Email marketing is undoubtedly one of the most cost-effective lead generation tools for B2B businesses in 2024. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing generates an average ROI of $1 : $45. One of the toughest things marketers struggle with though is generating or growing their B2B email marketing list. Having managed small lists in niches (1,000 – 3,000) and very large lists in mass-market companies (>250,000) it’s safe to say we’ve picked up some tricks to help you grow your B2B email marketing lists. Below, we’ll outline 19 different ways to grow or start a B2B email marketing list in 2024.
1. Your Existing Clients
You likely have a CRM, Excel file, or stack of purchase orders somewhere that is full of your existing clients, and their email addresses. This is the best place to start and where you’ll get the most bang for your buck. These individuals know of your company/industry, and in most cases that are happy to be receiving value-added content via email.
If you don’t have a CRM yet, I would recommend looking into one soon. With a CRM like Hubspot, Salesforce, or even Agile CRM you can manage your current email list and give them the best experience possible.
2. Pop-Ups on Your Website
Just because someone came to your website and didn’t purchase something, doesn’t mean they are not a lead. There are many reasons why someone might be on your site. They may just be looking for information right now, but are a potential lead in the future. One of the easiest soft closes for them is to ask them to sign up for your email list via a pop-up on your website. This way, you’re able to send them value-added content and increase your frequency of touch; so when they are ready to purchase, they come straight to you!
The example that we have below is from Hubspot. As you can see, they include information that will entice their website visitors to join the club and continue learning from them. When the user clicks on the subscribe button, they will be asked to enter their email address. Now they are subscribed! This is another great opportunity to include your CRM because you can create a chain of emails to try and convert the subscriber into a paying customer.
3. Use Visitor Queue Contacts
Using Visitor Queue, you can identify the companies visiting your website and the key employees that work there. Information that’s included is company name, industry, employee count, employee name, title, and you guessed it – email! You can then export this information and add applicable roles to your B2B email marketing lists.
Visitor Queue is one of the easiest and cheapest ways on this list to increase your new email subscribers. With personalized plans based on the number of leads that your business needs, Visitor Queue is the perfect fit for every B2B company.
4. Games/Quizzes on Your Website
Marketers are getting smarter and smarter every day. One trending way of gathering emails for your marketing list is by providing website visitors a game or quiz they can complete right on your website. This is similar to popups but engages the user more. Plus, it gives the user the feeling that you are trying to help. The catch is they need to provide their email in order to receive their results.
The example that we have provided below is from Neil Patel’s website. The 3-minute quiz (genius to include the time that it will take to complete) will provide information on how much more traffic their website could receive with their help. As you can see in the second image, once the user has completed the quiz, they have to enter their name and email address and agree to their terms and conditions, and then they will receive their results.
5. Sign Up Field on Your Website
This is a pretty basic idea, but we still see websites that are not taking advantage of it. If you’re publishing great content, or are a fast-growing company, people will likely want to stay up to date. So, give them the option to by providing a link to sign up for your newsletter list right on your website. It is recommended that this is on every page, so utilize the top navigation or the footer.
6. Ask Users to Subscribe at the End of a Piece of Content
People are most likely to do something for you, once you’ve done something for them. So, if they’ve read your entire piece of content, and you’ve added value, that is the perfect time to ask them to sign up for your email list. Further, they’ll likely be interested in future articles and updates, so you’ll be doing them a favor. This button doesn’t have to be a boring subscribe button, it can be “stay up to date” or something similar to catch their attention.
7. Whitepapers, Case Studies, and Hidden Content
This one has been out there for a while but is still super effective. Commonly, websites will give you access to whitepapers, case studies, or other hidden content when you give them your email. They say they will email you a link or the actual piece of content in order to protect it, but they really just want your email. Recently, marketers have been upping the ante and giving away full digital books that are downloadable! Contact information is so valuable, and it’s prevalent by the use of gated content like this.
8. Webinar Signups
If you have previously run or are thinking of running a webinar for your clients and/or prospects, don’t think that the only selling opportunity is during the webinar. Ensure you add your attendee list to your B2B email marketing campaigns to get the maximum value out of it! This way you can stay in contact with them, or even connect with them over LinkedIn to discuss future webinars. The more events they attend, the more familiar they will be with your business.
