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With privacy laws being the center of conversation among marketers, many B2B digital marketers are rethinking their lead generation strategy.
The privacy laws have made it clear that you ask for email directly and do not lure prospects with shady tactics.
Moreover, many B2B businesses realized they are attracting the wrong audience with the lead generation tactics they most often use.
That leaves us to re-think our entire B2B lead generation and nurturing strategy.
- How are we going to entice people to give their information?
- What are we going to do once we get that?
That’s where a newsletter comes in. Newsletters are an established marketing tool. It’s one of the easiest and cost-friendly ways of reaching your target audience.
So let’s get into it.
What is a Newsletter?
A newsletter is a tool used by business organizations to share relevant and valuable information with their customers, prospects, and subscribers.
Email marketing not only remains the ultimate strategy for B2B organizations, but it’s also gaining importance.
Email marketing enables companies to estimate the success of their own campaigns and plan their revenue strategy accordingly.
Newsletters help your B2B business to
- To build trust with your audience.
- To portray yourself as a thought leader.
- To get traffic to your blog.
- To provide a more exclusive experience to your customers/subscribers.
Tips to Get Email Subscribers to Your Newsletters
Here are quick tips you can use to increase the number of subscribers to your newsletter.
1) Promote your Newsletter
A typical problem with most B2B newsletters is that it isn’t easily available on the website. The first thing you should do is create a plan to strategically place your newsletter for maximum attention. To further increase your odds, make sure you promote it on all relevant channels such as social media, blogging, and other relevant platforms.
2) Demonstrate Immediate Value
As a part of enticing your subscribers, don’t just say ‘Subscribe to our email list.’ Instead, tell subscribers how they can get immediate value by subscribing to your B2B newsletter.
Tell subscribers how they can get great saving offers, how-to guides, or any other subscriber-worthy material immediately after signing up.
3) Offer Special Incentives to Newsletter Subscribers
Another great way to generate more opt-ins is to exclusively provide the content only to your subscribers. For example, you can offer specific B2B research papers to the audience subscribed to your newsletters. Include a section on your marketing platforms stating ‘Get access to exclusive content. Sign up below.” Make sure you deliver that promise with really exclusive content.
4) Use Paid Ads
Whether you are a medium-sized business or a large corporation, paid ads are an amazing way to capture subscribers to your newsletter. Even with a modest budget, you’ll end up capturing valuable subscribers. You can target them based on age, profession, behavior, geographic location, and purchase history.
Paid ads are a great way to boost your email list subscribers and build a list of targeted prospects.
5) Showcase Social Proof
Proofs are powerful. Once your list starts gaining traction, you can publicly highlight the numbers and value your subscribers are receiving. This demonstrates an authority that your newsletter is worthy of a subscription.
6) Make Newsletter Shareable
Let your subscribers help you spread the word. When appropriate, add a “share the information” link in your newsletters. This is really valuable if your newsletter is followed by industry leaders and experts. The sharing feature allows you to leverage their network. Have social sharing buttons placed as CTAs.
Designing your B2B Newsletter
Here is a list of design tips that can make your B2B newsletter visually appealing.
1) Create a Header
Your newsletter is not the only thing your audience receives in their inboxes. There are tons of other things. So you need something to grab their attention even when they are already your subscribers. Just like a magazine, you need a headline that captures attention. The header may include the title, name of your B2B organization, and a company logo.
2) Let your Logo Dictate your Newsletter Color Scheme
B2B newsletters are a great way to keep reminding your customers about your products and services. With repeated interactions, your subscribers start associating certain things with your brand. One of those could be color. Since your logo is a part of your identity, make sure your newsletter follows similar color schemes across all the newsletters.
3) Use Standard Fonts
When selecting fonts for your B2B newsletter, the top priority is professionalism. The newsletter is read by top executives and management. Use basic fonts like Times New Roman, Helvetica, or Arial. Refrain from using too many fonts for different newsletters. Pick one font or two at max and stick with those for the rest of your newsletters.
4) Use Pictures
A well-designed newsletter has a good balance of text and images. Images instantly grab the user’s attention and communicate your idea in fewer words. Add pictures that go with the idea you are sharing. Most users just scan their way through web content. Using relevant pictures helps them retain information for a longer time.
Things to Keep in Mind While Creating and Distributing your B2B Newsletter
Managing a B2B newsletter is cost-friendly, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Here a few things to keep in mind while creating and distributing your B2B newsletter.
1) The B2B Group has Higher Expectations
We are bombarded with content all day long. The B2B target group subscribed to your newsletter specifically to get ideas they can’t get anywhere. They feel special subscribing to your list. So don’t spam your subscribers with offers and discounts.
Providing exclusive, high-quality content ensures that your subscribers frequently read your newsletter and also trust your expertise with the B2B solutions you provide.
2) Be Precise
Your B2B newsletter is directed towards top-level executives and competes with several emails they frequently get. So keep your messages short and precise. Get to the point as quickly as possible. If you are planning complex topics, it makes sense to use a multi-stage email strategy. Don’t be a clutter in their inbox
3) Personalize your Newsletter
A way to gain your subscriber’s attention is to personalize the subject line and content to the recipient’s taste. For the subject line, simply stating their name or location can suffice. Personalized main content can also improve your future open rates and generate more trust in the brand. However, you need advanced segmentation and data gathering tool to make this happen.
4) The Best Time to Send
Many B2B companies send their newsletter as soon as they finish. However, the time of sending the email is crucial for the B2B sector. Since your subscribers are top-notch executives, sending them emails during working hours is probably more effective.
However, there is no any standard time set. You should A/B test your campaigns for different timings and compare the results.
5) Know the Technical Requirements
In the B2B sector, the desktop remains the top email recipient. With mobile devices gaining traction with other marketing activities, B2B subscribers are more comfortable viewing content on large screens. Keep this in mind while designing the newsletter. Having said that, choose a responsive template that is also optimized for mobile devices and tablets.
6) Use Call-to-Actions
Ultimately, your newsletter aims to nurture the audience to take specific actions when presented. Place appropriate call-to-actions after every newsletter. The call to action should direct the subscribers to your products/service or additional coupons or discount offers. You can also use CTAs to let subscribers share your content.
Conclusion
Creating a B2B newsletter is not something you do half-heartedly. You need to put in efforts to build your email list, improve the open rates and make your subscribers stick to your list. At the core, newsletters are a relationship-building tactic. So you need to make the user experience smooth. Make it easy to unsubscribe or change their email preferences. Be upfront about how and when they will receive their newsletters.
It’s important to think about how people will perceive your B2B brand. So set a system to understand why people are signing up to your list. What could customers get when they sign up for your email newsletter.
The tone is extremely crucial to the B2B newsletter. If you have multiple people working on the same newsletter, make sure they work in cohesion. The recipients of most B2B newsletters have higher expectations from a brand, make sure your design reflects the value your newsletter is providing.
