List Growth Challenges for B2B Email Marketers
Posted by Drew Miller on June 19th, 2009
Last week, I had the privilege of attending the Marketing Profs 2009 B2B Forum in Boston, MA. Working with email marketers in short, 20 minute intervals – what was aptly termed “therapy sessions”, I learned quite a bit about some of the biggest pain points when it comes to email marketing in the B2B space. The most recurring question was: “How do we grow our list?”
In the B2B space, email list growth is one tough nut to crack. It’s not as simple as B2C retailers, where customers are lured in with special offers discount coupons and other enticing promises. B2B marketers have to draw interest to their site and offer customers whitepapers, email opt-in forms, blogs, webinars and other interactive sessions in order to ultimately get people to opt-in.
Most marketers I spoke with seem to be putting too much emphasis on the actual promotion of these items mentioned above, instead of addressing the bigger question that lingers – fighting for your audiences’ time and attention.
Reality is that most business associates face the daunting daily task of time management. Between phone calls, email, IM, reports due, meetings and all the other things that make up our day, it’s a challenge for many to stay focused on one item without the constant distraction a typical office day brings.
When we talk about email for B2B it all comes down to two important items to make it all worthwhile: BENEFIT and VALUE. If your audience sees what they could gain from engaging with your brand, the more likely they are to become loyal brand enthusiasts.
Use email communication as a way to educate your clients and prospects – not try to hard sell them on your product or service. Of course there are ways to soft sell, but try not to put too much emphasis on it. The more you try to educate and help your clients build knowledge and understand aspects of your business, the more likely they are to engage with your brand and develop long-term, profitable relationships.
List building is no easy task by any stretch of the imagination, but by focusing your efforts around benefits and value, you are more likely to build an audience of raving fans.
To learn more about email list building, check out part 1 and part 2 of our list building best practices series.
