Last updated on February 18th, 2025 at 04:22 am
Looking to improve your B2B email lead generation efforts?
Want to build a bigger email list and turn more subscribers into customers?
In this guide, we’ll show you how to do just that. We’ve split the article into four categories, which are all critical for email lead-gen success.
- Building Your Email List
- Deliverability
- Open Rate
- Conversion Rate
We’ll provide you with the best practices and tips for each section — as well as real-world examples of that advice in action.
Let’s dive in!
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1. Building Your Email List
The first step is, of course, building an email list that’s jam-packed with your dream customers.
You don’t want a small email list with just a few hundred people — you want thousands — and you don’t want a big email list full of the wrong people — you want the right people.
That’s what we’re talking about first.
Here’s how you can grow your email list predictably and systematically in the B2B world.
Lead Magnets
The best way to grow your email list is to offer something in exchange for an email address. This is called a lead magnet, and it’s one of the most effective ways to quickly build an email list of high-quality leads.
Your lead magnet should be something that your target audience would find valuable — so valuable that they’re willing to trade their email address to get it.
For example, if you’re targeting CFOs of small to mid-sized businesses, your lead magnet could be a guide on “How To Make Your Business More Profitable.” If you’re targeting marketing directors, your lead magnet could be a report on “The Top 10 Performing Marketing Campaigns of 2020.” And so on.
We use lead magnets all the time here at ClickFunnels to grow our email list. Here’s one, for example…
Here’s another example from Optinmonster…
Your lead magnet doesn’t have to be complicated, either. It can be a simple PDF document, an infographic, or even just a video tutorial. The key is that it’s something your target audience will find valuable.
Sales Funnels
You might have a lead magnet.
But how are you going to create a process that systematically convinces people to sign up for that lead magnet?
That’s where sales funnels come in — and it’s what we specialize in helping our members build here at ClickFunnels.
A sales funnel is just a series of pages that are crafted to guide someone toward taking one specific action — in this case, downloading a lead magnet.
Because of that single-minded focus, they convert much more consistently than typical websites.
Check out our sales funnel guide here to learn more about this.
Sponsorships
Another great way to grow your email list in the B2B world is by sponsoring relevant newsletters or podcasts in your niche.
This is a bit more of an indirect approach, but it can be very effective.
For example, let’s say you sell sales software. You could find a popular sales newsletter or podcast and offer to sponsor their next issue or episode. In exchange for your sponsorship, they would promote your lead magnet to their audience and encourage their subscribers to sign up.
This is a great way to get your lead magnet in front of a highly targeted audience that’s likely to be interested in what you have to offer.
Influencer Marketing
Why not leverage influencers in your niche to promote your lead magnet and grow your email list?
This can be a very effective way to get your lead magnet in front of a large audience of potential leads.
All you need to do is find influencers in your niche who have a large following and reach out to them about promoting your lead magnet to their audience. Many times, they’ll be happy to do it in exchange for a fee.
Remember, the key here is to find influencers who have an audience that’s relevant to your business. There’s no point in working with an influencer who has a large following of teenage girls if you’re trying to reach CFOs of small businesses.
We recommend using our Dream 100 process to work with influencers (click the link for more details).
Check out the video below to learn how Russell Brunson, our founder, nabbed Tony Robbins as an influencer…
Advertising
If you have a budget to work with, another great option is to run ads directly to your lead magnet. This could be a Facebook ad, a Google ad, or even an ad on LinkedIn.
The key here is to make sure your ad is highly targeted. You don’t want to just run a generic ad to your lead magnet. You want to make sure you’re targeting the right people with the right message.
The goal is to match your ad targeting with your target market.
So, if you’re targeting CFOs of small businesses, make sure your ad is only being shown to CFOs of small businesses. And if you’re targeting marketing directors, make sure your ad is only being shown to marketing directors.
You can use demographics, interests, job titles, and even specific companies to make sure your ad is being shown to the right people.
2. Deliverability
Next, we’re going to talk about deliverability.
Why?
Because even if you have an email list, and even if you’re sending amazing emails… if your subscribers don’t see those emails because they’re not arriving in their primary inbox, then you’re not going to get the results you want.
That’s what deliverability is all about.
Making sure your subscribers see your emails in their inbox.
Double Opt-In
The first thing you need to do to improve your deliverability is to make sure you’re using double opt-in.
What is double opt-in?
It’s when someone subscribes to your email list and then they get an email asking them to confirm their subscription. Once they click the confirmation link, they’re added to your email list.
The reason this is important is that it helps to ensure that people who subscribe to your email list actually want to receive your emails — and that the email address they entered is correct.
It may seem like a small thing, but it makes a big difference in your deliverability.
Set Expectations
The second thing you need to do is set expectations with your subscribers.
When someone subscribes to your email list, make sure you let them know how often they can expect to hear from you.
For example, if you’re planning on sending a weekly email, let them know that when they subscribe. This way, they’re not going to be surprised when they start receiving emails from you every week.
Why is this important for deliverability?
Because if people are surprised by the frequency of your emails, they’re more likely to mark them as spam. And when enough people do that, it can have a negative impact on your deliverability.
So, make sure you set expectations with your subscribers from the beginning.
Clean Your List
The third thing you need to do is clean your list on a regular basis.
What does that mean?
It means removing people from your list who haven’t engaged with your emails in a while.
