Building Email Lists in B2B Context

Strategy acts as your guiding map toward your objective, determining the routes to take based on circumstances and conditions at any given time.

Building an effective strategy for email development is essential to reach your audience without falling into spam filters.

One crucial step is to determine the characteristics of the target audience. This allows for proper segmentation, enabling us to understand what this audience needs or wants to hear (fundamental for SELLING).

Difference between B2C and B2B

It's crucial to acknowledge the differences between B2C (Business to Customer) and B2B.

It's key to understand that when conducting a commercial transaction for a product or service, addressing a consumer is vastly different from addressing a business (in reality, addressing a businessperson or professional—we always communicate with humans).

The disparity lies not so much in the characteristics of each individual but in the characteristics of the context in which they operate. The circumstances surrounding selling to an end consumer versus selling to a business are different.

B2B and B2C email sequences should be distinct. You might entice an end consumer with a flash sale, akin to what companies like Amazon or eBay do. However, with a business, the process changes.

Below, we highlight the most important considerations:

1. Focus on Business Audiences

Unlike B2C, where email lists can target individual consumers with a wide array of interests and buying behaviors, in B2B, it's crucial to target specific business audiences.

This entails identifying relevant companies based on their industry, size, geographical location, and other criteria relevant to your business.

From this point, we can deduce the importance of the following.

2. Precise Segmentation

Market segmentation (business segmentation) in B2B email list building must be more precise and detailed than in B2C. Achieving this requires establishing optimal segmentation criteria, which will vary case by case.

3. More Complex Buying Decisions

In the B2B environment, buying decisions are often more complex and may involve multiple stakeholders within the company. These decisions often require detailed analysis, cost-benefit evaluations, and internal approvals before a purchase is finalized.

Thus, B2B sales strategies must address this more intricate purchasing process.

4. Specialized Data Sources

To build effective B2B email lists, it's important to utilize specialized data sources that provide access to accurate and up-to-date information about companies and professionals within those companies.

These sources may include business databases, industry directories, professional networks, and lead generation platforms.

5. Personalization and Relevance

In B2B, personalization and relevance are key to the success of your email campaigns. It's crucial to tailor your messages and offers to the specific needs and challenges of each company and function within the organization.

Performing a precise yet quick review of each company before reaching out is important. Moreover, it's essential that the obtained knowledge reflects in the email to make the reader feel they're receiving personalized attention.

6. Difficulty in Closing Sales

A B2B client likely needs to encounter an offer, both in content and stimulus, at multiple touchpoints before deciding to make a purchase. Closing a sale on impulse is much more challenging in B2B dealings.