Email marketing is a primary tool when it comes to B2B marketing, but as with any other business tactics, there are some best practices that should be followed for optimum results.

Some might wonder why to bother constructing an email marketing campaign with best practices in mind when there is business to attend to, but one recent survey noted that almost half of all customers surveyed said that they were more likely to open emails faster from a company with which they were pleased. The same holds true for B2B. In fact, people are seven times faster to open that email than they would than someone who has not spent time or money with the company in the past few months.
As such, here are a few best practices to follow in order to get individuals to click on that email faster:

1. Keep It Familiar
Note that most people either delete or ignore an email from an unfamiliar source. As such, be sure that the “From” email address is either a familiar person or a basic email address from the company, such as MarketingDepartment@XYZCompany.com. Remember that most people are more likely to open an email from a brand name, networking contact or local business that they trust and know.

2. Keep It Strong
Consider the subject line of the email before writing it. If the email seems like spam, it is possible that the individual’s email program will delete the email before they even see it. In addition, people are less likely to open something that seems blatantly useless. Be direct and use a catch in the email subject line to grab attention, such as a time limit or personal connection.

3. Keep It Sharp
Most people do not have time or the interest to read a long, drawn-out email. Identify the reason for the email within the first two sentences and then complete the email as succinctly as possible to get the point across without using excess information or verbiage.

4. Keep It Smart
Test the email before sending it to a B2B contact list. Send the email internally to check the look and feel before broadcasting it widely and always perform a thorough check for spelling and grammar. Then consider when to send it – some feel that sending on a Tuesday is the best workday to get people’s attention but sending it on a Sunday is likely to get higher open rates as people are more relaxed on a Sunday than they are mid-week.

Performing best practices in an email campaign is more likely to get the email noticed, opened and acted upon by individuals who receive the email. In addition, be certain to cultivate these relationships in other ways so that the person who gets the email knows and trusts the source of the email campaign.