As a digital marketer who has seen the rise and decline of several trends and technologies over the past two decades, I often come across this question—
“Is email marketing still effective?”
Well, asking this question may make sense in this era of social media and influencer marketing. But the answer is that email marketing is still relevant and bring results……..only if done right. After all, email feels more personal than other marketing channels like social media. Whether you are selling to other businesses (B2B) or directly to consumers (B2C), email helps you reach and get seen in your audience’s inbox.
This is because…
- There are over 4.50 billion email-users worldwide, meaning that the reach is absolutely immense.
- Over 90% of users check their email every day while 42% of them are likely to check their inboxes 3-5 times per day.
- Over 60% of customers prefer email as their primary method of contact.
All these statistics lead to these big benefits of email marketing such as…
- Email marketing ensures an average ROI of USD 36 for every USD 1 spent.
- In a recent survey, email marketing has been found to be the most effective channel for building brand awareness after social media.
- Over 50% of consumers have completed a purchase after receiving a marketing email.
- Above all, 73% of B2B marketers agree that email marketing is the most effective method to approach potential customers.
However, if you are still not seeing any results with your B2B or B2C email marketing, it calls for optimization and implement new strategies listed in this guide.
Understanding the Difference between B2B and B2C
Although B2B and B2C use same channel of email marketing, they have different audiences and goals.
B2B (Business to Business)
You are approaching professionals who make buying decisions for their organizations. Expect the sales cycle to be longer and more complex.
B2C (Business to Consumer):
You are reaching out to individual customers who likely to make quick, impulsive buying decisions. The focus is often on conversion and repeat buying.
Keeping these differences in mind, the way you create your emails, as well as the goals you set vary.
B2B Email Marketing: Strategies That Work
Email is a bedrock of many B2B campaigns.
Here’s how to leverage it for you.
Know Your Audience and Segment Your Lists.
Do you treat your audience the same? That’s the biggest mistake to avoid. Keep in mind that businesses are busy and selective. According to one industry report, over 20% of marketers found email segmentation as the most effective way to improve performance.
It helps to break you list into segments based on these factors.
- Company Size and Industry
- Role or Job
- Stage in the Buying Process
- Past Interactions with Your Organization
With segmented campaigns, your email marketing has a good change to deliver the right message to the right people at the right time.
Use Content That Educates, Not Just Sells.
Most B2B buyers do research before making any purchase decision, meaning that pushing them for sale won’t help. That’s why you aim to educate and inform them. For example, you can incorporate these things into your email:
- White papers and industry reports
- Case studies showing real results
- Practical guides and how-to content
- Invitations to webinars or workshops
Automate Drip Campaigns to Nurture Leads
Automation is more than saving time. When implemented right, it can help you send relevant messages automatically based on how a contact interacts. It is all about following up emails after a sign-up, educating leads, and launch a re-engagement sequences.
A study by Axle Agency supports this, showing that sequence of multiple emails sent over several days drive 42% higher conversion rates than single-message campaigns by capitalizing on high-intent signals during the first 72 hours.
For example:
- Trigger: Lead downloads the PDF.
- Email 1 (Immediate): “Here is your guide!” (Includes the link and a helpful tip).
- Email 2 (2 Days later): “Did the guide help? Here is a Case Study showing how Company X used these tips to save 10 hours a week.”
- Email 3 (5 Days later): “Common mistakes companies make with productivity.” (Educational content that positions you as an expert).
- Email 4 (10 Days later): “Ready to see how our software automates this? Book a 15-minute demo here.”
Personalize Beyond the First Name
Personalization boosts engagement and it is easy to see why. According to industry data, emails using personalized subject lines are likely to be opened more than 20% than those with generic subject lines. Over 70% of customers expect companies to send personalized content.
Of course, including a person’s name is a great start. But the right gain come from tailored messages based on the recipient’s interests.
For example, it can go like this
“Subject: A Tip for Your Marketing Team at ABC Company!
“Hi Sam, as the Marketing Director at XYZ, I think you are spending a lot of time on manual report. Refer to this case study on how we helped other SaaS marketing teams automate their data tracking.”
Use A/B Testing to Improve Results
Each audience is somewhat different. A/B testing allows you to test two versions of an email to get to know what works better. Salesforce has found that nearly two-thirds of customers expect organizations to “adapt to their changing needs and preferences”. Figuring out results with a single email may not be enough.
Therefore, create the variations of…
Subject lines
Email copy
Sending time
Calls to action
The testing provides you with data such that each campaign is smarter than the previous one.
Integrate Email and Other Channels.
Email marketing works in tandem with other platform and strategies such as LinkedIn outreach, content syndication, and retargeted advertisements. Email tends to establish the story and draw individuals into a more in-depth discussion, and other mediums support that message.
Make Your Content Useful and Concise.
B2B customers appreciate relevance and clarity. Busy professionals do not have time to read long promotional emails. Get to the point, provide clarity in value and have a clear next step.
A study conducted by email software Boomerang found that short and clear emails get much better results. Emails written at a third-grade reading level have a 53% reply rate, while complex, college-level emails drop to just 39%.
