In an attempt to keep marketing costs down, some B2B marketers try to keep the development and distribution of emails in-house. Whilst this is hugely successful for some, this video shows what happens to others companies emails Video by Email Marketing Reports.

6 quick Birddog tips on the key failure areas of email marketing

1. Create appropriate personalisation

Who are you talking to? How well do you know them? Do you have their name? If not, you need to consider an appropriate default salutation other than Dear Customer or Dear <Exhibition> Visitor.

What level of personalisation are you using? First name only? If you have collected more data on the recipient, think about how you can personalise content to make the email more relevant to the individual.

2. Acknowledge & build a relationship

It is unlikely that you’ve had express permission to contact all of your database. Many B2B databases have been compiled from an amalgamation sources. In bought lists, where permission has been given to the list owner, often the recipient doesn’t actually recognise the third party that is now emailing them as part of an associated opt-in that they ticked 6 months ago. Make sure you acknowledge where you acquired their data and tell them why you’re emailing them. This adds credibility.

What about people who you scanned as they were trying to walk past your exhibition stand and you collared them with a free bottle of champagne. Do you think they remember you and your products? Maybe, but unlikely. Introduce yourself. Use the first contact to find out more about the person you’re mailing.

3. Plan email communication along the sales cycle

Because people aren’t ready to buy when they first receive your email you need to tease a relationship. Plan your email communication along the sales cycle and give the recipient something to chew on at each stage of their decision making process.

There’s the expression, ‘all leads are not created equal’. Well, it’s true. Use lead nurturing techniques and thought leadership as a hook for showing your prospects that you know your business and you can be trusted.

4. Increase relevance by getting inside your prospects mind

Think about your audience. What have they communicated to you about their readiness to buy? Are they hot? If not don’t try and sell to them from an email. This means that you need to analyse your database and keep it updated with response and behavioural information.

Give them what they need when they need it. They’ll begin to trust you over time and won’t be annoyed that you’re sending irrelevant sales messages to them every month.

5. Make your content engaging

It’s surprising how many emails are hard to read, don’t get their point across and go on and on and on and on.

People are busy. No matter what day or time you send your email, they’ll still be busy. Don’t expect people to read every word. They won’t. Make your content scanable. Easy enough for a 7 year old to read and you’ll be on the right track.

6. Make realistic expectations about the results

If you’ve never emailed your list before, don’t expect there to be an immediate influx of hot prospects for sales. B2B marketing isn’t as easy as 2-4-1 on a bottle of wine in Tesco’s. Relationships take time and people aren’t necessarily ready to buy. Or even look. So don’t promise your boss or the sales team a miracle.

If you’ve got a long lead time from enquiry to sales, then sales enquiries (let alone actual sales) are in the miracle category. It’s not to say that email as a channel is wrong. Instead, think of it as another channel in the mix for building relationships.

If you’d like to discuss your email marketing contact us or follow us on Twitter: Scot McKee .