What are great email content materials made of? A lot of basic elements comprise content, but only a few taken in the right amounts can really make the difference between emails that get the job done and emails that end up in the junk folders of recipients in your B2B email list. To give you some light into this essential issue, this blog post looks at the six most important qualities that all great content materials have in common.
Content-driven marketing is gaining better traction among practically all B2B marketers today. In a study that surveyed 1,092 B2B marketers, as much as 9 out of 10 respondents cited using content marketing as part of their strategies for various channels. Separate research findings also highlight that B2B companies with proper content marketing and lead nurturing campaigns generate 50% more qualified leads at a third of the cost.
So, what are the content qualities that matter the most to your targeted business email list audience? In general, great email content materials should:
1. Give tangible benefits.
The value that your emails have to offer must be real, not just some vague concept or promise. For example, you might want to focus on common issues that the recipients in your B2B email contact database typically encounter and provide practical solutions that really work. Just like you, your prospects or customers face challenges too. It’s part of your job to make their lives better with the knowledge you have.
2. Balance promotion & education.
Prospect/customer education forms a major portion of content marketing but certainly not all of it. At one point or another you still need to promote your products or services and try to generate some revenues. But this doesn’t mean you have to be blunt about it. Great content marketing seamlessly weaves promotional material into the fabric of the message.
3. Appear in diverse formats.
Quality email content doesn’t have to be solely focused on the usual “how-to’s” or “best practices.” Instead, email content should vary in formats as your campaign proceeds. Aside from giving quick lists, you can also engage in a deep discussion about specific issues as well. You should also throw in some lengthier pieces of content properties such as whitepapers and eBooks into your mix.
4. Maintain ongoing discussions.
Having the ability to start a conversation about a certain subject matter is one thing; being able to keep the discussion alive is another. Great email content achieves both of these through active interaction and relevant responses, not just set-and-forget email auto-responders. Without such a quality, email campaigns run the risk of becoming a one-way robotic drip email series.
5. Use timely & current information.
Unless used to illustrate some underlying trend or rate of change, outdated facts and figures belong to the pages of a history book, not in your email content. If you’re really looking to deliver value to your email readers, then you need to make sure the information you provide are based on the most recent contact database available.
6. Build on channel’s strengths.
Although the email marketing medium has its strengths, it does have its fair share of weaknesses as well. A well-implemented content marketing strategy for email campaigns plays on the strengths of the channel and leaves their weaknesses to be addressed through other media or formats. For example, it’s common knowledge to avoid embedding videos directly on email messages and instead have them linked through landing pages because of the inherent flaws of the email medium when it comes to video content.
What other email content qualities do you work toward in your own campaigns?
Read more: B2B Email Lists: How Publishers Use (or Abuse) Your Email