Every piece of email you send is an opportunity for leads to respond, but some opportunities are richer than others. Yet businesses often overlook some of the most valuable chances to make an impact or secure a conversion because they don’t know the pivotal points in their leads’ decision-making process. Understand when your leads are most receptive to an offer, and you can expect much higher response and conversion rates.
Here are some of the most valuable email marketing opportunities many B2B marketers miss and how to capitalize on them.
Retargeting and Recovery
In a recent study of more than 6 billion business emails, data researchers found there was no appreciable difference between active and inactive subscribers’ purchase rates. In other words, just because you haven’t heard from a lead over the past two or three months doesn’t mean the buying journey has ended for them. Make sure you stay in contact with subscribers even if they haven’t sent strong buying signals lately with retargeting and recovery emails that help you recapture their attention if it’s drifted and remind them you’re there for them if they need support in their decision-making process. Email ensures these leads can find their way back to you easily when it’s time to buy.
Anniversaries and Other Important Dates
If a customer made a purchase with you a year ago, celebrate the occasion with an email. This is an outstanding opportunity to cross-sell or upsell, but it’s also a good chance to reconnect and learn about your customer’s satisfaction level or ask for a referral. The calendar can also be a valuable email marketing tool when you send out content related to important days. For example, a CPA firm might send tax preparation emails in late February or early March to get clients to respond before April 15. Be aware of your customers’ calendar-driven work flow, and you’ll be ready for them when they need you most.
Replenishment Offers
Pay attention to buying histories, and you have a wealth of information about when your customers need to replenish consumable items or get equipment recalibrated. Say you provide medical supplies to regional independent healthcare centers; you can go through client records and see that one clinic places a standing order every quarter while another places a similar order for supplies every six months. You can set up automated email offers in your marketing automation system to address each medical center and anticipate their needs even before they place their orders.
Subsequent Purchases
A single buy is good; repeated business is vastly better. After a lead has become a customer once, return to that well with incentivized email that offers a discount or special offer on the next purchase. Once you’ve established yourself as the go-to supplier by selling to the same customer repeatedly, they’re more likely to remain loyal.
Resends
Maybe your lead accidentally clicked past your first email. Maybe the subject line wasn’t sufficiently relevant to that potential customer. Maybe he or she mentally categorized the email as something that could wait until tomorrow. Whatever the reason, a resend – a reiteration of the same email content in a different format – could boost response rates to the overall campaign by as much as 50 percent. One classic example of a useful resend is an “ending soon” notification if the initial sale notice got no response; when leads sense urgency, they’re more motivated to act right away.
Leads are too valuable to lose by missing out on any email marketing opportunity. Make the most of your chances and take advantage of these email opportunities now.
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