Digital Spin by SubscriberMail

4 Quick Ways to Improve Your B2B Email Newsletter

Posted by Drew Miller on September 25th, 2009

If you’ve read The Email Newsletter 3-Course Meal, you understand the importance of grabbing readers attention from the appetizer (your email) all the way to dessert (purchase or other desired action). This is an especially important concept when it comes to B2B Email Marketing. There are several ways to improve your Newsletter if you are in this space – Here 4 quick ways that can make a big improvement:

1. People are People

Believe it or not B2B customers are people too.  Keep that in mind when you are conceptualizing your Newsletter content and design.  Sure you want to keep within company guidelines, but don’t be too formal with your approach or the results could be deletes and unsubscribes. Make your content easy to comprehend and keep the design simple and appealing.

2. Think VALUE with Your Subject Line

With work inboxes flooded with everything from meeting requests from your boss to soccer schedules from your spouse, it’s become even more important to have a subject line that breaks through the clutter and delivers relevancy.  Instead of using something passive (”XYZ Company Newsletter: Vol 3. Issue 12″), think VALUE and entice an open by highlighting your most compelling content in the newsletter (”Learn How To Save Money on Office Supplies”).

3. Don’t Make it a Scavenger Hunt

Even if your Newsletter contains some of the best copy ever written, your readers are busy people too.  Some might take the time to read through five paragraphs on “How to Choose Better Paper Products”, but odds are they are just don’t have time right now. A better approach is to give them a tease (sentence or two) of why they should click to learn more, then send them off to your landing page where they can read, bookmark for later, or find something else that peaks their interest. This way you create multiple opportunities to connect and interact with your company. Your email acts as the appetizer, and your landing page as the main course.

4. Make it Interactive

The goal of your Newsletter shouldn’t be to solely inform readers with written content – Make it interactive and get them doing something actionable.  This could be anything from watching a quick video on a new product or service, interacting on your Facebook page, or signing up for a sweepstakes to win something. Think about your brand and audience and get them doing instead of just reading.

When it comes to Email Marketing and your B2B Newsletter, remember to take steps that align with company goals and objectives, and always think from your customers’ perspective. Is this something you would read if it was sent to you?  If you can answer, “yes” to that question, you are on your way to a better Email Newsletter.

What are the biggest challenges with your B2B Newsletter? Would love to hear your feedback.

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• Tags: B2B Email Marketing, b2b newsletters - best practices, email newsletter

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.

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• Tags: B2B Email Marketing, email list building, Email Marketing Strategy