In today's digital landscape, where trends evolve at the speed of a click, one strategy continues to stand strong against the test of time: B2C email marketing.
The question on every marketer's mind in 2023 is: How can you harness the power of B2C email marketing to keep up and surpass every goal you have set for yourself?
From segmentation and personalization to crafting compelling content, this article will dive into practical approaches to elevate your customer base by reaching them where they are.
Whether you're new to the scene or a seasoned marketer, discover how B2C email marketing can bolster your brand's engagement and conversion efforts.
This guide contains:
- what is B2C email marketing;
- why is B2C email marketing important;
- 5 best practices to follow in B2C email marketing;
- 10 top strategies you should implement in B2C marketing.
Let's dive in!
What is B2C email marketing?
Business to Consumer (B2C) email marketing is a specific form of marketing that uses email as a channel to reach and engage individual consumers to promote products or create brand awareness.
It's a direct communication strategy that sends targeted email campaigns to a company's consumer base to build relationships and drive sales. Becoming a pro at this strategy is easy if you prep yourself with some email marketing courses.
Why is B2C email marketing important?
B2C email marketing is important because it offers a range of benefits that contribute to a company's overall marketing and business objectives.
Below are 3 key reasons you should start using B2C email marketing as one of your main strategies today.
1. Save your pennies with a high ROI
As a marketer, it can sometimes be hard to determine what is considered a good investment and gives you a great ROI. B2C email marketing, however, can give you some pretty immediate results.
Thankfully, you can take the guesswork out of calculating by using Stripo's ROI calculator to find out your campaign's results.
2. Know your target customer and track every engagement
B2C email marketing can provide valuable insights and help you understand your customers better by leveraging data and interactions gathered through email campaigns.
Segmenting your email list by specific criteria, behavioral tracking, purchase patterns, and engagement levels are all ways that you can track to understand your target audience better.
Netflix is a great example of a company that absolutely wins at segmentation. If you log into your Netflix app, you might note that every movie and TV show is tailored to your likes. This isn't just a coincidence; quite the contrary, Netflix invests heavily in segmentation to keep its customers interested in its product.
(Source: Netflix)
Now, apply this hyper-segmentation to B2C email marketing campaigns. If you track your customers well, it will only improve your email content and subsequent product recommendations.
(Source: ReallyGoodEmails)
3. Expand your prospects with lead generation
When it comes to marketing, the more customers or prospective customers you reach, the merrier. That’s why lead generation is key to your successful email marketing campaigns. For you to be able to hyper-segment emails and reach your target audience, you must first have an email list to pull from. A great lead generation strategy will give you just that.
For every piece you create for your clients, think about how you can use it to generate leads effectively. Methods like gated content, newsletter sign-ups, and free webinars are all great ways to generate leads. Facebook lead ads campaigns are also a great avenue to pursue. Learn Facebook's best-kept secrets and empower yourself to expand your prospects.
By focusing your efforts on lead generation, you will be well on your way to a successful email marketing campaign.
5 best practices to follow in B2C email marketing
When planning your B2C email marketing campaigns, it can be hard to decipher what you will do to stand out against the masses.
Take a look at these recent statistics that really give some insight into how prospects respond to email marketing:
- only 21.5% of emails are actually opened by the end user;
- more than 306 billion emails are sent and received each day;
- email subject lines with numbers have 57% better open rates;
- 56% of brands that use emojis in their email subject lines have higher open rates.
In 2023, everyone's inboxes are absolutely filled with emails, so ensuring your email is the one they open and keep opening with time is not a walk in the park.
of emails are opened by end users
Here are 5 best practices you should follow in every email marketing campaign:
1. Have a clear call to action
Include a clear and prominent CTA that tells recipients what action you want them to take. Make sure it stands out visually and is compellingly worded.
(Source: Email from ModCloth)
2. Only send to permission-based double opt-in prospects
Only send emails to individuals who have given their consent to receive them through a double opt-in process. It has the viewer sign up for their email, then go through an additional confirmation step where they approve the enrollment through an email. This process, with an extra layer before welcome emails, helps ensure that your emails are well-received and reduces the likelihood of being marked as spam.
(Source: Email from Sock Drawer Finance)
If you seek a way to get prospects' email consent, consider having an easily accessible place on your website where customers can sign up for your list. MarketBeat's website is a good example of this in action. The sidebar normally works really well since it tends to stay the same no matter what page of the website your visitor is on.
3. Have distinct and compelling subject lines
As shown below, a compelling subject line encourages more prospects to open your emails.
Find your voice, keep your character count over 30 characters, and include relevant emojis to see an uptick in email open rates.
