How to Plan and Launch Email Campaigns

Now that you know what to write, you need to start planning your campaigns.

Go back to your segmented lists and ask yourself:

What does each prospect list need from me?

Once you know what you need to say, you can plan your campaign. There are quite a few email types you can use. Starting with:

Introductory emails

When you’re connecting with a customer for the first time, you only have one shot to make an impression.

Two sentences are all it takes to pique your prospect’s interest and get them to continue reading.

This makes your introductory email the most important B2B marketing email you’ll ever write. You have to find a way to:

Introduce yourself and explain why you’re reaching out. And add value in a way that comes across as both creative and informative without being too focused on selling.

• Remember to refer to your prospect’s first name and company name. 
• Make sure to include a clear CTA. 
• For added oomph, try to keep your introductory email a bit shorter. 60 words is a benchmark to hit for the best click-through rates.

Follow-up emails

Haven’t heard back from your prospect after your introductory email?

There’s a magic trick to re-engage with them:

The follow-up email!

The follow-up email helps jog their memory and lets them know a bit more about how you solve their biggest challenges.

At Cognism, we’ve found that a subject line that doubles as a CTA or is short and concise gets great open rates when following up. 

Here are three examples:

• Following up.
• Scheduling our call.
• Meeting request.

Liam Bartholomew, VP of Marketing at Cognism, said:

“Provide value and lead with a prospect-centric message. No one wants to read a sales pitch, keep it focused on pain points and provide value. Mentioning pain points and then going into a sales pitch also isn’t enough.”

Freebie emails

Free advice, eBooks and more...What’s not to love?

When a prospect opens an outbound email and discovers a freebie that gives them value, they’re more likely to remember you and engage in the future.

When a prospect downloads a freebie from your site? Even better!

Free advice, eBooks and more...

It opens up the chance to engage them, rather than the other way around. Those leads can then be entered straight into the funnel.

You’ll need to keep them engaged. So you’ll send them emails offering something of value, such as a free guide, so when the time comes to make the sale, it’s as easy as pie.

Liam said:

“We like to use Cognism’s own story as a successful tech company to relate to prospects.” 

“By providing information we know they will find useful we build rapport with the prospect, so when they’re called by sales, they already know who we are and all about our product.”

Break-up emails

Also known as closed lost ops, the breakup email is something we’re sure we’ve all experienced!

If you haven’t received a response to your cadence, don’t give up entirely. You can give it one more shot with a short email letting them know you’re done trying to connect.

Try to keep it short and humorous; at this stage, all you’re looking for is a reaction of some kind.

And, if you ask them to do something simple like give you a follow on social media, you’re creating another opportunity for engagement in the future.

Rekindle nurture emails

What about those leads that seemed so promising but never worked out? This is where the rekindle nurture comes in.

You can convert 45% of your lost leads with a simple email offering a discount or a special gift to rekindle the relationship.

The goal is to get them thinking about working with you again. So keep your email short and sweet.

Liam said:

“Rekindle nurtures are great to fix a ‘leaky bucket’ of leads. You’re reducing the barrier to entry by getting people back on board with something more enticing than a free demo.”

“For example, at Cognism we offer 25 free leads.”

Drip campaigns

A drip email campaign is a great way to build stronger relationships with leads.

It usually consists of a couple of sequences that offer your prospects some value without being too pushy and trying to get them to book a demo.

Your purpose is to warm the lead up for your sales team to take over; the best way to do that is to gently remind them that you’re there and can help them.

But, that doesn’t mean you should send them just anything and call it value!

A successful drip email campaign should be mutually beneficial. The lead will consider you a valuable contact if you send useful content.

A drip campaign can consist of any of the above-mentioned emails in a cadence.

The advantage here is that you already know what content they’re interested in, so you can provide more of the same.

By regularly providing helpful content, you’ll demonstrate your company’s valuey and build a positive relationship with the lead.