We have all had those annoying emails where all you get is a sales pitch that has no effort.
It looks like a template they had just forwarded to a spreadsheet of people, which has been pulled off of LinkedIn.
Even worse if they can’t even get your name right.
Our first response is to delete or ignore those emails.
So is B2B email marketing dead?
GDPR
As Antoine Finklestein states, GDPR’s goal was not to prevent cold calling over email. (See the footnote below.) The idea was to build the privacy of customers by bringing in new rules that everyone can follow.
Let’s get something straight, GDPR is complicated. You need to make sure you are compliant and get legal advice on the specifics.
In this article, we will explore if B2B email marketing is dead and not the specifics of GDPR.
Ask the ISO directly yourself if you want professional legal advice on GDPR.
Here’s the bottom-line, GDPR does not stop email marketing.
Let’s dive a bit deeper into this topic…
Cold Calling Is Seen as Rude
There is some truth in this. Cold calling has got a bad wrap. However, this is only because many people get it SO wrong. We get sales messages frequently over LinkedIn where people just hit us up with sales pitches as soon we accept their connection request.
Here’s the problem with these kinds of messages…
They don’t build rapport. They go straight to a request for us to watch a demo or contact them for a sale.
Also, they haven’t done the research of the company they are targeting. You wouldn’t go to an interview without researching a company or the person you are contacting, so why would you just send a cold email or direct message to someone over social media?
Cold calling is vital to your business marketing, but only if it is done well.
B2B email marketing is a great way to build your business, which can be seen in the 93% of B2B marketers who use email to distribute their content.
Other Growing Ways to Market Yourself
Of course, there are other ways to market your business. Social platforms are one of the best ways to connect with people and inform your network of events, offers and job offers.
People focus on influencers on LinkedIn or Instagram to reach their customers. The social media platform is also important for growing your business and reaching new customers. There is nothing wrong with this, but you are missing out on the money you could be getting from email marketing.
Cold calling over email is amazing for B2B. It is predicted that there will be over 5.6 billion active email accounts by 2020.
And email is not just for the older business generations. 73% of the millennial generation would prefer businesses to contact them over email.
Email marketing, then, is crucial for B2B.
B2B Marketing can be hard to navigate. So, how do you go about it?
Make sure you are ‘warming’ up your leads and looking to hook your reader in the email.
If your email has substance and a point, you can close the deal.
