Critical Tactics to Consider When Sending Out E-mails

E-mails are still a good “go to” strategy whether you’re a B-to-B or B-to-C marketer. When going after the professional tradesmen or contractor, we have found that timing is probably one of the most critical components to a successful campaign.

We have found that the time of day is usually a key factor in the open rate. We usually either have them sent at 6-7 in the morning or after 5 as these are the times contractors usually have time to spend on their e-mails.

Silverpop‘s recent poll ranked tactics that both groups thought to be important.

E-Mail Marketing Tactics that Work Well According to B2C and B2B  Marketers Worldwide, March 2010 (% of respondents)

B-to-B marketers were highly focused on moving prospects through the sales pipeline, while B-to-C respondents were looking to increase customer loyalty.

Leading Marketing Goals in 2010 According to B2C and B2B Marketers  Worldwide  (% of respondents)

What are some of the tactics that you find get better results?

Other posts you might find interesting:

Will E-mail Be Replaced by Social Media?

E-mail and Social Media are Tools B-to-B Marketers Plan on Using More of in 2010

E-mail Marketing for Industrial Markets: Common Mistakes to Avoid

E-mail: Still an Effective Method to Reach the Professional Tradesmen

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10 Engagement Tactics That Will Help B-to-B Marketers

Social media is not going away and a good number of B-to-B marketers haven’t figured this out yet.

Engagement marketing is developing a two-way conversation with a customer or prospect.

Engagement happens when people look forward to hearing from you and find your communications meaningful and helpful.

Engagement marketing creates a common purpose between a manufacturer and its customers. It’s not a “Push” or “Pull” strategy, rather a collaborative one.

Someone is currently engaging your customer. Is it you or your competition?

Econsultancy found that fewer than 50% of companies actually have a defined customer engagement strategy.

I read an interesting white paper recently from Silverpop titled, B-to-B engagement , that outlines 10 tactics that benefit you from the engagement process. Here are the  highlights:

  1. Web2.0. Allows customers to easily communicate with other users as well as the company.
  2. Spread the load over multiple channels. You need more than a strong pay-for-click strategy. You need prospects to stay for awhile and one of the best ways is to offer them an e-newsletter.
  3. Monitor the marketplace. You’d better because your customers are. Read blogs relevant to your industry. Find out what the industry is buzzing about and then comment on it. Use your blog research to capture posts about you and your competitors.
  4. Work the Web. You need to set yourself apart which means in most cases reworking your site to be customer centric instead of marketing centric. An engaged site talks to individuals.
  5. Leverage your sales team. I don’t know of a successful marketing program that didn’t include the sales force. They are in the trenches every day and know what’s on customers minds. Ask them as they will be the least expensive and most reliable source of market information.
  6. Incorporate customer conversations. Issues they bring up will resonate with prospects. Customer testimonials are a good way to start conversations with prospects.
  7. Uniform messaging. This is marketing 101. When you do an e-mail or banner ad program and send the potential to a micro site, make sure the messaging stays constant.
  8. Build a community. Customers and potentials alike need somewhere where they can discuss issues that are common to both. Foster this by offering them a place to do it, like a forum on your web site. If they’re talking, wouldn’t you think it best to have access to what they’re saying?
  9. Encourage input. Continually seek info from both customers and prospects. Send surveys, polls, make calls, talk to them at trade shows or conventions and ask for their feedback.
  10. Drive relationships through data. A richly nuanced database of both customers’ and prospects’ interactions are fuel that drives engagement marketing.

Conclusion: The more engaged a company is with its marketplace, the better the chances of generating sales. The new demand – generations and management technologies provide unique opportunities to touch customers and prospects.

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Industrial Marketers Need To Get Tradesmen Talking By Using E-mail

The number one rule in marketing to tradesmen is to do more listening than talking.

img_home1Once you stop talking and start listening, they will tell you what’s on their minds and what you can do for them.

In a one-on-one meeting, an aggressive salesman can do all the talking or interrupt a customer in the middle of a thought. They can’t do that in an e-mail which helps you get good feedback.

This same rule applies to the use of e-mail when marketing to tradesmen.

Karen Bannan of BtoB Magazine interviews Loren McDonald of Silverpop who said,

E-mail is a two-way medium. If you don’t solicit feedback or ignore it when you get it, you miss the chance to improve your programs, solve problems, expand to meet needs or retain customers.”

Here are a few of his suggestions:

  • Provide plenty of ways for them to contact you. Other than your e-mail address, you can use a “contact link” and a visible link on your home page.
  • Survey your readers. From asking new subscribers if they’d like to see something specific, to doing a formal survey a few times a year about how the company or its products are doing.
  • Watch for responses. If you go to the trouble of asking, you should also make sure someone is in charge of getting back to them with at least an acknowledgement that you’re working on an answer.

This all seems like common sense, but sometimes we’re so busy trying to get the message out that we lose site of the big picture.

E-mail marketing gives you a unique and easy way to have your customers talk with you. What a novel idea!

To read the enire post: How to use email to get your customers talking to you.

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