B2B email marketing is one of the most effective tools around. Nearly nine in ten say they use email as a content distribution channel, and eight in ten say email newsletters are their top choice for nurturing leads, per Content Marketing Institute surveys.
However, it’s still one of the most underutilized forms of B2B marketing. Below, I’ll go over some business-to-business email marketing tips and ideas, then walk through how to execute them for maximum results.
What is B2B Email Marketing and Why is it Important?
Email marketing has an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent, per Litmus research. It’s also one of the most affordable tools for B2B marketers, often costing pennies for each person reached. It’s also versatile and offers the opportunity to engage your audience, boost loyalty, and increase sales. This is why I refer to it as “Ground Fruit” in the “Climbing the Digital Marketing Tree,” meaning it’s an initiative that brands should integrate into their digital marketing strategies early on.
8 Powerful Ideas to Boost Your B2B Email Marketing Strategy
Even if you understand the value of B2B email marketing, coming up with inventive ways to reach your audience and finding effective email marketing examples can be a challenge. Use these eight ideas as inspiration as you establish your strategy.
1. Welcome Emails
Welcome emails are usually part of an automated series that’s sent whenever people sign up for your mailing list. For example, the first one is usually triggered by the subscribe or double opt-in. The second may arrive a day or two later. After that, they tend to be spread out a bit more. The total number of emails in your series is up to you. Experiment with what works best for your subscribers, both in terms of total emails and timeframe, and be aware that different types of subscribers will respond in unique ways, so it’s ideal to segment them right away whenever possible.
Each letter in your welcome series should focus on a different topic, and you may want to consider sending them from different people in your organization. For example, the first may be a general welcome to build excitement and come from your CEO.
Use your welcome series to:
- Show Gratitude: Thank the subscriber for opting in or congratulate them for taking the first step.
- Demonstrate Value: Remind them why they signed up. Provide them with a sense of community or belonging.
- Guide: Give them their next steps. Include an offer or freebie they can claim right away if possible.
- Differentiate: Showcase what makes your brand different and reinforce your branding/core messaging.
- Integrate: Introduce them to other ways they can engage with your brand, such as social media or your app.
- Inform: Provide general company details, such as contact information, location, and hours of operation.
2. Survey Emails
Surveys are a great way to engage your audience and keep them engaged. Your email platform or CRM may already have a survey program included. If not, you can easily run one through Google Forms or a similar free program.
Consider using survey emails for:
- New Releases: Ask for opinions on upcoming products or features.
- Content: Find out what topics your audience would like covered in webinars or other content.
- Feedback: Get insights on the customer experience.
3. Reengagement Campaigns
Some people on your lists will eventually go dormant. You must remove the inactive subscribers to keep your lists clean. If you aren’t doing this, it can impact whether your active subscribers receive your emails. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should just wordlessly remove the inactive ones, though. This is where reengagement campaigns come in. Use them as an opportunity to get inactive subscribers to engage with you again before you remove them from your lists.
Most reengagement campaigns consist of a series of four emails, but you can experiment with what works best for your audience.
- Email 1: Remind your subscriber why they signed up, let them know they’re inactive, and tell them that you’re still here to help them.
- Email 2: Incentivize your subscriber to return. Consider giving a discount, free delivery, access to something exclusive, or whatever works best for you and your audience. Be sure to set a hard deadline for the promotion.
- Email 3: Just before the deadline hits, send a reminder that their promotional offer is about to expire. You can create more urgency with a countdown timer or imagery to showcase how much time they have left.
- Email 4: Say goodbye. Let them know that you’ve unsubscribed them due to inactivity and don’t want to send unwanted emails. Include a link for them to resubscribe if they choose to do so in the future.
4. Announcement Emails
Have fresh information to share with your audience that can help build hype and excitement for your brand? Send out some announcement emails.
A few reasons to send announcement emails include:
- Product Releases: Share details about new or upcoming product releases.
- Feature Updates: Cover new feature additions and upgrades.
- Availability: Offer preorders and provide back-in-stock notices.
- Company Updates: Keep them in the loop about new hours or location openings.
5. Webinar Invitations and Event Planning Emails
Most brands send out invites by default when they’re the ones hosting an event, but few will leverage third-party events as an opportunity to network. Let your audience know when you’re participating in a conference or similar and tell them how to get in touch with you there.
6. Event Newsletters
Particularly if you have strong list segmentation, or your list contains only people interested in the events you attend and host, consider sharing newsletter recaps. Your audience will appreciate getting the inside scoop, and it will build you up as a thought leader or authority on the topics covered.
