For a successful B2B email marketing campaign, SMEs should keep their emails short, avoid spammy subject lines, and steer clear of misleading prospects.

Getting results from an email campaign is, generally, quite a bit harder in the B2B industry than it is in B2C. If you’re an SME with minimal brand recognition, email can be downright Sisyphean.

There are quite a few reasons why it’s so much harder for B2B, the main one being that, much of the time, B2B services are just harder to pitch in an email than a B2C product. That also means that the subject lines that would typically do best for a B2C company (offering a discount, for example) are, for the most part, out of bounds for B2B.

So… is it a lost cause? No! Below are 8 B2B email marketing tips for SMEs.

Tip #1: Keep your emails short and sweet

Most people don’t even read short marketing emails start to finish, so if your emails are exceeding 100 words, there’s very little chance anyone’s reaching your call to action (CTA).

You should also avoid writing one, unbroken paragraph. Prospects are far more likely to stay engaged with your content if it’s broken up into short, snappy paragraphs.

Tip #2: Avoid acquiring email lists from illegitimate sources

Legitimately building your email list takes time, but due to the UK’s GDPR laws, it’s your only option. Rather than buying email lists (which is illegal without consent in the UK), think of ways you can incentivise prospects to opt in to your emails.

Tip #3: Be wary of ‘spammy’ words or phrases

Email directory spam filters are robust. They keep an automated eye out for a number of red flags; emails without ‘unsubscribe’ buttons, dozens of dodgy links, etc. But email directories also look out for specific words or phrases that they’d typically associate with spam. Phrases like ‘100% free’, ‘act now’, ‘risk-free’ and variations of these will often send your email straight to spam.

Tip #4: Steer clear of misleading subject lines

Nothing annoys an email subscriber more than a subject line that overpromises. The content of your email could be top-tier, but that won’t matter if you’ve promised your prospects the world.

Tip #5: Keep track of successful (and not so successful) subject lines

Landing on the perfect subject lines for your SME is all about trial and error. Keep a spreadsheet of all the subject lines you’ve used in your emails, and all the open rates they’ve received. Eventually you’ll start to see patterns, and you’ll have a better idea of the kinds of subject lines your audience responds to.

Tip #6: Target specific industries and demographics

The benefit of email marketing is that you can segment your audience as much, or as little, as you want. If a large part of your audience is split between a few distinct sectors, you can tailor your messaging to suit those sectors. There are really only benefits to trying this out, no downsides; at the very least it’ll allow you to test content with a variety of different angles. A/B testing can be ideal for the same reason.

Tip #7: Don’t send too many emails

Not much more to this one! Don’t send more than a couple emails per month as a general rule. The more you bombard a prospect’s inbox, the more likely they are to get annoyed and unsubscribe.

Tip #8: Get those merge tags right

Ever received an email that addressed you as *|FNAME*|? Probably! Messing up merge tags like this can be very off-putting to prospects, so if you’re sending your emails from an automated platform like Mailchimp, make sure you’re sending yourself test emails first.

8 B2B email marketing tips for SMEs (conclusion)

When it comes to B2B email marketing, a lot of the time, less is more. Don’t rush it; consider your overall strategy, tailor your content to specific industries, and have patience. There’s no one right way when it comes to email campaigns, but with some trial and error, you should be able to generate a steady stream of leads.

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