E-Mail Marketing - Business-to-business E-mail Marketing

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS E-MAIL MARKETING

E-mail is a cost-effective way to generate high-quality sales leads in business-to-business (B2B) marketing. Compared to B2C, B2B has a much smaller target audience, and one that generally is more sophisticated. The objective usually is for a company to generate qualified sales leads and then distribute them to its sales force. An integrated e-mail campaign includes planning, media choices for outbound messages and inbound responses, list acquisition, developing an offer, providing incentive options, and copywriting and design.

A key element of an integrated B2B e-mail marketing campaign is to obtain targeted opt-in e-mail lists. Selections are based on criteria such as title and annual budget. Enough e-mails must be sent to generate enough leads for the sales team to pursue. Testing also is part of an effective e-mail campaign—for lists, products, and creative elements. In order to test effectively, e-mails must drive traffic to a unique Web page that pitches the offer and any related incentives. Respondents can be qualified by asking them to provide basic information about their industry, annual revenue, and timeframe for needing a particular product or service. Leads can then be categorized and prioritized in terms of urgency.

According to DM News, click-through rates on e-mail lead generation campaigns for B2B commonly are five percent. Conversion rates indicate that 50 percent of those interested respondents who click through to the Web page will actually fill out response information, thus providing the sender with a desired lead.