7. Cross-Promotion
Cross-promotion emails are all about spreading awareness for your brand’s channels and deepening engagement with your audience. If you’ve ever shopped for clothing online while you were logged in, you’ve probably received an email that said something akin to, “Still looking at this?” At the bottom of the email, there was likely a selection of similar items or items that coordinate with it. This approach works for all brands, not just retailers, but the type of content featured varies.
For example, you can include links to your website, blogs, and social media accounts. If you have segmentation by interest, job role, or similar, you can create curated emails with content to suit the segment. If you have more sophisticated tracking in place, you can tailor the content to something the person has already engaged with too.
8. Case Study and Whitepaper Emails
Case studies and whitepapers are longer pieces that often include research and showcase a brand as an authority on the subject. They’re often used as top-of-funnel content to encourage people to sign up for mailing lists, but you can get much more mileage from them by sending them to select audiences too. For example, if someone has not purchased from your company or has not done so in some time, a case study or whitepaper may remind them why they should. Depending on the content, your current clients may also appreciate the info.
How to Execute Your Email Campaigns for Maximum Results
With 99 percent of people checking email at least once daily, per OptinMonster, it’s one of the surest ways to reach your audience — but it’s easy to make missteps that reduce the effectiveness of your campaigns. The strategies below will help you execute the ideas above well, avoid common errors, and create high-performing campaigns consistently.
Avoid Coming Across as Spam
Roughly 45 percent of emails sent and received are spam messages, according to MailModo. Email service providers monitor senders very closely and look for signals that your email might be spam. If an individual email looks like spam, it may be forwarded to the recipient’s spam or junk folder or vaporized before it even reaches them. If the sender starts to look like a spammer based on its habits, the email service provider may blacklist the sender altogether.
You might notice an email deliverability problem like this if your open rate suddenly tanks, but it’s not something your email marketing platform will report to you. If it persists and you wind up blacklisted, it’s often easier to start over with a new domain name than it is to correct a bad sender reputation.
Anti-Spam Best Practices
While PECR for those with UK audiences, CASL for those with Canadian audiences, CAN-SPAM compliance for those with US audiences, and other laws for various jurisdictions may apply too, maintaining a good sender reputation should be a priority for everyone.
- Only Send Emails That Are Relevant to the Reader: Email providers may pick up on low open rates and think you’re sending spam.
- Use a Custom Domain: Spammers often use accounts from free email providers like Hotmail and Gmail because they expect to get caught and need to switch often.
- Verify Your Domain: Domain authentication provides email providers with proof that the owner of a specific domain is the one using that domain name to send emails, rather than a hacker or spoofer.
- Keep Your Email Lists Clean: Email providers will notice high bounce rates and may suspect spam if you’re targeting an outdated or unclean list.
- Avoid Spam Words in Subject Lines and Preview Text: Words like “free” and “sale” will often trigger spam filters. A list of nearly 400 spam words is available through HubSpot.
- Include Essential Info in Your Footer: Always include a physical address and a clear way to unsubscribe.
- Be Mindful of Free or Cheap Email Marketing Tools: Shared IP blocks can carry a bad reputation from other senders on the same platform. This issue rarely happens with paid tools.
- Ramp Up Slowly: Start mailing to a small group of engaged contacts and slowly build up to increase your sender reputation.
- Avoid Large Swings in Volume: Email service providers may pick up on a large volume shift and assume you’re spamming.
Generate Your Own Email Lists
It may be tempting to purchase email lists, especially if you’re just starting out and don’t have a database full of contacts. However, these lists are often low-quality, and many addresses will no longer be valid. In addition, because the contacts don’t recognize you, they’re less likely to open emails.
“Spam traps” may also be mixed in — decoy addresses that have never been valid and are associated with email service providers. When a message is sent to one, it negatively impacts the sender’s reputation and may result in being blacklisted. If your list is light and you want more addresses, create more top-of-funnel content and encourage prospective clients to sign up for your newsletter.
Leverage Email Automation
Countless email marketing processes can be automated. For instance, you can run automatic drip and nurturing campaigns—including the welcome and reengagement series covered in the Ideas section above. Most email marketing platforms will allow you to automate segmentation too. Even seemingly minor things, like setting up templates to streamline your content creation, will really add up.
Make Your Emails Personal
People respond to content that creates some type of personal connection. Four in five say they’re more likely to purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences, Forbes research shows. Conversely, two in five say they’re annoyed when content isn’t personalized.
Segment Your Email Subscribers
Segmentation allows you to tailor emails to the needs of the reader. Segment your lists in whatever way makes the most sense for your business. Consider breaking them up by customer journey stage, product or service interest, industry, company, job title, or region.
