If you own a B2B business, email is the best channel to communicate with your clients or end-users. According to Statista’s recent research data, email marketing is favored across generations, allowing companies to reach target audiences efficiently at a reasonable cost. Emails are the easiest approach to publicize a sale, communicate corporate news, or remarket to previous clients.
Any email marketing campaign’s core competence is to grow the email list and convert subscribers into loyal customers. An appropriate strategy to consistently move leads or users into the following steps is also required.
What is a B2B Email Marketing Funnel?
A B2B email marketing funnel is a framework of strategically structured content that guides users through each stage of their customer journey. It plays a crucial role in lead nurturing and conversion of prospects to loyal customers.
Different Stages of a B2B Email Marketing Funnel
Stage 1: Awareness
Grabbing the Customer’s Attention
- Create brand awareness and learnings about the product the company is offering.
- Provide educational content to establish your business as a thought leader, and build relationship with potential customers.
- Give customers a reason to care and lead them to the funnel’s consideration step.
Stage 2: Consideration
Sealing the Deal
- Send communication that will help user to consider the product
- Convey tangible benefits of your product to the user and make them aware that it is the best solution for their pain point.
- Create intrigue by sharing additional information about the product
- Help users understand why they need the product by including supporting materials in emails like blog posts, webinars, and links to the website.
Stage 3: Conversion
Persuading the Customers to Make a Purchase
- Strike a balance between convincing the user to buy a product and fostering a sense of urgency.
- Employ discount offers, free shipping, and other incentives to influence customer purchases.
- Remove barriers obstructing the users’ buying experience.
- Add buy now buttons in the emails for a hassle-free purchase.
Stage 4: Loyalty
Convincing the Customer to Buy Again
- Send communication to nurture the relationship established with the new customer.
- Engage the customer by sending supportive content like tips to get the most value out of the product, etc.
- Send follow-up emails to reinforce the customer’s decision to opt for the service again.
Stage 5: Advocacy
Transforming the Customers to Brand Ambassadors
- Send emails encouraging customers to share positive reviews about the product.
- Persuade customers via emails to recommend the product to others.
- Nurture brand advocacy amongst customers by incentivizing additional purchases and positive reviews.
Why Use a B2B Email Marketing Funnel?
Valued at $7.5 billion in 2020, the global e-marketing market is projected to increase by 2027 to $17.9 billion.
- It outlines the customer’s purchase journey for the businesses
- It helps businesses understand users’ pinpoints and cater to their needs
- It allows personalization of communication.
- It keeps the customers in the loop and bridges the gap between them and businesses
- Once triggered, the funnel acts in an auto-pilot mode and continues to generate leads ensuring a healthy ROI
- It creates audience tiers and makes way for specific targeting.
Future Trends in B2B Email Marketing Funnel
- Automation will save time and will effectively cater to the customers’ needs.
- Hyper-personalisation with segmented email lists will ensure content customization.
- Use of mobile-friendly email designs.
- Addition of interactive elements like animated call to-action –buttons, product carousels and more to inspire action.
Summing Up
The email marketing funnel is the best channel for B2B businesses to communicate with their users as it builds customer enthusiasm, enhances customer loyalty, and provides a good customer reach. Going by the future trends, the hyper-personalization of emails and the addition of interactive elements will elicit quicker positive responses. By receiving their desired answers, B2B businesses can convert responsive prospects into customers and establish prosperous ventures.
