Making Email a Priority for B2B Lead Generation

Making Email a Priority for B2B Lead Generation

B2B companies that come up with a successful lead generation strategy thrive, and email marketing is a major part of modern lead gen. How major? According to more than 600 marketing masterminds on LinkedIn, it’s in the top five most effective lead generation tools, and it’s second only to company websites as the most common channel for finding new leads.

A Lasting Impact

One of the most remarkable things about email marketing is its longevity. As B2B marketers adjust to changing audiences and a wealth of new media, email has retained its importance for decades – an eternity in digital marketing terms. It’s long been a preferred method for customer retention programs and retargeting, but this research shows how vital it is for lead generation. Four out of five marketing directors polled on LinkedIn rated email as an effective lead gen tool, and 92 percent use it regularly as part of a lead generation campaign.

Top Techniques for Lead Generation with Email Marketing

Prioritizing email as a means of generating leads, not just maintaining your connection with existing customers, opens the door to sophisticated lead nurturing strategies too. It isn’t enough to capture prospects’ interest initially; email marketing can also hold onto and increase that interest. The marketing experts on LinkedIn had something to say about which tactics they found most effective for lead gen. Some of these are:

  • Compelling content tailored to leads’ needs and sales readiness
  • Offers of more in-depth downloadable content
  • Behavioral and demographic audience segmentation
  • Triggered email, including autoresponse messages
  • Dynamic personalization that ensures content relevance
  • Preference pages that give email recipients greater control
  • Interactive content such as surveys, games, and polls
  • Multimedia email that contains animation, video, and/or audio
  • Loyalty programs that reward new and returning customers

Size Matters for Email Lead Generation

While email marketing ranked fourth overall among B2B organizations, it excelled as a lead generation tool for marketing directors of small to mid-sized businesses. For these companies, email was consistently ranked as the most effective lead-gen tool – even higher than tradeshows and SEO. Email’s cost effectiveness is one of its key selling points for mid-sized businesses; a dollar spent on email marketing goes farther than with any other lead generation tool. Larger businesses also benefit from a great ROI, but for smaller organizations, email’s efficiency is critical.

With its relatively low cost, ease of use, and high value, email makes sense as a primary B2B lead generation tool.