineers could write an article on using a product, to help clients who have already purchased. A manager could create a blog post with his take on industry trends. No matter where your client is in the buying cycle, there is information that they want. It’s up to you to create and deliver it.
Segment Your Audiences, Then Tailor
In another B2B Monday Myth, we busted the idea that all audiences are the same. As it turns out, not all audiences are created equal, and content must be personalized for each one. Email is one of the easiest channels to distribute personalized content. Instead of sending out one email blast to everyone on your list, you should segment your contacts. This could be based on vertical/industry, phase of the buying cycle, position in the marketing funnel, or even the subscriber’s job title. A sales representative is interested in different content than a software engineer. Those in the medical industry have different preferences than those working with consumer products. The long-time buyer wants different information than the prospect who expressed interest in your capabilities. Keeping your segments in mind when tailoring different emails will help you target more successfully, and wield better conversion rates.
It’s About Them, Not You
You’ve got your segments and have created emails that they would find insightful. Now, shift your focus off yourself, and turn it to the subscriber. Many companies get caught up in getting their message across and their product sold immediately. But you can’t force people to buy products by sending them dozens of emails all the time. By distributing relevant content, you will show you are trustworthy and establish yourself as an authority in your industry (and theirs). A good mix of relevant content and new product introductions can drive people to your website. Or it might put you at the top of the list the next time a prospect needs a job done. A little promotion tastefully thrown in is okay, but the content should be your primary focus.
While it’s easy for your company to fall into the trap of sending generic, promotional emails out to your entire contact list, start to go about crafting your emails more strategically. Tailoring your engaging content to relevant segments is a great place to start.
Continue Reading