In today’s everything-digital era, achieving a high open rate of your Email Campaigns is increasingly viewed as a somewhat superficial goal. Merely opening an email doesn’t guarantee value or attention. In crowded inboxes, most emails get only a fleeting glance, especially promotional B2B Marketing emails.
To be fair, there are scenarios in which an unopened email can still lead to positive actions from recepients, such as direct visits to your website or inquiries to your sales team.
The primary mission of every email marketer shouldn’t solely be to secure an email open. There are more insightful parameters further down the B2B Marketing funnel that deserves attention.
Focusing on Clicks
Obtaining a click on your email content signifies a higher level of interest compared to an open.
Since the body of your email contains a wealth of information that can’t be fully conveyed in the subject line, a click represents a more reliable indicator that recipients are genuinely intrigued and want to explore further.
For most email newsletters, achieving clicks is likely the most common campaign objective.
Seeking Conversions
Descending deeper into the interaction funnel brings us closer to metrics tied to tangible business outcomes. Whether it’s email conversions like webinar signups, report downloads, or actual sales, these actions hold significant value for lead generation and direct business results.
Nonetheless, challenges persist at this stage. Conversion rates in a single email campaign tend to be modest, especially in the B2B sector with lengthy sales cycles. This leads to a crucial realisation: an email marketer’s top priority is ensuring the next email is read.
Email marketing revolves around nurturing relationships. Surprisingly, the sender’s name often influences email readership more than the subject line.
Does this mean ongoing email engagement outweighs conversions and revenue? Not necessarily, but it indicates that robust open and click rates in B2B Email Marketing programs signal positive developments.
Strong Email Engagement Leads To:
1) Enhanced Deliverability
Mailbox providers tend to filter out emails from brands that frequently send to subscribers who haven’t engaged with their emails in a while.
2) Reduced List Churn
Engaged subscribers are more likely to remain on your list, promoting list growth.
3) Wider Audience Reach
Engaged subscribers simplify the selection of active mailable audiences in the age of Mail Privacy Protection.
Monitoring list churn and keeping it low serves as a litmus test of whether your focus lies too heavily on the email you just sent rather than on respecting and retaining your subscribers for future engagements. It’s the distinction between optimizing for a campaign versus nurturing a relationship.
Short-Term vs. Long-Term Focus
1) Subject Lines
A campaign-focused approach may favor vague, attention-grabbing subject lines, assuming that more opens will translate to more clicks.
In contrast, a relationship-oriented approach uses descriptive subject lines to help recepients determine the email’s relevance without needing to open it, respecting their time.
2) List-Building
Campaign-focused strategies might rely on list purchasing or other tactics that can harm deliverability.
On the other hand, relationship-first approach, which is crucial for B2B Marketing, prioritises explicit opt-ins through valuable content.
3) Email Frequency
A campaign-focused approach could push for more frequent emails, assuming that higher frequency leads to increased overall response.
In contrast, a relationship-focussed strategy recognises that different recepients have different engagement levels and uses segmentation and automation to tailor the email frequency accordingly.
4) Metrics
In terms of metrics, campaign-focused strategies concentrate on individual campaign metrics, whereas relationship-focused approaches take into account user-centric metrics and list-health-oriented indicators.
These may include lifetime value, subscriber churn rate, distribution of subscriber tenures, and click reach.
It goes without saying that B2B brands should prioritise the long game in email marketing due to prolonged business relationships. While quarterly sales are crucial, meaningful B2B conversions often require months and years.
Sustaining post-conversion relationships is vital. Succumbing to short-term pressures during economic downturns can harm sender reputation, shrink lists, reduce future revenue, and lower customer satisfaction.
To explore practical strategies for long-term email marketing success, feel free to get in touch with us at info@augmentis.in or visit https://augmentis.in/.
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