Maximizing B2B Email Performance 2014

Tips for optimizing your B2B email campaigns

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What we’ll cover today• The state of B2B email marketing

• 4 most commonly used email campaigns

• Email design considerations

• Building for mobile

• Ensuring high deliverability

Trends

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State of B2B email marketing

Overall spending and growth increases• Social has not killed email• Email usage continues to grow despite

budget dilution from other channels• Newer types of email marketing

(drip/trigger/nurture) have increased where/when email can be used

The fundamentals of B2B email marketingRelevancy Ensure you are delivering relevant content

Personalization It's no longer good enough to greet a recipient by name. Use purchase history, website activity and customer relationship management (CRM) data to learn about your audience and create the exact content they want to see

Optimization Testing has moved beyond simple A/B to optimized outcomes and optimized content flows

Mobile Optimization Responsive design is quickly becoming the norm to ensure your emails read read and digested on mobile devices

4 Most commonly used B2B campaignsBulk/Blast Single, linear blast email targeting lists & segments

Drip Date-based, linear, multi-thread email targeting lists, segments and responders

Trigger Relative date, personalized, linear email targeting dynamic segments and individuals who have taken an action

Nurture Non-linear, relative date, multi-thread combing both marketing actions and sales actions targeting lists, segments, individuals and responders

How are B2B marketers optimizing?

• Content Optimization

• Mobile Optimization

• Delivery Optimization

Content Optimization

Simple ways to optimize email content to improve CTR

• Trigger-based emails from web forms

• Multiple choice questions• Product

• Industry

• Role

• Nurture campaigns based on web activity• Identify interest based on activity (specific web content)

• Time email communications based on last web visit

Content Optimization

Simple ways to optimize email content to improve CTR

• Content Quality

• Content funnel • Educational

• Use Case

• Product

Mobile Optimization

Over 50% of your audience is opening up your email on a mobile device:

www.Salesfusion.com © 2014 Salesfusion

More email is read Mobile than on a desktop email client. Stats say 51% of email is now opened on a mobile device Litmus –”Email Analytics” (Jan 2014)

Mobile email opens have grown with 21% in 2013, from 43% in Jan to 51% in December. Litmus –”Email Analytics” (Jan 2014)Mobile received the largest percentage of unique clicks (40%), webmail was a strong second with 35% – Experian “Quarterly Email Benchmark Study” (Q2 2013)

78% Of US Email Users Will Also Access Their Emails Via Mobile By 2017 – Forrester Research “Email Marketing Forecast 2012 – 2017″ (2012)

What is Responsive DesignOptimize your Email Marketing

Responsive email identifies a device’s screen or display size using the @media query and serves the appropriate layout determined by the designer.


As opposed to Scalable design, Responsive design allows room for a designer to modify, hide, stack, add or expand/collapse content to optimize usability for narrow screens.Responsive design offers the most flexibility and control.

Some email clients strip out CSS style sheets and don’t support @media queries. However optimization will be supported if synced with the phone’s native email application.Responsive design uses flexible grid and fixed-width layout in the HTML template, and should be tested problematic clients.

Tips for Responsive DesignOptimize your Email Marketing


Tips for Responsive DesignOptimize your Email Marketing


1. Design for mobile first

Begin with the mobile experience and work up to desktop. This approach is much easier than to try to fit a desktop experience into a mobile phone.

2. Stack your content

Rather than scale down images, transform horizontal assortments into vertical at the 480px breakpoint.

3. Design for the masses

Design your email template around Android and iOS users. Don’t compromise your design to perfect the experience on a less popular device.

4. Optimize for touch

Position CTAs in a way that aligns with how people hold and use touch-enabled devices. Simplify for mobile and decide what needs to stay on the screen.

5. Make it legible

Optimize your content on mobile by choosing easily readable fonts, increase line spacing, and font size.

6. If it doesn't sell – expel!

Consider hiding extra text and menus that push down your most important content.

Delivery Optimization

Ensuring your email gets to the inbox & gets opened

• Trigger-based emails from web forms

• Multiple choice questions• Product

• Industry

• Role

• Nurture campaigns based on web activity• Identify interest based on activity (specific web content)

• Time email communications based on last web visit


Subject Lines• Single biggest driver of open rates• Keep simple, honest and compelling• 45-65 characters max• Avoid obvious issues – Free, Offer, Expire – or adjectives that are over the top (Massive,

huge)• Avoid Characters in subject lines *&%$@!• Use A/B Testing and optimize on open rates


Call to Action• Big buttons – simple CTA messages• Limit CTA to one – no extraneous links in email• Big buttons tend to show best in mobile• A/B Testing on CTR – test on color/placement/verbiage


Spam and device optimization• Test emails against myriad of clients & devices• Ensure optimal viewing• Test against spam filters for deliverability

Delivery Optimization – tips & tricks

Subject Swaps• Send multiple variations of the same email with varied

subject lines at different time intervals• Vary subject lines between formal/casual• Progressively send to non responders over the course

of 1-2 weeks• On average this practice doubles open rates• Does not increase unsubscribe rates


Subject line variations• Informal

“Hey ++FirstName++, I wanted to share a cool infographic with you• Formal

“New industry report available for download”• Categorical

“[Live Webinar] – Join us tomorrow for an industry best practice session”• Time-based

“Some reading materials for the weekend” – sent Friday late PM“Hi ++FirstName++, I wanted to send this to you before the week gets too busy” – early AM Monday


Time variations (used in subject swaps) for North America• Industry accepted norms

Tues – Thursday between 11AM and 2PM US EST• Weekenders

Saturday early (before noon); Sunday Evening or Morning• Early Birds

Monday early AM• Last Chance

Friday between 3-6PM US EST


1 – 2 Punch• Trigger a complimentary product asset within 1-2 days following standard email open• Trigger an analyst report within 1 hours of asset download • Trigger link to a complimentary blog post relative to the email asset

• Triggers of this nature average open rates of 40-50%


Humor versus Serious• Humor in email marketing can dramatically improve open rates• Making fun of yourself a little can lead to a lot of good will• Use in both subject lines and content

“yeah yeah….I know your busy and you didn’t open my last email, but seriously, this is really important”

“alligator attack” or “alien abduction”


Give a little to get a lot• If you don’t need to gather info in a form, don’t require it• Mix content and offer some with no CTA (video is optimal)

Final Thoughts

• Be relevant – deliver the right content to the right people• Always lead with educational content• Always ask if you can send more• Create opt-ins on everything (forms, blogs, emails…etc.)• Build long-term trust in your house file

Q&A

• Learn more at www.salesfusion.com• See a live demo• Follow our blog for tips/best practices• Thanks for joining us today!

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