How to Do Small Business Email Marketing
Posted by Robert Hennessey on Sun, Jan 15, 2012
How small business should use email marketing for sales success, not failure.
If you are, a small business that sells to other businesses, forget about using email for mass-market marketing. The first thing that small business needs to know about email marketing is not to blast thousands of emails to people who do not know you or your company. Online email marketing blasts are the equivalent of mass-market direct marketing offline. Direct mail or mass-market emailing works for businesses that sell to consumers, not small business B2B companies.
The most effective way for any small business that sells consultative products/services is to use email marketing to nurture top of the sales funnel leads. Sales lead contacts that you secure through call to actions on your website by offering information that your sales prospects really want.
The differences in using email marketing for sales success not failure.
Obtain Your Emails Legitimately & with Permission
The cost efficient and white hat method to obtain legitimate email addresses for small business that sell B2B products/services is to use call-to-actions on your own website. By answering the question on the mind of your top-of-the sales-funnel prospects, “What information do I want or need.” You can answer this question with helpful and valuable content. It will prompt your sales prospects to volunteer their email address to receive things like…
- tip sheets
- checklists
- eBooks
- whitepapers
- guides
- product specs
Nurture Prospects & Allow Them to Discover Your Solution
Use email marketing to communicate the kinds of information and problem solving that your sales prospects are seeking. Use two to three lead nurturing emails to build rapport and confidence in your prospects. Your goal is to move a prospect through the sales cycle by being helpful. Remember, as a B2B company you are engaged in a consultative sale, whether you are sitting in front of a prospect or communicating via email. Do not begin by trying to hard sell them anything, they will abandon you immediately even thought they likely could have benefited from your solution.
Not All Sales Prospects Are the Same, Don’t Treat Them the Same
Email marketing blasts usually send the same mass-market message to everyone. This one size fits all communication approach rarely is effective in generating sales. Be sure to segment your email communications by the original topic that your prospect responded to indicating interest in your company. Use customer centric communications to answer the question, “What’s in it for your prospect?” So be sure the content of your email marketing is relevant to your recipients or they will let you know it.
Now Move to the Middle of the Sales Funnel
Once you have answered your prospects top of the sales funnel question, “What information do I want or need.” Now you are ready to continue your email marketing with a lead nurturing email that answers their next question, “Why should I get the solution I need from you?”
The way to answer this question is again with helpful and valuable content. Your goal is to provide your sales prospects with content that will demonstrate how you have helped others solve similar business problems. The types of email that will best communicate the answer to their second question would be content like…
- application stories
- case studies
- webinars
- fact sheets
- customer profiles
- consultations
Now Close
The last question your sales prospects have is, “Why should I buy from you?” The focus of your email now turns to a soft close approach. Your content should reinforce the rapport you have built to this point in your campaign. The type of email content should be promotional in nature. Offer incentives like…
- free samples
- limited time savings
- free trials
- demos
- coupons
- other promotions
Takeaway
Small business B2B email marketing is very effective when used in the form of lead nurturing as opposed to online mass marketing. Remember, building rapport is the goal in all consultative sales so use the same principles in your email marketing online as offline.
