5min
As email marketing continues to grow in commercial importance, there is an increasing demand for high-quality leads and a strong focus on segmentation. Companies must now be able to define and execute the most effective type of content for each stage of a complex buying cycle.
Without your email list, you wouldn't be able to convert enough interested prospects into new leads. With a high-quality list of active subscribers, you can publish relevant content, promote your brand, showcase your products and services and build preference and trust.
Automated marketing programs are a wonderful resource and can help you become more efficient and organised. This blog will cover some effective strategies for building up a list of contacts who will be valuable in the future (e.g. emails, Instagram ads)
Buying or creating B2B email lists
Buying email lists from third-party websites or companies may seem like a quick-fix solution, but this is a waste of time and money. You can find lists of people at no cost on sites like Google and Facebook, as well as through social media platforms like Twitter. Instead of buying a list from third-party websites, you should be doing the work yourself by creating your list. This will not only help you save time because you won't have to spend hours finding people to target with your marketing campaigns, but it will also save money because you'll be able to squeeze more out of each marketing campaign.
Lists purchased from a third-party provider tend to be less effective because:
· There is no guarantee of quality
Buying email addresses is not guaranteed to provide great results and you won't know the quality of your list unless you purchase some.
· Unsubscribe rates are high
People are more likely to unsubscribe since they didn't opt-in to hear from your brand, product, or service. You might want to consider another way to encourage people to hear from you.
· Delays in delivery due to spam reports
Should your email marketing message be directed to a large volume of recipients, some of them may see it as spam and mark it accordingly. This may negatively affect the deliverability of your email messages and your reputation on anti-spam lists or ESP suspensions.
CHECK LIST ARTICLE: 12 Advantages of Email Marketing Your Marketing Teams Need To Know
In-house lists are more effective because they allow you to focus on other important aspects of your business. Also:
- Potential contacts/customers have opted-in and chosen to give their contact information.
- People are more likely to be happy with your brand because they're engaged with it.
- Your list grows through genuine relationships with customers
We've put together a few of the most popular methods for you:
1. Create gated content that adds value to visitors
Your email list can be expanded by providing downloadable content of high quality that entices visitors to give you their contact information. You might create a free white paper or ebook hosted on a landing page.
Remember that to draw in customers, you also need other marketing efforts put into your business. Whitepapers & ebooks are great, but so are landing pages and ads.
It can include:
- Reports
- Interactive tools
- Webinars
- Downloadable templates
It's important to plan ahead of time when planning new content for your website. Start by answering the question, what audience will this content be aimed at? Such planning ensures that there is a purpose behind why people are filling out the form.
Your blog post needs to lend itself to a call to action. One way is by keeping the piece ungated and instead directing people to download your content from the blog post. You won't gain the ranking benefits of a short-form piece, but you can still get clicks from it.
2. Place forms strategically on your website
Forms in the right location on your website can help visitors share their contact information which could also be collected for new leads.
Examples of forms include:
- Blog subscription forms
- Exit-intent pop-up banners
Blog subscription forms
It's not just about newsletters, e-mails, and social media. Blog subscription forms are also a great way for site visitors to subscribe to your blog. When they sign up, you'll be able also to send out other valuable posts that include information on topics of their interest as well as more blog posts in the future!
In B2B marketing, using CRM software can generate a large number of sign-ups. However, it doesn't work as well as other methods of gathering contacts.
Exit-intent pop-up banners
Exit-intent pop-ups provide an incentive to stay on your website and submit more details. They help ensure the user doesn't leave without doing so.
Pop-ups can be a valuable tool to add on top of your email marketing strategy if used correctly and in moderation. They are not intrusive and will significantly help grow your email list. The best forms give people an added benefit that doesn't cause friction, so you can use them for more conversions.
Because of this, pop-ups in the first 5 seconds on or when exiting the home page are unlikely to appeal to buyers. When you want to encourage visitors to download content, sign up for your newsletter, or take advantage of a limited-time offer, you should include a pop-up form inside a pillar page.
3. Make use of social media
Social media has been instrumental in the way that many businesses have been growing. These companies have grown their email lists, social media following, and brand awareness through engagement on these platforms.
Make sure to drive as much traffic to your website as possible so that you can make money by offering resources for free. This link exchange can often be a way of capturing addresses in return for the email download below.
Using paid social advertising can be a great way to increase the reach of your gated content. They also provide some ads that are exclusively designed to produce leads. Companies can use Lead Gen Forms on LinkedIn to prompt users to sign-up for a free trial. Visitors can instantly send you their information when they click a link on an ad. And to make things easier, this pre-filled form will be shown upon arrival.
4. Attend offline events or host a webinar
It's no secret that hosting an event is a great way to bring in new customers for your brand. Creating a webinar or product demo can help you pitch your brand to prospects in a more professional, polished way. It also enables them to get insights from experts in your industry.
Webinar
Webinars are an excellent way to share expertise with interested gatherings. Participants that sign up will provide much-needed leads after the event.
Offline events
It's also a great way to network and connect with people in your industry in a more personal manner. To connect at events, put the product on display and talk about how well it works. Don't forget to collect those signups!
Co-marketing campaigns
Partnerships with a complimentary brand open doors to an even wider audience.
You can find some valuable leads by working with other companies or trading your knowledge through a webinar. You'll be able to see a nice increase in traffic as well.
5. Event Sponsorship
Most people are supportive of events as a way to get word of your business out there. A good event will generate brand awareness, as well as provide an otherworldly experience for the attendees.
Many brands are struggling to keep up with the ever-changing voice of their target audience. To keep your brand relevant, you need to be constantly listening, responding, and engaging. That is where lead nurturing comes in. Follow up on the leads you collect so that your brand remains a priority!
YOU MAY LIKE TO READ: Email Marketing Best Practices That Propel Lead Generation
You don't want to miss GDPR!
GDPR requires that you take appropriate measures when conducting business. Ensure your strategy is consistent with those requirements, otherwise, your organisation could face serious consequences.
These include interest-based ads, where a conversion with a notice is required for you to collect data and communicate via email. You can also require visitors to give their consent before they begin interactions with your website. This needs to be stated on every page and on your site's main policy, so everyone knows exactly what is expected from them and helps keep the site fair.
B2B marketing is a tough nut to crack but these examples will give you some ideas on how to get started and build up your list. By using these strategies, you're able to build up and, widen your targeting of contacts. You're also able to attract leads that will be valuable to nurture and, generate revenue from.
