How can you use email marketing to position your company as a trusted advisor in your industry?

Email marketing isn't solely about sending messages; it's about crafting a narrative that sets your business apart... Let's dive into it! ?? ?? Email campaigns showcase your "why" Why does your company exist? What drives you beyond profits? These are the questions that truly matter. ?? B2B is still C2C In the world of B2B, it's easy to overlook that decision-makers are, in essence, human beings too. They yearn for connections that align with their values. Make sure to infuse your unique value proposition and share your company's core values. Email marketing isn't just sales; it's a means to build trust and nurture relationships. To position yourself as a trusted advisor in your industry, connect authentically with your audience!

Are you confused too? Trust me, you’re not alone. Marketers often get confused between list and segmentation, and what they should choose. I personally prefer building a single data list and segmenting it. In the world of email marketing, managing multiple lists leads to duplication of effort and data. Instead, a simpler, more effective way is building a single data list that houses all your contacts. The magic happens when you start segmenting this list, tailoring your messages based on your subscribers’ preferences, behaviors, and interactions with your content. This also enables you to implement efficient lead scoring and build personalized campaigns based on buyers' readiness.

Spray and pray, one size fit all methods may save you time but they will annoy your audience and potential customers. Understand your audience. Use your data to segment your audience and do it with meaning. With the amount of data at your finger tips you can segment your audience in a number of ways. This could be product specific, date of last purchase, the type of customer they are (net new, existing, lapsed) etc. Segment your audience and give them the correct type of message and content that is correct for them.

Delivering content that addresses the audience's pain points is critical to establish a "trusted advisor" positioning. Interactive webinars can foster engagement and knowledge sharing, personalized videos can make the audience feel valued and gamification techniques, like quizzes and challenges can make learning fun. To measure the impact, measure metrics like attendance rate, engagement rate, and feedback scores. Tools like Google Analytics and HubSpot track website traffic, conversion rates, and lead generation. Email marketing can be leveraged to provide valuable content which can be personalised at scale.

Educating Your Audience: Steps & Example Webinars: Host live Q&A sessions for real-time insights. Resource Hub: Offer whitepapers, ebooks, and guides on your site. Guest Posts: Collaborate with industry experts for fresh perspectives. Visuals: Use infographics and videos for complex topics. Feedback: Adjust content based on audience preferences. Consistency: Regular updates show industry awareness. Workshops: Provide hands-on training sessions. Example: Let's say X, a cybersecurity firm, sends a monthly newsletter featuring infographics on threats, video tutorials, and case studies. They also hold webinars discussing cybersecurity trends. This positions them as industry knowledge leaders, not just service providers.

You should focus on producing content that fulfils the wants, needs and interests of your audience. This will allow them to build trust and emotional connections to your brand. Don’t make the mistake of focusing on what you want to say - instead, focus on what your audience wants to learn from you. Educating your audience will make your efforts shine, whether you do this through webinars, eBooks or in person. As long as you are relevant and putting in effort to educate, you will have the upper hand.

Quality media - avoid stock - be bold. Encourage the click back to your site to see video. If you can manage to entertain in that first 5 second window, you will have done your lead development for the day! The two way conversation is either the click through or the reply, and if your CRM is not tracking replies as a metric then set it up to! Create feedback loops to help your marketing team learn and grow.

Be human! Show them your not just a brand or a business. You can engage, they can engage with you via social, they can share there feedback with you and feel heard. This is what the modern buyer expects. Be open to responding to social media comments or tweets, sending out surveys, giving information via chat bot etc

Being perceived as a trusted advisor means your email is offering trusted advice, not sales pitches and spam. Don't abuse your position.

Not everyone is ready to buy. You will have your audience at various stages of the buyers journey so this will require you to nurture your audience. This is where your content will come into play. Create content that will resonate with your audience. This is where your real life buyer personas come into play, as they will help to shape your content and address pain points. You may choose to create a range of content and marketing assets for each of your buyer personas at each stage of the journey.

Think quality not quantity. Make your unsubscribe CTA clear and easy to find. It's better to have a small engaged audience than a large irrelevant one. If you're seeing sudden spikes in unsubscribes, check the following: - technical issues like broken links - too much content and too often - too many gimmicky offers ; no one wants to sound desparate - poorly designed content and layout (A/B test, A/B test!) On the positive side, analyse what's working well and create that content conveyor belt between your sales, product, and customer success teams. Constantly learning what resonates with your audience from eachother.

For email marketing you need to consider privacy and consent. Depending on the geography, be cognizant of opt-in and data privacy laws such as GDPR, CASL, CCPA, and others. Deliver a great experience by implementing a subscription hub for your audience to choose the type of email and content they want to receive.

In the realm of email marketing, the power of storytelling cannot be underestimated. While surveys and polls are certainly useful for engaging with your audience, presenting your content in a narrative format can forge an emotional bond. Further, incorporating personal experiences - even those from your childhood that have informed your present-day approach - can elevate this connection to even greater heights.

To position your company as a trusted advisor, dive deeper than others. Offer genuine value in every message: forecast industry shifts, tackle emerging challenges, and curate solutions. The key? Listening. Understand your subscribers' pain points and proactively address them. Send less frequent emails, but make each one a masterclass in industry wisdom. Over time, it’s not the volume but the value of your insights that’ll elevate your brand from a mere sender to a sought-after sage.

Utilize email marketing strategically to position your company as a trusted industry advisor. Send informative, relevant content showcasing expertise, industry insights, and solutions to common challenges. Personalize emails for targeted segments, addressing specific pain points. Encourage two-way communication, inviting questions and feedback. Maintain consistency in delivering high-value content, establishing credibility over time. Engage subscribers with webinars, whitepapers, and case studies, reinforcing your industry authority. Build trust through transparency, integrity, and genuine customer focus, fostering a loyal audience who perceives your company as a valuable industry advisor.