Building a targeted email list is one of the best ways your business can capture leads to nurture using a B2B email marketing campaign. It also helps you maintain connection with your current customers.
But it can seem daunting to build a list from nothing. How do you go about it? Most of the list building advice on the internet doesn’t apply to your B2B business because to do it well, frankly, takes considerable planning and effort.
We recommend you skip over a lot of strategies that are focused on B2C tactics to reach end consumers or that don’t get you quality leads. Instead, your business should focus on specific B2B list building strategies that attract quality – not quantity – leads. Anyone can scrape a list or run a contest and get leads, but later you will pay the price. B2Bs need to invest in email list building.
Lead Magnets
The term lead magnet is another way of offering website visitors something of value that entices them to give you their email address. With a well SEO’d site, you can attract visitors interested in your business with your free content, like blog posts or videos. This content can help qualify and segment leads, and then present your lead magnet to only those who are interested. This way, you build a quality list. Don’t be disappointed if you don’t get hundreds of names. It may only take one to close a huge sale.
Describe your content offering through a call-to-action. This can be a designed footer, a pop up, slide in, banner, ad, or social post. In exchange for the visitor’s email address, offer diverse content such as:
- eBooks
- Guides
- Helpful Infographics
- Webinars
- Whitepapers
- Evaluation tools
The content should provide in-depth information that the business would find valuable enough to sign up for. You can either provide the content on the site after the person gives their email address or send an email with the attachment. It’s best to provide multiple delivery methods to be sure they give you a real email address.
Lead magnets can also be something different from content. For example, you might offer free access to an online tool, a trial of your product, or a custom demo.
What Should Be Gated Content?
I’m often asked what should be gated and what should not. I subscribe to the theory that anything that builds your brand, credibility, or proves how well you deliver your offer should be ungated. This includes Case Studies. Buyers in multiple buying stages will review case studies. If someone has to sign in to see this, you could lose a sale from the friction.
On the other hand, if you have specific knowledge or information about your industry or how to implement a solution, you should gate this. The name of your lead magnet is 70% of the success, so test variations. Same with the landing page information. That’s the other 30%. You need to make your information seem amazing and well worth signing up for.
Your business can try different forms of gated content, which might include:
- Webinars
- eBooks
- Product demos
- Whitepapers
- Reports
Your business wouldn’t be alone in following this strategy, as 80 percent of B2B content is the gated type.
Segmented Offers
Another great option is to use different offers throughout your website. Each one should focus on value related to a specific segment of your audience. This method helps deliver well-targeted content and a more personalized email experience later.
For instance, your B2B business might have two main target audiences. Therefore, you could have one type of gated offer for one target audience and another for the second. This will allow you to send highly relevant content to each list.
You might achieve segmented email opt-ins by aligning the message through your:
- Call to action
- Type of content received in exchange
- Focus of the page where the form is found
While segmenting may seem complicated, it’s best to draw it out. In a comparison of segmented versus non-segmented email campaigns within its platform, Mailchimp found that the segmented group had a 14.31 percent higher open rate and a 100.95 percent higher click rate.
Schedule Your Free Consult
List building is a key marketing strategy for B2B businesses, as email marketing can significantly contribute to your business’s sales goals. Yet building a list and segmenting it can seem overwhelming and time-consuming.
We get it. After all, your business has other things to focus the bulk of your time on, like operations and sales. Consider outsourcing the marketing side of the equation. At Pollock Marketing Group (PMG), we know email marketing and list building like the back of our hand. You don’t have to learn the skills. Instead, rely on our expertise! Contact us for a free consultation.