Personalization
Most email marketing tools allow for some level of personalization. For instance, you may be able to add a placeholder field for the recipient’s name, company name, or region in subject lines, body copy, or on buttons. These minor tweaks often increase engagement, though running tests to see how your audience responds is always a good idea.
Dynamic Content
Some marketing platforms provide a much deeper level of personalization, called “dynamic content.” Dynamic content looks at data — behaviors, interests, preferences, engagement history — before deciding what to present to a reader. For instance, a sales email might offer add-ons the customer hasn’t already purchased, or showcase whichever add-on the reader has engaged with the most. This is a tactic e-commerce stores often use when you leave something in your cart and don’t check out.
Dynamic content is so powerful that businesses that leverage it generate twice as much ROI as those that don’t, per Litmus research.
Make Your Emails Mobile-Friendly
Four in five people regularly use their smartphone to check their email, Campaign Monitor data shows. Because of this, templates should be responsive and adapt to screens of all sizes or be built in a single-column layout. Additional techniques, such as leaving extra space between clickable elements and bumping the call-to-action (CTA) up to the top of an email, will also boost engagement.
It’s worth noting that email platforms display the same message differently across devices and software types. Because of this, investing in a tool like Litmus to preview emails across platforms, browsers, and devices before sending is helpful.
Write Catchy, Clear, and Clickable Email Subject Lines
The email subject line is one of the first things people see and is the sole determining factor in whether an email gets opened or deleted 64 percent of the time, according to HubSpot research.
- Track What Works: Monitor open rates for commonalities between top performers and repeat what works.
- Keep it Short and Concise: Most desktop systems cut off subject lines around 50–60 characters; some mobile platforms cut at 25–30. Place the most important concepts closer to the front.
- Personalize It: Experiment with a few personalization approaches to see what works best.
- Create the Right Expectation: Readers ignore vague subjects and lose trust in misleading ones.
- Include Power Words: Words like “you,” “achieve,” “success,” and “easy” create an emotional response that increases opens. Try a tool like the CoSchedule Subject Line Tester.
- Create Urgency When Appropriate: “When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.” Flag real deadlines, but don’t invent urgency or readers will stop believing you.
- Use Numbers: “6 Easy Ways to Save Time” or “2 Hours Left to Save” consistently outperform the number-free version.
Don’t Scream: ALL CAPS and excessive exclamation points read as yelling and often trigger spam filters. Use title case and sparing punctuation instead.- Consider Emojis: they can increase open rates but aren’t right for every brand or audience—experiment and use them more often if you see improvement.
- Pair it with Strong Preview Text: use this space to expand on your subject line rather than leaving the default “View in Browser” text.
Balance Content and Design
Best practice is the 60/40 rule: no less than 60 percent of your email content should be text and no more than 40 percent images. Many email service providers assume a message is spam if it’s too image-heavy, and some email platforms don’t display images by default, so an image-reliant email may never convey its point to some readers.
Follow Best Practices for Images
- Avoid Background Images: Not all email clients display them consistently, and they can slow load times enough that readers leave before the email loads.
- Add Alt Text to Your Images: Important for accessibility, for display when images are blocked, and email clients also factor alt text into spam scoring.
- Hyperlink the Images in Your Emails: Your logo should go to your homepage, a product image to more information, and newsletter images back to the corresponding post.
- Consider Using GIFs: Brands that always or often use GIFs average a $37-per-$1 ROI, versus $18 for those that never use them, per Litmus, though some clients won’t animate them.
Keep Your Emails Concise
It’s important to keep emails as concise as possible, especially with the trend toward mobile. Emails with the highest response rates typically range from 75 to 100 words, according to Boomerang research. However, that’s based on one-on-one productivity messages, so a webinar email or newsletter with more to cover can go over 100 words. Aim to stay under 400 words if you want the reader to stick around until the end.
Include a Compelling CTA
Emails with a single call-to-action get 371 percent more clicks than those with multiple CTAs or no CTA, WordStream research shows. Sales jump 1,617 percent, too. Readers are primed to follow the flow you establish for them; without a clear next step, their autopilot directs them away from your content.
Make your CTA buttons stand out with a bold, contrasting color and empty space around them, and experiment with action words like “Go,” “Try,” “Get,” “Reserve,” and “Claim.”
Send Your Emails from a Real Person, Not Your Company
Emails sent from an individual versus a corporate entity seem more personal and will likely receive more engagement. Use a real person’s name as the sender, but ensure readers can tell which company that person is with—options like “Jane Smith at Widget Co.” do best. Note that email programs clip names at different points (Gmail at 20 characters, Yahoo sometimes as few as 14).
