Though both are designed to attract new business, there are some fundamental differences between a B2B and a B2C email marketing campaign, as outlined here.
B2B Email Marketing Is Normally More Involved
A B2B campaign usually involves more than one person, and this applies to most small businesses as well as bigger companies. A B2B customer typically won’t be purchasing anything on their own, while, for B2C customers, the opposite applies and they are the sole decision maker. Consequently, this can mean that B2B decisions mostly take longer, because of the input of more people.
Formal v Informal
To stimulate interest formality should be the tone for B2B marketing campaigns, with an emphasis on business growth. But, as B2C is one to one, this means that an informal and chatty approach is more suitable. Customers will often act in an impulsive way, and a personable approach for a B2C campaign can prove to be ultimately persuasive. For B2B customers a more thoughtful approach will be necessary, with recipients more inclined to look at your words in an analytical way.
But, this isn’t a golden rule. It really depends on the marketing and audience you are targeting. For instance, creative business tend to be a lot more personable with their marketing approach, yet Financial businesses will expect a formal approach.
A B2B Campaign Should Appeal To Different Departments
The B2B marketer should look at ways of ensuring that a product has appeal throughout a business, particularly in different departments. It’s also important to remember that your email may end up in the hands of senior figures within the company, so that’s something else to consider when you begin creating the email itself. B2C requires a more simplistic approach, as it’s just a case of convincing an individual that your product or service is right for them.
Stick To The Facts For B2B Campaigns
It’s vital not to forget the right approach is for either a B2C or B2B campaign. The humorous and emotional approach is suitable for B2C marketing, but not when dealing with companies where there’s a more hard-headed business approach. Here, you should just stick to the facts, and offer reasons as to why your product or service is something they should be interested in.
Target The Right People
Senior staff are the best people to target regarding a B2B campaign – as they can be influential when it comes to their company’s budgeting. Also, if approval higher up is required, a senior member of staff will often be respected enough to be given the green light. As well as identifying who needs to be targeted during a campaign, the campaign methods also need to be identified. For a B2B campaign this will usually be email, direct mail and telemarketing.
Email Rules To Follow For Your B2B Marketing Campaign
As most email users will get a considerable amount of email it’s imperative that an email in a B2B marketing campaign stands out (as these tips here show) – even the subject line.
Subject Line
The text in the subject line should be brief, and not consist of all capital letters or be riddled with exclamation marks. If the opposite is the case the email may be mistaken for spam.
Choose Text Links
Graphics can look great in an email – if they are displayed correctly. This won’t always be the case, however, so it’s better to play safe and use text links only.
Be Consistent
People respond to a brand that is consistent across all mediums. For instance, tone and language in an email should match that of, say, your print, TV or radio advertising campaigns.
Personalise Emails
Personalise the emails you send. This can be done through something as simple as putting the recipient’s name at the beginning of your message. Whereas something like ‘Dear Customer’ suggests that it’s an email with the same content being sent to many people.
Always Offer The Recipient Something
Each email should offer the recipient something, i.e. news of a sale or discounts. It’s also better to send out just a few emails with engaging content to specific customers, rather than sending general, irrelevant emails to all the people on your mailing list.
Utilise Social Media
Social media can be a boon in an email marketing campaign, because people can easily share your information. Include links in your email to all of the most popular social media sites to maximise your impact.
Run Competitions
Competitions are a good way of attracting interest, and filling in a survey is one way that your recipients can be encouraged to both give you feedback and win a prize. People who fill in the survey can be selected at random to win a prize, though do remember to give them an opt-in option if they want to receive further information from you. If you run regular competitions then this will give you the opportunity to engage with your customers on a regular basis.
Track And Tweak
Tracking your campaigns can help you determine how well or badly they’ve done – and give you the opportunity to tweak certain things to achieve better results. Also monitor social media chatter to see what’s being said about your business.