4. Don't forget the unsubscribe button
Include a visible and easy-to-use unsubscribe option in your emails. This allows recipients to opt out if they no longer wish to receive your communications, which helps maintain a positive sender reputation.
(Source: Email from The Daily Skimm)
5. Remember that content is key
People read emails because there's something in it for them. So, one of the key factors in ensuring your B2C email marketing campaign is a success is offering something unique to your niche or clientele that would be useful to them.
Take Helene In Between as an excellent example of this in action. She sells eBooks that give training on how to run social media accounts. However, she also sends out targeted emails that are niche-specific to social media and compels subscribers to read what she has to say through her expertise.
(Source: Email from Helene in Between)
Whether it's an email with a useful blog post or a webinar on a trendy topic, find your niche and ensure your content is relevant and actionable.
10 top strategies you should implement in B2C email marketing
Now that we know the best practices to keep in mind in our B2C email marketing campaigns, let's dive right into 10 strategies you must implement to make it a success.
1. Embrace abandoned cart reminders
Studies show that cart abandonment emails have a 39.07% open rate and a 23.33% click-through rate, so this is one strategy you must adopt in your campaign.
If you aren't sure where to start, use our abandoned cart templates to have the best possible email out there and garner higher open rates.
2. Strategize drip campaigns
The best email marketing campaign is the one that sticks with the prospect. And that is exactly what a drip campaign will do.
By setting up a series of automated emails, you can guide the customer through the sales funnel and nurture them toward making a purchase.
(Source: Email from 100% PURE)
3. Amp up cross-selling
Lancome is a brand that absolutely slays at cross-selling. All of their employees are taught that they need to pair each product with another for one to be effective.
(Source: Email from Lancome)
That is exactly what you should be doing with your campaign: ensuring that the customers know which products will pair best with the ones they want to purchase.
4. Make it mobile-friendly
About 15 billion mobile devices had 5G connections in 2021. So, if your emails and website are not mobile-friendly, you are certainly limiting the potential of your marketing campaign.
Responsive email design is crucial for ensuring your emails display correctly and effectively on various devices and screen sizes, such as smartphones, tablets, and desktops. It provides a consistent and user-friendly experience, increasing the chances of your email being read and acted upon by recipients.
Adapting to different devices, responsive design also helps maintain brand professionalism and credibility, leading to higher customer engagement and conversion rates.
5. Engage with prospects
Undoubtedly, people like to talk. So, take that to your advantage and incorporate interactive elements such as polls, quizzes, and surveys to engage subscribers.
Pregnancy & Newborn is a great example of this in action. The brand sends out surveys to its readers to engage them in upcoming research and features. Analyze your brand, and find a way for your prospects to speak to you through polls, quizzes, surveys, or other interactive elements.
(Source: Email from Pregnancy & Newborn)
6. Reward loyalty
Have you ever been motivated to go to a specific juice bar or coffee shop just because you knew that location would give you reward points?
Well, that's what brand loyalty does. It builds up brand loyalty that motivates customers to keep coming your way.
Starbucks is a company that easily figured that out. With their star points, customers are motivated to return for more and be rewarded.
(Source: ReallyGoodEmails)
7. Tell a story
Use email storytelling techniques to create compelling narratives around your brand. Emotional connections can lead to higher customer engagement and brand loyalty, which is generally an effective strategy.
(Source: ReallyGoodEmails)
8. Acknowledge your subscribers on special occasions
Every occasion can be a special occasion, especially when you are in marketing and sales. The big companies have figured this out, so it is no coincidence that you see Labor Day sales everywhere as the calendar nears closer to the holiday.
ShopSolar is a great example of a company that embraces special occasions for sales, especially Labor Day sales. They always keep their messaging down to earth and personable, which really captivates their audience.
(Source: Email from Shop Solar)
If you don’t want to miss any special occasion to reach out to your subscribers, check our email marketing calendar.
9. Use A/B testing
Experiment with different elements of your email campaigns, such as subject lines, CTAs, visuals, and content. A/B testing helps you identify what resonates best with your audience and improve your overall strategy.
10. Segment your email list
Divide your email list into segments based on demographics, purchase history, and behavior. Be sure to personalize your emails to provide relevant content and offers to each segment, increasing engagement.
Wrapping up
In a world where customers seek relevance and personalization, mastering the strategies discussed isn't just an edge; it's a requirement. The key takeaway is that B2C email marketing is about building relationships through value-driven interactions.
Learn to adapt, embrace change, test new methods, and, most importantly, listen to your audience. B2C email marketing can evolve at your and your customers' pace.
You are now well-equipped to reach new levels of success with your B2C email marketing campaigns. So, go ahead — connect, inspire action, and pave the way for success in this new era.
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