How Can Email Marketing Help B2B Lead Generation?

Targeting new and existing customers through email marketing is a very cost-effective and powerful means of generating sales.

Email marketing reduces the need for expensive, paper-based products such as printed brochures, mailed newsletters and print advertising; replacing them with downloadable PDFs, interactive electronic newsletters and online advertising. Email marketing is quick, efficient and inexpensive.

However generic, unsolicited email marketing ('spam') can deter potential customers if your messages are irrelevant to their business or sent to the wrong people at the wrong time. You may waste valuable resources if your marketing is not informed by customer behaviour and your credibility within the industry could be damaged.

To be effective, email marketing must be targeted. Unsolicited, generic emails are more likely to be deleted without opening or blocked by security software. However existing customers and contacts who have opted to receive marketing from you are more likely to respond to your emails, particularly if the content is relevant to their needs and delivered at the right time for their business.

Demand generation increases awareness within the industry of your products and services but to translate that into sales requires detailed analysis of customer behaviour. Research shows that around 25% of leads generated will be disqualified straight away, 25% will translate into sales but 50% of your B2B leads will require further nurturing before progressing.

Email marketing can be used for both B2B demand and lead generation to target customers based on their job title or position, location, company size or industry. You can purchase databases or enhance your own existing customer base. The information you have about customer behaviour, including how, when and how much they buy, will help you nurture business relationships and generate more sales.

Marketing automation software allows you to focus your B2B lead generation by analysing customer behaviour and interest in your products or services. It delivers sophisticated evaluation measures, including web traffic, email open rates, ad clicks and analysis of customer response to your marketing. This in turn helps you understand the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and the return on your investment.

These tools allow you to build on your existing customer relations with consistent and relevant marketing. Rather than try to generate leads with a generic campaign, you can use this information to target potential customers with offers they will be interested in, at the right time in their sale cycle and within their budget.