B2B Email Marketing Basics - Introduction to Lead Generation
In my experience, when done properly (and of course legally), along with in person meetings and search engine advertising, targeted e-mail marketing is one of the most cost effective methods of generating qualified business to business (B2B) sales leads. B2B e-mail marketing should always be done as part of a ongoing relationship management strategy.
It should be considered an ongoing program which involved testing and refinement, and not a one-off promotion. Knowing your audience and getting the timing and medium right for approaching them during their planning cycle is key. Search engine marketing, although highly effective and always recommended as part of your marketing mix, typically brings in a lower quality of leads as compared to e-mail due to the lack of job title or industry targeting. It's always important to employ both a pull marketing technique (e.g. search) as well as a push marketing approach (e.g. e-mail).
Research shows that 90% of businesses search for products or services online prior to making buying decisions. But what if you offer a product or service that is so new that your customers wouldn't know how to search for it even if they wanted to? Or what if your product or service was only relevant to those working in specific job titles at Fortune 500 companies in a specific state or region? Search engine marketing is a pull strategy, and very effective for attracting those who know what they are looking for. But what you really also need is a push strategy to proactively seek out new sales leads based on your target audience criteria. When done properly, B2B opt-in e-mail marketing is by far the most cost effective way of luring qualified customers into your net.
Forrester Research conducted a survey of B2B marketers asking about what techniques they use to generate leads and which are the most effective. Below are the results.
Figure 1: Comparison Of Lead Generation Tactics
Forrester Research recently asked b-to-b marketers about their lead-generation programs. The data shows that the use of certain tactics does not often correspond with their perceived effectiveness.
 Source: Q2 2008 B2B Marketing Effectiveness Online Survey, Forrester Research
You can see that e-mail is the most popular B2B marketing technique used, but not deemed to be the most effective. This is due to the fact that the execution of an e-mail campaign is one of the most complex, and involves many variables, frequently executed poorly, and requires lots of expertise to do well. Formulating an offer for e-mail marketing is different than for search marketing, since you are able to target specific job titles and company sizes as well as industries. Seminars and webinars are very effective indeed, since these prospects are already a captive audience by nature of attending, and so are much more likely to be future customers since they have already invested time with your business. Trade shows are still a great way to connect with new customers – but are one of the most expensive tactics and require lots of people-power and setup/take down time.
A common question that I get from those who are new to prospecting with e-mail marketing is: “I want to buy an e-mail list – how much does it cost?” Firstly, any e-mail list that is sold rather than rented is a SPAM list – period. Legal opt-in e-mail lists are rented for a one-time use, and never sold (see Exhibit A for brief summaries and requirements of US and Canadian Privacy Laws). You do not get to see the e-mails when they are rented, since they are managed and transmitted to opt-in subscribers by the list owner or an accredited manager. There are many offers out there, for example, 1 million small business opt-in e-mails for $100. Selling e-mail lists like this are fraudulent and are not compliant with US or Canadian laws. Think about it – so you buy a list of e-mails for $100. How do you know where these e-mails really came from, or how many times they’ve been resold or mailed to? Or what happens to those that unsubscribe from these lists, who is managing the cleaning/updating of these lists once they are released to the world?
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HOT TIP: Any e-mail list that is sold or given to you directly where you can view and send the e-mails yourself is a SPAM list, period. |
It is up to you, the advertiser (list renter), to attempt to collect any personal information including e-mail addresses, names, and phone numbers at your web site (a customized “landing page” optimized with product benefits, testimonials and a minimal number of fields is best). Direct mail or postal list rentals are run differently, and fall under different legislation (which I will not go into here). Postal lists are rented for a 1 time use and must be sent directly to an accredited 3rd party fulfillment house for mailing – never to the advertiser (e-mails are not a part of the data file).
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HOT TIP: Any e-mail list that is sold vs rented is a SPAM list. Look for a publicly available privacy policy at the source web site where e-mails are opted in to verify that the web site is "US CAN SPAM Law compliant" or "PIPEDA" compliant in Canada. Ask the list owner if they are compliant, and also sign up to the list yourself so that you can see what advertisers are sending to the list, and how often you get e-mails. |
Contact us for help on promoting your business using b2b opt-in email.
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