eBOOK

5 Elements of Successful B2B Email MarketingAn email marketing campaign is a direct marketing tactic

with relatively low costs and potentially high Return-On-Investment.

In order to achieve ROI from an email campaign, you need

to know what makes a great email.

©2012 SAGEFROG MARKETING GROUP, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Targeted List

One of the crucial elementsof a successful email campaign is the list. A listwith tens of thousands ofcontacts will get your emailinto a lot of inboxes, but areyou reaching people whomay be interested in your services? If the answer is no, then your email will likelyget looked over or deletedand you’re wasting yourtime and money.

Instead, a high-quality, focused list will get youmuch better results. Keeptrack of anyone you meet at industry events, pastprospects and clients,newsletter sign-ups, association members, andother business connections.Over time, you will build alist of contacts who have an interest in your services or products, making themmuch more likely to convertto a qualified lead from anemail.

Relevant Message

You’ve probably heard thisbefore, but it’s one of themost important aspects ofany marketing campaign, so here it is again: content is king. A successful emailcampaign promotes contentthat resonates with its recipients.

Choose topics that havemeaning to your audience.Put yourself in their shoes.What would they be interested in reading about?Also, think about where you can add value. Is there a topic that you are considered an expert on?And, as always, be current — stay informed and provide a perspective on the latest “hot topics” in your industry. Finally, keepyour email brief with astrong message. You don’twant to give too much away(or bore your reader!) beforeyour call-to-action.

Inspired Design

While content is ultimatelywhat keeps readers interested in an email, agreat design can help initially draw them in. Your email should be professional-looking and visually attractive, but notoverly designed, as emailsystems will often sendHTML-heavy emails to the junk folder.

It’s important that the design and layout relates to your message. Are youpromoting an event? Consider a feature area with key event information.Are you announcing a newproduct? Perhaps you canshowcase product imageswithin the email.

Make sure the email featuresyour brand. The designshould include your company’s logo, colorpalette, and any graphic elements that are usedthroughout other areas ofyour marketing. This willhelp recipients make theconnection between theemail and your company, increasing brand awarenessand recognition.

Unbeatable Offer

A successful email campaignshould entice the audienceto take action. Pick a call-to-action that will benefit themif they open, read and act on your message. Ideally,your call-to-action will be a compelling offer that youraudience can’t refuse.

Don’t give away everythingwithin the body of youremail. Your email should be a “teaser” that has justenough information tomake the audience wantmore. A strong call-to-actioncould be downloading awhitepaper, viewing a webinar, signing up for anevent, or filling out a survey.Make your call-to-actionprominent within the bodyof the email and includemultiple links for readers totake the next step.

Email Optimization

RE: Read this!

The first thing people see ofyour email campaign is thesubject line. It is important toget these items right or thechances of your email beingopened drop significantly.Subject lines should be brief(some email systems cut offlong titles) and highlight the benefit to the audience. If possible, get personal by including the recipient’sname or company in the subject line and salutation.

Timing is (almost) everything.

The timing and frequency of your email campaigns also affects your success. While opinions differ, most experts agree that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are thebest days to send emails, as your audiencehas (usually) settled in for the work week, but are not wrapping up for the weekend yet. In terms of frequency, don’t annoy your audience by sending too many emails. Depending on your business, once a monthor once a week could be the right frequencyto keep your company on your audience’sminds. It depends how much quality information you have to share.

Test, Test, Test.

Finally, close the loop! Test andtrack all of your email campaigns.One thing that experts can agreeon is that testing the campaign isimportant so you can optimize results over time. Try varying elements of your campaign usingsubsets of your list to optimizeperformance. Analyze email performance reports and web analytics to learn what works best for your market, audience and organization.

Do you need professional help with your email marketing?Sagefrog Marketing Group is a full service business-to-business marketing, interactive, public relations, and advertising agency.

We specialize in health, technology and business services marketing for companies based in the greater Philadelphia and New Jersey area.

For more information, please contact us:(215) 230.9024 » info@sagefrog.com » www.sagefrog.com

©2012 SAGEFROG MARKETING GROUP, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED