Did you know that 376.5 billion emails are sent and received per day? That means your marketers need to find creative ways to not only stand out in your subscribers’ inboxes but also to entice email opens and boost click-through rates.
By following EBQ’s 10 email content best practices, you’ll see:
- Increased click-through rates
- Higher engagement scores
- More relevant website traffic
- Improved conversion rates
- Stronger lead nurturing
Download The 8 Best Cold Email Templates for B2B Sales Prospecting
Save our templates for the best cold email approaches. Read at your convenience and edit them for your personal use.
EBQ’s 10 best practices for B2B email marketing
1. Utilize dynamic content where you can
Dynamic content is any content that is automatically adjusted based on user preferences, actions, and behaviors. You often see dynamic content in emails, advertisements, and even pop-ups.
Studies show that 75% of business executives see content personalization as an essential part of the overall digital marketing experience. In other words, personalized content has changed from “nice-to-have” to a key factor in fostering positive customer relationships.
EBQ Tip: You need to collect relevant prospect information to personalize content effectively. One of the ways we create dynamic content is by asking key questions on our forms that will inform how we will personalize content in the future.
A few of our questions include:
- Name
- Job Title
- Geographic Location
- Company Name
Are you looking for creative ways to leverage your marketing automation tool to tailor your content? Visit our marketing automation consulting services to learn how we convert curious prospects into loyal brand ambassadors through Salesforce, HubSpot, and Mailchimp.
2. Align with overall brand messaging/voice
Remember: email marketing is still a part of your overall marketing strategy. Do not deviate too much from your established brand voice, or else you will create a disjointed brand experience for your customers and prospects.
You should carefully review your brand guidelines before writing your emails. Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you start writing:
- How does this email campaign contribute to your overall marketing goals?
- What are the internal styling guidelines your writers should follow?
- What is the brand tone you want to strike?
- Who are you trying to appeal to?
- What pain points do you want to address in your campaign?
3. Understand your audience’s decision drivers
Psychologists agree that mimicking your audience’s tone, body language, and even speech patterns is an effective way to get them to connect better with you. Email writing is no different; you have to write in a way that reflects how your target audience communicates.
To better understand your audience, start by defining your buyer personas. Buyer personas allow you to humanize your audience by imagining their day-to-day activities, challenges, and overall goals to elevate their organizations.
Developing buyer personas will enhance your email’s effectiveness by allowing you to better understand and address your audience’s specific needs.
Here are a few other questions to ask yourself before you begin writing your email marketing draft:
- Does your target audience appreciate technical jargon?
- Do they prefer a straightforward tone, or do they prefer content that paints a detailed picture?
- What are some current industry trends that may impact their decision-making?
- How would a company earn their trust to convince them to invest in their solutions?
4. Create an action-oriented subject line
Did you know that over 30% of emails are left unread? To maximize email open rates, you need to make sure your email subject lines are engaging.
These quick tips help our copywriters craft optimized email content:
- Make sure your email subject lines are between 30-50 characters long to ensure your entire subject line is shown in your subscribers’ inboxes
- Consider utilizing emojis (if that fits with your brand voice)
- Use action-oriented verbs (e.g., How to, Find out, and Discover when)
- Ask your audience a rhetorical question (e.g., “Are your salespeople getting iced out?”)
- Avoid using phrases that could trigger your spam filter
EBQ Tip: Did you know that certain phrases could trigger email providers’ automatic spam filters? Ever since Gmail and Yahoo rolled out their 2024 bulk email send requirements, you need to pay extra attention to how you write your emails.
A few of these phrases include:
- Free
- No obligation
- Risk free
- Weight loss
- No strings attached
- Action required
- 0% risk
- Win $$
5. Write no more than 2-3 sentences per paragraph
You only have 10 seconds to capture a reader’s attention before they click away from your email. In our experience, writing longer email paragraphs leads to lower CTRs. We find that readers simply click away after seeing a big wall of text.
