5 Tips for Writing an Effective B2B Lead Generation Email

Believe it or not, email is still, by far, one of the most effective ways to generate sales leads. That being said, email is also one of the trickier content marketing channels to master. Send the wrong headline or forget to format correctly and – Bam! You’re hit with an opt-out request.

Don’t let your email get sidelined, keep them in the inbox and out of the spam folder by creating creative, personal, and compelling emails.

Key Takeaways: 

• Make email automation your friend by creating a series of emails for new subscribers to keep your company on their mind.
• Don’t get lost in your potential leads’ inbox – stand out by putting your personality into your emails.
• Create urgency in your body text, and most importantly in your call to action.
• At the end of the day, write an email that you would want to read.

One important email tactic is email automation. Sending a regular cadence of emails to new and existing subscribers is important to keep your company on their mind.

What does a successful automated email marketing campaign entail? Let’s dive into the basics to set yourself up for success before we give you all of our best lead generation email tips and tricks.

Email Automation Basics

So, someone lands themselves on your website, most likely through a Google search term. They read one of your killer blogs and decide they want to hear more from you. They sign up for your email newsletter and now, it’s time to put on a show.

Said person might have signed up for a multitude of reasons. But no matter what their trigger was, they’re interested in what you do.

A welcome email is step number 1. Tell them a bit about your company, what you do best and even why you do it. This is also your chance to set expectations for what else you have to offer.

After the welcome email you have a few routes you can choose to take. Maybe you can highlight some of your most popular offerings; a successful Ebook you wrote, a video explaining some of your best accomplishments, the most popular pages on your blog, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Don’t forget, potential leads aren’t interested in your service until they know how it can help them and alleviate their pain points. Your email series should include some information that speaks to their priorities and problems. Emphasize how your company services and products help real people (that happen to be just like them).

Make your email automation series special to you. It’s your chance to really sell yourself – and your service.

So, how do you make the content of your emails work for you? You’re an expert on what you do, but maybe you need some help with making the lead generation email magic happen. Luckily, you’ve landed yourself in the right place.

Here are 6 of our best tips when it comes to writing emails to effectively generate B2B leads.

1. Don’t be a robot

Personalize your emails. Give them personality, sass, and don’t forget humor. Automated email campaigns usually sound generic or like a robot wrote them. Be better than that.

One of our favorite methods: Gifs! An image is worth 1,000 words, right? Write an email that you would want to read and watch your click-through rates soar.

2. Create urgency

In order to move your readers to action, you have to present urgency. After letting them know that you understand their situation and that you have what they need, you should imply that they should act immediately.

You can do this a few different ways. Amazon and other ecommerce retailers do this by putting a deadline on their deals. Want free shipping or next day delivery? You have to order in the next 20 minutes!

In the B2B world you can emphasize how limited your offer is as well. Maybe you only have a few spots left for your webinar or you’re only accepting a handful of more clients each month. Either way, make it known that you’re in high demand and your reader doesn’t want to miss their chance.

The vocabulary you use to insight this urgency is important as well. Using words like now, limited time only, hurry and don’t miss out will help you speak to your reader directly.

This sentiment goes for your call to action as well, if not more importantly.

3. Use a Call To Action (CTA)

Make sure your CTA is clear, concise and irresistible in design so that it compels the reader to follow through on your desired action. Again, your choice of vocabulary here matters.

Here are 4 CTA’s that are proven to work;

• Start Your Free Trial
• Download Ebook Now
• Watch/Book Demo
• Learn More

While they all have action words in common, there are other factors that help elevate their effectiveness. The design (bold font, color text, italics etc.), placement and optimization matter as well.

Place the CTA somewhere after the initial pitch, and then repeat it near the end. This way your reader has two opportunities to click. Make the design enticing and be sure to test out different CTA’s and graphic options to optimize its effect.

4. Keep it simple

The ideal email length is only 50 to 200 words. Time is money, and that applies to both your time and your readers.

Emails this length had a 50% response rate. Remember, yours is not the only email hitting your reader’s inbox today (far from it) so keep it clear, concise and compelling.

This goes for your email subject line as well. Mailchimp, one of the leading email automation services, recommends keeping it under 9 words or 60 characters.

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5. Make it readable

Keep your emails engaging and readable by using short, descriptive words that paint a picture. Keep your paragraphs short and remember to make good use of “white space” to make your email easier to read.

Creating emails to generate business leads involves a lot of trial and error and will require a great deal of A/B testing and a careful eye on your analytics, but don’t get discouraged.

Keep refining your approach, pitch, and the overall design, as you can always get better. You can also try to put yourself in the reader’s shoes and think about what kind of message might compel YOU to take the next step.

Don’t forget, having information that can help your potential customer with their pain points is a key in getting (and holding) their attention. If you need help with your content plan, check out our weekly content marketing service or schedule a free consultation today.

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