Include an Email Signature
If you use the technique above, include the individual’s traditional email signature line at the end. It demonstrates authenticity, gives readers a quick way to respond, and feels more personal, which is especially helpful if you’re using campaigns to build relationships.
Be Strategic with Your Timing
There is no singular best time to send an email, but Tuesdays and Thursdays tend to test best across the board, OptinMonster research shows. People are also more likely to open messages sent during transition times, such as first thing in the morning, back from lunch, or commuting home. Schedule sends for the recipient’s time zone to start, then experiment with different times to see what improves opens and clicks for your audience.
Experiment with Email A/B Testing
The proper term for testing one small change against your original campaign, such as subject lines, and emojis, is “A/B testing.” Each reader only receives one version, and the list is randomly split to remove bias. Businesses that leverage A/B testing get an ROI of $42 on email marketing, compared to $23 for their counterparts, Litmus data shows.
You can test just about anything in your email campaigns, including:
- Subject Line Length: Adjust the length of your subject line.
- Power Words: Include more power words in your subject line.
- Emojis: Try no emoji vs. emoji, or different emojis, in your subject line.
- Personalization: Include names, previous purchases, locations, and other personal details in your subject line.
- CTAs: Adjust the color, shape, size, or wording of your CTA button.
- Timing: Experiment with a different send time or day.
- Sender Name: Send from different people and try using credentials or titles.
- Copy Length: Experiment with copy vs. shorter copy.
Measure Your Performance
Your goal may vary from one email campaign to the next, so the person fulfilling your email marketing role should be familiar with a variety of email KPIs and what each means, including:
- Click-Through Rate: This is often the clearest engagement metric for campaigns designed to send recipients to a website or landing page.
- Click-to-Open Rate: Because it excludes recipients who did not open the email, this metric can help distinguish content issues from subject-line or sender-recognition issues.
- Conversion Rate: This should carry significant weight when the campaign asks recipients to complete a measurable action tied to a business goal.
- Deliverability Rate: Changes in this metric may point to issues with list quality, sender authentication, or domain reputation.
- Forward Rate: This is most relevant for educational, promotional, or referral-oriented emails created with sharing in mind.
- Hard and Soft Bounce Rates: These should be reviewed separately because hard bounces require immediate suppression, while recurring soft bounces may indicate address or provider issues.
- Inbox Placement Rate: This provides essential context for deliverability because acceptance by a receiving server does not guarantee inbox placement.
- Open Rate: This can still provide directional insight, but privacy protections make it unreliable as a precise measure of engagement.
- ROI: This gives leadership the clearest indication of whether email marketing merits continued or increased investment.
- Social Shares: This is most useful when the campaign is designed to extend its reach beyond the existing email list.
- Spam Reports: Even a small increase deserves attention because it can damage sender reputation and future campaign performance.
- Unsubscribe Rate: This should be evaluated for patterns and unusual spikes because some routine list attrition is expected.
Common Pitfalls That Sabotage Effective Email Marketing
A strong email marketing strategy goes beyond execution. It also requires avoiding missteps that can derail your efforts. One major pitfall is using a one-size-fits-all approach. Without proper personalization or segmentation, you risk sending irrelevant content that weakens engagement and could lead to mistrust among your subscribers.
Another common issue is inconsistent branding or poor formatting. If the email design lacks visual consistency, responsiveness, or alignment with your brand guidelines, recipients may question your credibility. Every marketing email should follow a clear structure and recognizable brand voice across all devices.
Neglecting email marketing automation can also limit campaign efficiency and growth. Automated workflows, such as your welcome series, lead nurturing, or reactive sequences, ensure your messaging reaches the right person at the right time without requiring constant manual oversight.
Lastly, overlooking performance analysis can stall your progress. Review key email marketing metrics regularly, compare benchmarks by campaign type, and make data-driven adjustments to optimize your strategy.
Get Help Amplifying Your Digital Marketing Results
As a digital marketing consultant with a background in business, I understand how important it is for brands to get ROI from their marketing initiatives. Email marketing is one of the first initiatives I help businesses launch when I take on a new project—it delivers great ROI and doesn’t require a large investment. I also fine-tune campaigns to improve their effectiveness and ensure technical aspects, such as clean lists to ensure deliverability, are addressed. If you’re not getting the results you deserve from your email marketing or aren’t sure how to integrate it into your overall digital marketing strategy, contact me for a complimentary consultation.