Keep in mind that your emails also need to be mobile-friendly as well. Smaller screens will overemphasize how “long” an email feels. Below are two screenshots of how the same email content looked on different screen sizes.
6. Focus on your core messaging
If you want to keep your readers engaged, do not waste their time with overly verbose language. Your writing needs to get straight to the point.
According to Monash University, writing clearly and concisely helps you accomplish three things:
- It helps convey what you really mean
- It helps with legibility
- It helps communicate even the most complex topics
- It helps with signposting — where readers are led from one sentence to another to understand the entire point of your text
In short, writing clearly conveys your message effectively, which will resonate with readers better.
7. Leverage more than 2 branded templates
Developing branded emails is an effective way to immediately differentiate your messaging from your competitors. After all, images and different text layouts allow you to keep readers engaged by giving them small “breaks” between the body copy.
At EBQ, we utilize at least two different email templates per campaign. We find that adding variety to our email campaigns helps with click-through rates, as it helps keep our brand messaging fresh yet consistent.
Here are a few of our best practices for effective email marketing design:
- Keep your layout simple
- Optimize to reduce email load times
- Use a responsive email design
EBQ Tip: Did you know EBQ offers comprehensive Graphic Design Services? Our graphic designers are skilled at creating branded graphics for our clients, and they can develop engaging email mockups based on UX/UI best practices.
8. Add a compelling call to action
A marketing campaign needs to have a desired next step that users should take. Sometimes, it is to push users to visit a website. Sometimes, it is to ask users to give them a phone call after watching an advertisement.
Therefore, every email needs at least one call to action that propels readers to the next step.
Here are a few pointers our copywriting experts compiled to create compelling CTAs:
- Use strong verbs: Skip the generic “click here.” Instead, try action-oriented phrases like “Discover how,” “Learn more,” or “Connect now.”
- Make it prominent: Ensure the button or link stands out visually and is easy to find at a glance.
- Offer value: Communicate a clear benefit, or what the users get by taking action. For example, “Get your free guide” or “Save your spot.”
- Keep it short: Aim for 2–5 words. CTAs should be concise, scannable, and quick to act on.
9. Ensure your footer is compliant with privacy law
Complying with CAN-SPAM and GDPR policies is a must whenever you send marketing messages, as it prevents penalties, fines, and potential restrictions on your email sending. Some email marketers even report that email providers flag emails that do not have the necessary information as potential spam.
We strongly recommend that your marketers source a legal footer template online and save it as a template for future use. You can read more about how to ensure maximized email deliverability in our blog post, “Gmail 2024 Bulk Email Requirements Explained.”
10. Hire the right copywriters
Copywriters are responsible for crafting customized copy that will resonate with your readers. Their goal is to strike a balance between creative storytelling and data-driven decisions.
At EBQ, our copywriters are more than just writers. They are masterful marketers who understand how to write to convert. Instead of treating each email as just a deliverable, they are a client’s designated writer who takes the time to learn their nuanced brand messaging strategy before crafting their emails.
Download The 8 Best Cold Email Templates for B2B Sales Prospecting
Save our templates for the best cold email approaches. Read at your convenience and edit them for your personal use.
Our Email Marketing Best Practices: Summarized
To summarize, here are our 10 email content best practices to boost CTR:
- Utilize dynamic content where you can
- Align with overall brand messaging/voice
- Understand your audience’s decision drivers
- Create an action-oriented subject line
- Write no more than 2-3 sentences per paragraph
- Focus on the core messaging
- Leverage more than 2 branded templates
- Add a compelling call to action
- Ensure your footer is compliant with privacy law
- Hire the right copywriters
Of course, writing effective emails is easier said than done. It often takes years of practice to master the craft and develop a style that drives engagement.
Still struggling to craft impactful messages? EBQ’s email marketing services can bring your emails to life and help you connect with your audience more effectively.
About the Author:
Ben is a Business Consultant at EBQ with over 13 years of experience in Demand Generation. He has played an active role in hundreds of projects consulting companies across different industries, maturities, and tech stacks to increase brand visibility.
