Email has become an integral part of doing business, particularly for B2B marketing. You and your clients connect easily through email, but that easy exchange can have its drawbacks, too. Like any marketing campaign, a successful email campaign relies on sound strategies to maximize interest and generate conversions. Use these five tips as a starting point for developing a strong strategy.

Create a conversation. The beauty of email is that it naturally lends itself to a dialogue, so give your recipients a chance to respond instead of delivering an email blast that reads more like a monologue. As with any conversation, listening is as important as speaking. By engaging readers in a two-way conversation, you encourage greater rapport.

Polish your message. Because email is so quick and easy to generate, you may be tempted to dash off a quick blast and skip some important steps. However, that strategy leads to little mistakes that later loom large. Invest in a professional copywriter who will polish your prose to a deep shine.

Vary your approach. By segmenting your email campaign and delivering a more personal message to each segment of your intended audience, you strengthen readers’ relationship to you. Showcase your understanding of niches in your market and address their interests directly.

Watch behavior as well as demographics. Knowing how readers respond to your email campaign, not just who responds, is vital to the success of future strategies. Did recipients forward your mail? How many readers clicked through to your site? Where did they go when they got there, and how long did they stay? Answering these questions will help you define your market segments for upcoming campaigns.

Look at the larger demographic picture. Understanding the how, when and where of your email-generated traffic is important, but this data becomes even more meaningful when you overlay it with demographic information. You’ll learn not only how many recipients forwarded your mail, but which segments were most likely to share it.

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