Creating an effective B2B email marketing plan takes a lot of time, thought and effort. Should you really bother or will your time be better spent on other aspect of your business?

Ask any marketing expert and they will stress that taking the time to create an effective B2B email marketing plan is well worth the effort. This is because very few buyers, if any, make large purchases on impulse. They need to be sold on the idea but this has to be done strategically so it doesn’t seem too aggressive or pushy.

This is where email marketing comes in. It allows you to build a relationship with potential buyers while subtly nudging them towards investing in your product or service. 

The tips below will help you create an effective B2B email marketing plan that steers your prospective customers towards making a purchase. 

Set Your Email Marketing Goals

Sending out emails without a goal is like driving to a destination without a map. You could waste a lot of time just going in the wrong direction. That’s the same with email marketing. Start with thinking about what you want to achieve with your emails.

Once you’ve set your goals, you’ll find it easier to write your every email in a way that guides your readers towards that direction instead of sending out random emails that don’t help you or your readers. 

Focus On Creating And Sending Content That Educates

All studies that have been done on B2B marketing campaigns indicate without any doubt that consumers don’t want to be sold to. Sending them an email that tells them to buy something is in fact a sure way to get them to unsubscribe from your emails. Instead of selling, focus on sending emails that inform and engage your reader.

Send them content that informs them about their options but make sure it’s not dry text-book information. Let your personality show through in your emails. Readers connect better when you show your personal side. They feel like they are connecting with another person who ‘gets’ them and who wants them to succeed, rather than a robot who’s just interested in selling.  

Know What Businesses To Target

Not all businesses will find your products or services useful. Marketing to these businesses is a waste of time, money and energy. Identifying your target business and tweaking your email marketing efforts to focus only on these businesses is a much better use of your efforts. 

Define Your B2B Target Customer Persona

Let’s say you’re marketing your products to a new mother. The language you use and your references will be markedly different from the language you’d use when marketing to a stock market broker. For best results from your B2B email marketing campaign, keep your target customer’s persona in mind and slant your language accordingly when writing out your emails. 

Analyze And Tweak Your B2B Email Marketing Plan

You cannot ‘set it and forget it’ with email marketing. Smart marketers take time to analyze the success of each email campaign and tweak it for better results. They check which subject lines have the highest open rates as well as optimal send times have the best results and most important of all, what type of content and offers resonate most with their readers.

Analyzing and tweaking your B2B email marketing plan will eventually result in maximum benefits from your efforts.