9. Buy a Cold Email List
Likely the easiest option is to just buy a cold email list from a vendor. There are a ton of email database vendors out there, so we won’t get into those. You can then take this list, target specific roles against specific campaigns, and if done properly, create a constant flow of leads. Before you purchase an email list, do your research to find trustworthy sources that will not give you spam emails.
10. BuiltWith for Lead List Generation
If you’re a software company, and you’re looking to get a list of your competitor’s clients, or even a complimentary software client list, BuiltWith is your saving grace! They provide you a list of all websites that utilize a specific software and the emails of employees that work there. This is a highly effective method of targeting specific markets. You can then use this information to send them specific emails on why your company is better. Include case studies, testimonials, or reviews to prove your point!
11. Your Ideal Customers
Generate a list of your ideal customers. Easier said than done but there are tools for this. You can use LinkedIn, online groups they hangout in, Siftery etc. but the point here is to generate a list of people that would be ideal for you to do business with. It’s unlikely any of the sources available will provide emails, so you’ll want to use a virtual assistant or Hunter to find email addresses for these individuals. This exercise can be incredibly effective if executed correctly.
12. Your Live Chat
Before someone can start a live chat with you, ask that they provide you with an email address. This helps to follow up if they get disconnected but also provides you with an email to use in your marketing efforts. You can use this to find out why they didn’t convert on your website. This is also a great place to offer a discount.
13. Tradeshows/Events
If you’re attending or hosting any tradeshows or events, we recommend you utilize that time to grow your email list. During the show/event you can, have a station where people can sign up for your email list, gather emails via a game, take as many business cards as possible, scan badges with the promise to donate $1 to charity – the possibilities are endless. Even better, after the show/event it’s common for the organizer to send out a list of all attendees and their emails.
14. Subscribe Option in Email Signature
Create as many touchpoints as possible! One of the easiest, but commonly overlooked touchpoints is your company’s email signatures. Add a link in your signatures where individuals can easily sign up for your email list. You likely talk to potential clients, other businesses, and more with your email, so you should take advantage of this free advertising opportunity.
15. Contest/Giveaways
Generally, contests/giveaways are usually thought to be effective for B2C companies but there are a ton of ways you can leverage them for B2B companies. Stripe is a great example. They give away Stripe branded t-shirts all of the time, who doesn’t love a free t-shirt? Another example is Mailchimp, which gives away figurines of their mascot, too cute. You can easily utilize these or other creative initiatives to gather email addresses during a giveaway or contest. Plus, it’s free advertising! Every time your customer wears the shirt or posts their cute money figurine on social media, your company is getting exposure
16. Contact Forms
Don’t forget to add the people that have already reached out to you via the contact form on your website to your B2B email marketing list! This is commonly overlooked but can be an effective way to repurpose email addresses. Don’t pass up the chance to easily generate more emails
17. Newsletter Sharing
Content sharing is becoming more and more popular as companies look to leverage related client bases. However, an emerging trend is sharing newsletter sign up slots. The concept here is that company A puts a piece of company B’s content in their newsletter and then directly under it, a link to sign up for company B’s newsletter. This works best for companies that complement each other. This means that they target a similar audience, but do not compete with each other.
18. Sign Up on Facebook
An oldie, but a goodie. Email marketing services like MailChimp allow you to embed your newsletter subscription form directly on your Facebook page! This allows you to drive relevant users to your Facebook page with high-value content and soft close them with a newsletter sign up. This is great because you already know that they are interested in your business, so they are more likely to become a paying customer.
19. In-Market Company Going Out of Business? Buy Their B2B Email Marketing List
A unique tactic but can work if executed correctly. Buying a competitor’s or complementary company’s email marketing list when they are going out of business is something that doesn’t happen too often. You can either absorb this list into your own or keep it as the other brand and transition the content to be promotional of your offerings. If you decide to do this tactic, take some time and carefully decide how you want to use this information. Try not to jump the gun too quickly because it can lead to a lot of unsubscribes.
Overall
People say email marketing is dead or dying, but we think the numbers speak for themselves. If you’re a B2B company, you need to start building an email marketing list and pushing out high-value content immediately! B2B Email marketing and building a quality list are instrumental for success in 2024. For even more tips on how to grow your email marketing list, check out this list MobileMonkey put together.
As always, if you have any questions about Visitor Queue, and how you can generate emails and other contact information do not hesitate to reach out!
Notice
Email marketing laws are different around the world. Please ensure the tactics you use to meet the standards of the country you’re targeting, before sending any electronic communications.
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