Beyond B2B Mailing Lists -
Contact Data Platforms

Companies selling products and services require a buyer’s contact information, either of other businesses or consumers. You would generally call, text or email to market products and services to prospects, as well as engaging current clients. In order to access client information efficiently, organizing these contacts into a categorized list is generally recommended.

But do you really need to build, segregate and maintain a proficient B2B email list? Would it really be worth going through all that trouble?

Here’s a few stats to make you think otherwise: 

Email is the third most influential source of information for B2B audiences, behind only colleague recommendations and industry-specific thought leaders

Six in ten (61%) American workers who use the Internet say email is “very important” for doing their job (Pew Research)

Also, building an easy-to-access email list has added benefits like improving open rates, click through rate, increasing lead conversion and reducing time spent on your email marketing strategy

Marketers are 6x more likely to get someone to click through to their websites from an email than from a tweet (CampaignMonitor)

Now that I’ve drawn your attention to this daunting task, let’s get in to how you could build a neat mailing list for yourself. 

Compiling your B2B mailing list 

Obtaining and maintaining email lists is a tough job for the sales and marketing team. Though it would exhaust a lot of your time and money, done correctly, it can substantially improve ROI. Hence it is important to compile email addresses which you can subsequently update.

The title says B2B mailing list and not just mailing list. So, is it specific in terms of B2B and B2C mailing lists?

B2B and B2C email list are not very different from one another. But there are still important differences between them, in terms of the needs and expectations of recipients and the methods involved in searching for information about products and services.

Recognizing these differences lets you create an effective strategy for building B2B mailing list that’s specific and efficient.

Sourcing the information 

Your sales and marketing team has a wide range of sources to collect client information. But you need to target the right channel depending on your business type and client behavior.

Online

With the help of the internet, you can now reach an extensive number of companies who would be more than willing to be a part of your list. Keeping your website attractive and useful does substantially increase the chances of clients subscribing to your content.

Social media is not only a great medium to build your B2B email list but also increases the reach of your business by sharing it across various channels.

Offline

Offline data collection, though time consuming, has a higher rate of clients that are willing to be a part of your mailing list. Promotional events, seminars and conferences are also a great way to reach clients and build an efficient email list via personal interaction.

Effective client opt-ins 

Getting a client to opt into your mailing list requires more than just a sign-up button. You need to customize the content of your opt-in form in order to influence the clients to provide you the details you need.

As in the case with B2B Industry, emails and cold calls are the preferred paths of contact. A simple sign-up button at the end of webpages, rather than a pop-up, is more convincing.

Call-to-Action buttons placed strategically to draw client attention is a great way to increase the chances of clients signing up.

92% of clients feel discouraged to fill in details when there are 7 or more fields to fill.

As you’re addressing a B2B industry, you don’t need to worry about pleasing your clients to sign-up. Giving honest and accurate information is more convincing to decision-maker in B2B. Let your opt-ins display just that.

Also, requesting for the permission of your clients to add them to your mailing or contact lists is a great way to gain their trust.

Data organization

It can be challenging to quickly extract information that’s needed from bulk data. Segmenting and categorizing your email contacts can be profitable both in terms of saving time and reducing cost to a company. There are many ways to do this, depending on personal convenience, but here are a few common labels used:

Industry type
Location
Title of the decision maker
Industry revenue

A comprehensive spreadsheet of your email contacts categorized by the name of the contact, email address, phone number and mailing address is an efficient way to compile your data.

Validate and update the list

Having a well-organized B2B mailing list is just the start. You now need to validate and update your list. You can contact your clients and validate the information provided by them. This may be time consuming, but it is essential to have a list that is both authentic, updated and accurate.

Another key step in building an email list is maintaining it. Analyzing data based on factors such as open rates, click-through-rates and conversions will help you in keeping your mailing lists up-to-date.

B2B marketers, for obvious reasons prefer to receive mail that is of highest relevance to them. Keeping an updated email list reduces the likelihood of your content being considered as junk mail and as a result may force your clients to opt-out of your mailing list.

When done the right way, the process of building and maintaining email lists can help strengthen client relationships and improve your overall business.

An Alternative

As B2Bs deal with other businesses, the mode of communication generally tends to be email. Hence, it becomes crucial for B2B Business to have an up-to-date mailing list that’s constructed with the sole purpose of easing marketing efforts. These days, there are businesses that can assist you in collating and organizing your email lists. They offer curated email lists that target specific sectors of an industry and can manage your email lists using the latest tech.

ReachStream is one such organization that specializes in providing B2B mailing lists that have been compiled from a wide array of databases. Providing industries with updated contact information, ReachStream empowers businesses and helps give them that extra edge; thus enabling them to exponentially increase their profit margins and reach new heights.

Evangeline is a content writer and strategist at ReachStream, who believes that words and expression complete a person. An enthusiastic reader, she loves to spend time learning more about different cultures.