Using email marketing to introduce your organizations products and services to potential clients and partners is still a very important piece of the overall B2B marketing mix.
According to Hubspot’s Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing:
“Email isn’t dead. It’s one of the few marketing channels we can use to build an authentic connection with the humans that keep our businesses alive.”
Vital Design adds to the importance of email marketing from a recent Salesforce.com survey:
-For every $1 spent, $44.25 is the average return on email marketing investment (Experian)
-77% of consumers prefer to receive permission-based marketing communications through email (ExactTarget)
-72% of B2B buyers are most likely to share useful content via email (Earnest Agency)
So how does one write the perfect email introduction? Well first of all let’s consider what not to do:
x Too long – We are the Twitter generation, brevity in written correspondence is king.
x Too many proposals or ideas – Although tempting as it is to get all your company’s amazing products and solutions down in one email, concentrate on the single most appropriate for now, too many will just confuse readers.
x Too self-centred – Make sure your emails are about potentially solving problems for your customers rather than constantly tooting your horn about how great you are.
Now that we know what not to do, how do we structure a killer B2B introduction email?
Create an exciting subject line for your Introduction Email
The subject line is often the gate keeper to whether your email gets read or not. Do not under estimate its importance and make sure to test before sending any mail.
Introduce
Make it personal. Introduce your company and explain why you are sending them this email.
Build on your Introduction Email
Build on your email with an example of a customer (preferably well-known brand name) you have already helped and the results they were able to achieve.
Make an offer
Give your prospects a reason to respond, make sure you have a CTA (call to action) in your email body.
Follow up
Remind them that you will be following up but also offer them the opportunity to ‘opt out’ of your email marketing database.