Despite the many ways to consume content in 2017, email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to reach a B2B audience. A study by HubSpot found that 86% of business professionals prefer to use email when communicating for business purposes. This may seem surprising until you evaluate how many times a day you check your email – 5, 10, 20? For many of us, there is no limit on frequency, time, or location when it comes to refreshing your inbox.
There are many ways telecom, IT, and cloud companies can stay in front of their target audiences and drive leads with email marketing.
Below are just a few of the strategies used by some of our clients:
- Newsletters
- Nurture campaigns
- Product announcements
- Download offers
The first step to getting started with email marketing is signing up with a platform. Different platforms have their own strengths, but if you’re looking for a platform that is affordable and user-friendly, check out the ones below:
- iContact
- MailChimp
- Constant Contact
- HubSpot (we use this, and love it!)
Once your email platform is ready, you will want to assess your email list. This is where many of our clients run into a roadblock. Combing through thousands of emails or trying to put an email list together one-by-one is time consuming and inefficient. Use the options below to identify where you are in the list-building process and find the solutions that are right for you.
Your List is Outdated
Unless you can do a bulk update of your list, this is one of those things that has to be done manually. However, some easy ways to get it done faster are:
- deleting all “no names”
- deleting emails that aren’t associated with a person such as info@telecomcompany.com
- deleting contacts from companies that are no longer in business or have been acquired.
Another tip: put on some headphones or your favorite movie and just get it done! This is something that none of us want to spend the time doing, but we recently cleaned up our list and have seen better engagement and open-rates as a result.
It can also be helpful to get into the habit of updating information as you see it come in. For example, when you get a LinkedIn notification that a colleague moved to a different company, or there was a merger or acquisition, update the contacts accordingly so it takes less time in the long run.
You Have No List at All
Trying to collect emails one-by-one is a daunting task. Try these steps to quickly get started with contacts you already talk to:
- Export your contacts from your email contact list (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) to a spreadsheet.
- Delete the ones you don’t want.
- Upload the list to your email platform and send away!
Building Your Email List
If you already have an email list but want to grow it organically, try some of the options below:
- Put out a sign-up sheet at events or trade shows
- Host an event
- Ask people over the phone during the sales process. (Be sure to give them a brief explanation on why they should join and what they can expect.)
- Have optimized contact forms on your website
- End blogs with a call to action to sign up for your email list
- Include a link to the opt-in page in your email signature
- Utilize gated content such as a long-form content piece
Buying a list is another option, although we don’t typically recommend it. It’s an easy way to quickly grow your list, but those contacts will most likely mark your emails as spam, or won’t engage at all. This ends up doing more harm than good, and can damage your reputation with email servers.
No matter where you are in the process of your email marketing, Mojenta can help. Contact us to chat or check out more info on our email marketing service.