Here are two examples that show the transformation from a “wordy” email to a “concise and useful” one:
The Bad (Wordy):h
“Hi John, I hope you’re doing great. I am reaching out to you from ABC Tech because we have set some benchmarks in the field of cloud security and we have empowered several companies just like yours with our solutions. We have a variety of features that I believe you should really appreciate, I’d love to hop on a long call to explain our entire slide deck and other things….”
The Good (Concise & Useful):
Subject: Quick win for your cloud security
“Hi John,
I noticed [Company Name] is expanding your remote team. This often leads to a 20% spike in security vulnerabilities. > We built a 2-minute audit tool that identifies these gaps automatically. You can run it here: [Link].
If the results surprise you, would you be open to a 10-minute chat on Thursday to discuss a fix?”
Email Marketing Strategies for B2C
For B2C organizations, email marketing is still one of the result-oriented ways to reach customers directly, build loyalty, and drive sales.
While some strategies may sound identical to those we have covered in the B2B email marketing section, B2C calls for different planning since it is a consumer focused industry from the core.
Know Your Audience and Segment Your List
Like B2B marketing, B2C email marketing also requires audience segmentation. Not all customers have same goals or concerns, and grouping them based on interests or behaviour helps your message feel more personal and relevant.
Take these factors into account while segmenting your audience. =
- Purchase history
- Browsing behaviour
- Location
- Engagement level
This segmentation helps you tailor your offer, content, and product recommendation that customers are more likely to respond to.
Create Strong, Personalized Content
Again, personalization is more than just adding a first name to an email. Use data to show products or offers that match a persona’s interests or past behaviour. You can refer to the segmented list discussed in the previous point.
Studies show that personalized emails see 6x higher engagement rate and results than none personalized ones.
You can create a personalized email campaign by keeping the following things in mind:
- Showing product recommendations based on past purchases
- Highlighting relevant categories someone viewed recently
- Celebrating birthdays or anniversaries with special offers
It is all about making your mail speak directly to the interest of your audience.
Use Behavioural and Automated Emails
Email marketing lets you automate your campaign based on customer behaviour. These emails trigger in response to specific actions, making them timely and relevant.
Common automated flows include:
- Abandoned Cart Emails
These emails are sent in case a shopper adds item to their car but doesn’t complete the buying process. They can bring high engagement rate as they strike while interest is fresh.
B2C companies often see higher open rate with abandoned cart emails than standard campaigns, as confirmed by BigCommerce stats.
- Welcome Series
When someone signs up for your list, a welcome email or series sets expectations and introduces your brand. These often have the possibility of creating highest open rates.
- Post-Purchase Emails
A thank-you email or product information after a purchase will create a positive impression and may lead to a repeat purchase. The emails sent after purchase are often highly engaged. According to industry insights by Klaviyo, post-purchase emails can have 17% higher open rates.
Automation ensures that such messages are delivered at the appropriate time without the need of manual work, which enhances output and time-saving.
Focus on Offers and Timing
Special deals and incentives are well received by the consumers. The emails that contain explicit promotions or time-sensitive deals are more likely to result in clicks and conversions than plain newspapers.
Some tips:
- Insert powerful calls to action at the beginning of the email to make sure that the customers can see them immediately.
- Promotional emails should be sent at the time when the people are most likely to check their inbox.
- Evenings and weekends can be an ideal schedule since it is during this time that people have the free time to browse and shop.
Optimize for Mobile
More than half of people use mobile phone to check email, meaning that your campaign should be optimized for mobile phones (better to make it for all devices). If your email doesn’t look good on mobile, it is likely to be deleted within 3 seconds as it is happened in 70% of cases found by one study.
To make sure your emails don’t meet the same fate, implement…
- Easy-to-read fonts
- Buttons that are easy to tap
- Phone-sized images.
Choosing the Right Email Marketing Tool
| Tool | Primary Focus | Key Features | Best For |
| HubSpot | B2B | CRM integration, lead scoring, and advanced sales sequences. | B2B Mid-Market & Enterprise. Best for sales-driven organizations. |
| Klaviyo | B2C | Deep e-commerce data, behavioral triggers, and SMS integration. | B2C E-commerce. The gold standard for Shopify/DTC brands. |
| ActiveCampaign | B2B/B2C | Complex automation workflows and visual “customer journey” maps. | B2B & Small Businesses. Great for “nurture” sequences. |
| Mailchimp | B2C | User-friendly templates, AI creative assistant, and basic social ads. | Beginners & Small B2C. Ideal for simple newsletters and small shops. |
| Brevo (Sendinblue) | B2C | Transactional emails (receipts/orders), WhatsApp marketing, and SMS. | B2C Apps & Global Shops. Best for high-volume transactional alerts. |
| Instantly.ai | B2B | Domain “warm-up,” lead scrapers, and high-volume cold outreach. | B2B Sales Outreach. Best for prospecting and cold emailing. |
| Stripo | Design | Drag-and-drop HTML editor with interactive AMP elements. | Both. Used to design beautiful templates that export to any ESP. |
Elevate Your B2B or B2C Marketing with Us
Email marketing is an essential strategy to tap into the large customer base of your potential audience. If you are looking to make the most of your email marketing campaign or don’t have an idea how to get started with it, reach out to us at iSonic Media. With tailored strategies and expertise, you can make your email marketing campaign successful.
Contact us now!