For example, if someone hasn’t opened one of your emails in 6 months, chances are they’re not interested in hearing from you anymore.
And if someone hasn’t clicked on a link in one of your emails in 3 months, chances are they’re not interested either.
Now, there are a couple of reasons why this is important for deliverability.
First, when people don’t engage with your emails, it tells email providers that your emails are not relevant to those people. And when enough people do that, it can have a negative impact on your deliverability.
Second, when you have people on your list who are not interested in hearing from you, it increases the chance that they’ll mark your emails as spam. And again, when enough people do that, it can have a negative impact on your deliverability.
So, make sure you clean your list on a regular basis to remove people who are no longer interested in hearing from you.
Most ESPs make this easy to do.
Segment
The fourth thing you need to do is segment your list.
What does that mean?
It means dividing your list into smaller groups based on common characteristics.
For example, you might segment your list by location, age, gender, interests, or by the specific lead magnet they downloaded.
This helps deliverability because you’ll be able to send people content that they’re actually interested in.
And when people engage with your emails, it tells email providers that your emails are relevant and valuable. And that can have a positive impact on your deliverability.
Make Unsubscribing Easy
Finally, make unsubscribing easy.
Obviously, you’re trying to grow your email list… you don’t want people to unsubscribe.
But to maintain healthy deliverability, you’ve got to let people unsubscribe when they want to.
This means having an unsubscribe link in every email you send. And it should be easy to find.
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3. Open Rate
We’ve talked about building your email list and we’ve talked about improving email deliverability.
But how do you get people to open your emails?
Because obviously, if people don’t open your emails… then there’s not much point in sending them!
That’s what we’re talking about here.
Sender Name
When discussing open rates, most marketers are quick to share tips for writing subject lines and preheaders.
And we are going to do that in a moment.
But do you want to know the real reason that most people open emails and don’t open others?
It’s because of who sent the email.
If you get an email, for instance, from a friend, you’re going to open it… regardless of the subject line.
Your goal should be to create a similar sort of relationship with your subscribers — where they open your emails not because of your subject line or your preheader… but because of the value, you provide.
Subject Line
After the sender’s name, the subject line is the first thing people see when they receive your email, so it’s important to make it something that will grab their attention and make them want to open your email.
Here are a few tips for writing great subject lines:
Keep it short and to the point — Most email providers will only show about 40 characters for a subject line. So keep it short and sweet.
Use power words to evoke emotion — Words like “free”, “sale”, and “new” can help grab attention. You want people to feel something when they read your subject line so that they want to open it.
Make it personal — Use the person’s name in the subject line if you can. This makes it feel more personal and more likely that they’ll open.
Ask a question — Asking a question can also help to get people’s attention. Just make sure it’s a question that they’ll want to know the answer to.
Preheader
Your preheader is the text that appears after your subject line in most email clients.
It’s important because it gives people a little more information about what they can expect from your email.
This is your opportunity to provide a little more detail about what people will find inside the email.
And, just like with your subject line, you want to make sure it’s something that will grab their attention and make them want to open your email.
Open Reach
Open reach is a metric that many email marketers are starting to prefer instead of open rate.
And it’s worth mentioning here.
Why is it important?
Because most people aren’t going to open every email you send — they’ll open an email here and there… maybe once every week or two.
Where open rate gives the percentage of people that open a single email, open reach gives you the percentage of people who opened any email over the last 30 days (or another given period of time).
Here’s the formula…
This will give you a far better idea of what percentage of people on your email list are actually engaged with your emails.
4. Conversion Rates
We’re talking about B2B email lead generation.
But sending emails and getting them opened isn’t the end goal — conversion is.
That is, turning those subscribers into paying customers!
How do you do that? What do you send? How often do you email?
That’s what we’re talking about to close out this article.
Soap Opera Sequence
One method you can use to convert email subscribers into paying customers is what’s called a “soap opera sequence”.
A soap opera sequence is a series of emails that tells a story.
It’s designed to build trust and rapport with your subscribers, ending by giving them an opportunity for them to become paying customers.
It’s called a “soap opera sequence” because it’s similar to how a soap opera unfolds on TV.
There’s a problem, some tension, and then a resolution.
The idea is that you can use this same format in your emails to get people invested in your story and then offer them a solution (ie. your product or service).
To do this, you need to write a series of emails that tell a story.
Each email should build on the last, creating more and more tension until you finally offer a resolution (ie. your product or service).
You can use this method to sell just about anything…
Want to learn how to do it?
Check out our soap opera sequence guide over here.
Daily Seinfeld Emails
Okay.
So the soap opera sequence will last for 5-7 days with your new subscribers… but then what?
The answer is the “Daily Seinfeld Email”.
This is an email that you send out every day that’s about… well… nothing (just like the show “Seinfeld”).
You might send out emails about what’s going on in your personal life or in your business — just whatever comes to mind when you write it. Then you can relate that experience to something in your business… and finish by offering a product or service.
Check out the video below to learn more about how this works..
Final Thoughts on B2B Email Lead Generation
Email lead generation is a great way to build your list and get more leads for your business.
But it’s not enough to just send out emails — you need to make sure that those emails are actually getting opened and read.
That’s why it’s important to focus on writing great subject lines, using an enticing preheader, and choosing the right sender name.
It’s also important to keep your emails focused on conversion by using a method like the soap opera sequence and daily Seinfeld emails.
Off you go!
And click below if you’re ready for a challenge 😉