B2B Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid in 2023

Intro

While you’ll hear that email marketing is dead from a ton of people, the statistics tell a completely different story. The revenue from email marketing alone is estimated to reach almost 11 billion US dollars in 2023! Not just that, the chart shows exponential years over several coming years.

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I believe email is still very much a component of everyday life, and not just for boomers. More than half of the short-form video-loving Gen-Z audience and over one-third of millennials still enjoy getting branded emails.

This proves that B2B email marketing remains a powerful tool for expanding your clientele to date.

However, email marketing is not as simple as sending out the occasional email. It is a multi-faceted task that you must perform properly if you want to be a successful email marketer. There are numerous ways that can help you succeed. For example there are several social media management platforms that can help you regulate the posts, engagement, and reach. Similarly, there are multiple strategies and tools you can use to manage B2B email marketing.

Moreover, there are several particular blunders you ought to avert. That's what we'll be discussing in this section. Without further ado, let's discuss the eight email marketing mistakes you must avoid.

1. Starting Off Incorrectly

Congratulations! Your email list has just received a new subscriber.

What will you do next, then?

You're passing up a huge chance if your response isn't "immediately send them a welcome email."

The first email you send to your subscribers will almost certainly be the most read one. Why? since it is provided at the time when readers are most interested in you.

They just signed up. Their memories of you are recent. They can recall you.

So, as soon as someone subscribes to your email campaign, they ought to get an email from you outlining who you are and what you would be sending them. You can use a SERP checker to find what your competitors are lacking and highlight those USPs of your company in the welcome email.

Three things are included in all excellent welcome emails:

• Greetings to your reader
• Introduce the author or company to the reader
• Set the stage for what will happen next

Your email campaign will get off to a terrific start if you know how to compose a welcome email that accomplishes these three goals.

2. Undefined Buyer Personas

Your goal to target your email to a particular consumer persona becomes more exact the more specific your buyer persona is. What can you say in your emails as a general company that sells printing paper without sounding too generic?

Your message will be very clear and concise, though, if you're a different printing paper company that offers specialized paper only to print novels and storybooks. Although some clients might find it a little bit too edgy, you can employ the specific publishing and printing vocabulary and a tone of voice that is ideal for a novel printing press.

First and foremost, use a keyword finder to identify what your target audience is searching for. Then create a persona and move on to your email marketing if you don't already have a very distinct character that you speak to in your emails. People of all ages use email, so find your niche audience and cater your business emails to them.

(Percentage of internet users in the United States who use e-mail, by age group - Source)

3. Using Unclear, Clickbaity, Or Ineffective Subject Lines

“When there is room for cleverness, use it. While you shouldn't be patronizing about it, you can be subtly arrogant if the situation calls for it. A good chuckle or two may result from it.

However, in the subject line, be direct and concise.” Says Shad Elia, CEO of New England Home Buyers

Many Internet marketing gurus have found success with subject lines like "Hey," "Dude," or "Open," but B2B buyers might pose a challenge.

And when you open those emails, you frequently discover that the subject line and the body of the email have nothing to do with one another.

People who are inquisitive about what lies behind those one-word subject lines in smart emails open them even when they have no intention of making a purchase.

Emails with clear headlines, on the other hand, are opened by people who have clear goals. They might not purchase today, but at least they have a clearer understanding of what they're looking for.

B2B email subject lines that work well include:

• Witty humor
• Mild controversy
• Numbered lists
• A person's name

4. Writing Mundane Copy

Plain, boring emails that ramble on won't hold the attention of your restless audience. What can you do, then?

• Use brief emails: Consider experimenting with brief emails. Get right to the point in your email as soon as possible.
• Create subject lines and header hooks that draw the reader in and emphasize the email's main points. As a result, your open and click-through rates will improve.
• Make it personal by including the recipient's name. It may seem a little complicated at first, but it is well worth the effort. Personalizing your emails with details like names increases their credibility and appeal.
• Add a compelling call to action (CTA): "Read more" and "Discover now" are insufficient. CTAs should be spiced up with phrases like "You won't want to miss this”. After all personalized CTAs convert 202% better than any other CTA.

Your writing and message must be scannable, succinct, and captivating. To connect with your audience more effectively, try making your tone more approachable.

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5. No Sender Information

If an email appears to have been sent by a real person, recipients are more inclined to open it. Therefore, you need to ensure that the sent from information won't push consumers away. Avoid sending email marketing messages, for instance, from sender addresses like [email protected]. There is almost no possibility that I will open the email if I see this, and I'm not the only one.

Your "sent from" information does not have to be overly personal because of this. I'm not necessarily put off when I get emails from companies rather than from specific people. For instance, I frequently receive emails from VoIP like "Airbnb" or even “Netflix”. Due to my familiarity with the brand and knowledge of what to anticipate, I don't see these emails and instantly delete them.

Making the "sent from" name a person is an alternative to sending only the brand name as the sender information. This strategy works well because it gives the email a personal touch. I at least consciously think, "Oh, an email from a real human," when I receive one from "Jen From Hotels.com." Great!”

All of this is to imply that while there isn't one correct method to structure your sender information, there is unquestionably an incorrect way to do it.

6. Over The Top Self-Promotion Or None At All

The two extremes, oh my. It's either all or nothing when it comes to promotion.

An email is a tool for marketing, and effective marketing leads to sales. This means that effective marketing should gently prod customers to make a purchase.

Although they have the option to say "yes" or "no," our goal is to get them to that point. Good if they purchase. If not, that's okay as well. They might purchase it afterward. The important thing is that people arrive at a decision and decide.” Says Alice Rowen Hall from Rowen Homes

Therefore, we must strike a balance in our emails to subtly move readers along the sales funnel. Comparable to holding a bird in your hands. It can fly away if you hold it too loosely, but it can also perish if you hold her too closely.

Your emails should therefore slowly advance subscribers such that they are not even aware of it.

When you advertise something, your readers are really interested in learning more about it. The ideal strategy is to include an alluring message in the email body and then link it to a sales letter on your website because email has a limited amount of space.

The other extreme is when there isn't even a hint of advertising in the email. It's like going to the river every day, throwing a bucket of fish food into the water, but failing to bring your fishing equipment so you can catch some fish and returning every day empty-handed.

Several studies have found that emails containing one call to action and three links are the most successful. You can measure the success of marketing through a rank tracker.

From the email, there are four places to connect back to the sales page:

• Midway through the copy
• Prior to the final statement
• Before saying goodbye and following the conclusion
• Following the author's signature

As a result, as you can see, there is a middle ground between promotion and overpromotion.

7. Missing Out On Testing

“Have you ever made a humiliating typo in an email that you sent? Or perhaps you mistakenly replied to everyone when you only intended to reply to one person? Consider how humiliating and even disastrous an email error would be if it were sent to your entire list.

Because of this, you must test each newsletter email internally before distributing the live version. To be clear, testing is fantastic for assisting you in preventing embarrassing errors, but it is also a fantastic chance to slightly improve emails.

There's a good chance that no one will take offense if you omit a space between two words or misspell a term, but perfect emails are almost certain to produce superior outcomes. You have the chance to find minor errors and seem more professional when you send a test email to yourself before sending it to your entire list.” Says Seth Larson of 1st Key Homebuyers

Wrapping Up

Email marketing is still the most popular method of client communication, and it will always perform better than other marketing tactics. Make email marketing your most profitable channel by following these suggestions, avoiding the pitfalls, and doing so. Measuring the incorrect metrics is a major error in the email marketing strategy that you might be doing.