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I’ve seen so many good and bad business-to-business (B2B) emails and I’ve decided to use real examples to show you what makes a great B2B email and how to craft one.
In this guide, you will learn strategies for successful B2B marketing emails, see some real-world B2B email marketing examples from my inbox and and other sources, and understand what makes an effective email that drives results.
Let’s dive in!
Structure of a B2B marketing email that works
I’ve analyzed dozens of B2B emails and want to show you 9 great examples that can inspire you for new, truly impactful email campaigns.
The thing is that every effective email has a similar structure that also leaves plenty of room for experimentation within these guidelines.
So, I’ve gathered and analyzed a general email template for you!
Here’s the breakdown:
- Compelling subject line
- Engaging opening
- Main body that shows the value
- Powerful CTA
Now, let me walk you through the industry best practices for each element specifically for B2B emails.
1. Use a catchy email subject line
A clear, concise subject line focused on value helps improve open rates and engagement in B2B emails. Avoid vague or generic phrases like:
- “July X-product updates”
- “Check out our latest news”
Instead, use specific and compelling language tailored to your audience’s needs, such as:
- “Boost team productivity by 30% with our new collaboration tool”
- “Save 20% on your next enterprise subscription”
For a better impact, consider personalizing subject lines. A 2024 research by Kleny shows that including the recipient’s name in the subject line can increase open rates by up to 39%.
Using emojis, currency symbols, or numbers can also significantly enhance engagement.
2. Start strong with a hook that resonates in the opening
Similar to your subject line, your opening line should grab attention immediately. Avoid generic statements like “We’re here to help.” Instead, focus on what matters to your audience and can interest them. Here are several ideas on how to “hook” a reader:
- Address a specific pain point of your target audience
- Ask a thought-provoking question
- Share an interesting fact
A strong hook sets the tone and ensures recipients see the value of your email right from the start.
3. Craft a main body that is short but packed with value
To make the email body resonate with the recipient, focus on:
Showcasing value they can’t ignore
Unlike individuals who may make quick, emotional purchases, businesses are focused on results. Your main job is to make the value immediately clear and appealing. Recipients should instantly understand why they need your product and how it can improve their business.
Avoid being vague or overly promotional in your email. Instead, use specific details and examples that align with their needs. For instance, explain how your product can save time, boost efficiency, or help them achieve measurable outcomes.
A great way to do this is by including actionable insights and tangible metrics. For example:
- Instead of saying, “Our tool can improve productivity,” say, “Our tool will help your team save up to 10 hours per week by automating repetitive tasks.”
- Replace, “We help you cut costs,” with, “Our solution reduces operational expenses by up to 20% annually.”
- Swap, “Enhance customer satisfaction,” for, “Our software improved customer satisfaction scores by 35% for similar businesses.”
Make it personal and relevant
Personalized emails create trust and I’m talking not only about a name in the subject line. Personalized content shows the recipient that your business cares about solving their problems rather than pushing generic offers. What can it be?
- A recommendation based on a previous purchase/history of a product use
- A use case relevant to their industry or specific challenge
- Data-backed insights tailored to their company size or needs.
Personalization always starts with segmentation of your audience based on factors like industry, job title, past behavior, etc. Segmented contact lists help you create targeted email campaigns that address subscribers’ unique needs and challenges.
For example, a marketing manager may prioritize lead generation, while a CEO is more likely focused on ROI.
Craft emails that show how your product or service can solve a specific problem for a particular group of recipients or help them achieve their goals.
Use a simple layout for easy readability
Your email layout should make it easy for the reader to quickly scan and understand your message. Business people are often busy, so a clean and organized design helps them grasp the key points effortlessly.
Formatting is very important. Break your content into small sections with clear headings or subheadings. Use short paragraphs and bullet points to highlight important details.
Avoid overloading your email with too much text or large blocks of information. Instead, focus on white space and visuals to guide readers’ attention.
For example, use bold text to emphasize critical information and include a clear CTA button that stands out. More on that in the related section.
Check your text for spam
Always review your email content for spam-triggering words and phrases. Words like “Free,” “Limited offer,” or “Act now” can hurt your email deliverability.
You can check the full list of spammy words in our guide or test your emails in Mailtrap to ensure they don’t get flagged and land in your recipient’s inbox.
4. Drive action with a powerful call-to-action (CTA)
Your email should guide the recipient toward a specific next step. Use a clear and direct CTA that tells them exactly what to do.
Make your CTA easy to find. Use a button or bold text to make it stand out, instead of burying it in the middle of a paragraph where it might be overlooked. Also, make sure the language is focused on the benefit.
For example, “Get my personalized report” is more actionable than generic phrases like “Click here” or “Learn more.”
Also, limit your email to one primary CTA. If absolutely necessary, you can include a secondary CTA, but too many options will confuse the recipient and reduce the chances of action.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at some great B2B email examples and see how they’ve implemented the structure we just described.
Welcome email — Lucid
According to a 2024 GetResponse report, welcome emails have an average open rate of 83.63%. This means they’re not just a way to grab attention — they’re an opportunity to turn new subscribers into qualified leads.
For instance, take a look at this first email from Lucid, a suite of visual collaboration and diagramming tools. It includes all the key elements of an effective welcome email:
- Warm greeting
- Clear structure
- Explanation of what and when to expect
- Link to useful materials
- Link to product details
- Visible “Unsubscribe” button
This email creates a very strong first impression. It starts with a warm, personalized greeting that feels authentic and written specifically for the recipient. It also feels like it’s coming from a real person, which makes the email more relatable and engaging.
The letter is easy to scan as it presents all the new information in a simple numbered format that explains what to expect next. For people who need additional information, there are links to useful materials. And for those who want to know more about the product there are links to that information too.
In the top right corner, you can see a clear “Unsubscribe” button, which shows transparency and gives new users the option to opt-out anytime.
Newsletters — GoodAccess
Newsletters keep subscribers informed about updates, new features, and services while driving engagement and supporting sales goals.
Newsletters should be engaging, insightful, and visually appealing. Read our dedicated guide on how to design an appealing newsletter. Keep your newsletters short so you don’t overwhelm your audience.
Look at how GoodAccess, a cybersecurity business solution, nails it with this curated content newsletter. The newsletter addresses some of the most common security and compliance challenges businesses face today.
Right after the personalized greeting, authors dive into a clear introduction that outlines what’s inside and sets the tone for the rest of the email.
The newsletter’s body is well-structured. It spotlights a few recent articles and includes conspicuous CTA buttons for easy access. This makes it easy for a reader to skim through the content quickly and take action.
Sharing high-quality, helpful content like this shows that GoodAccess understands its audience’s problems and can provide real solutions. This builds trust and positions the brand as an industry expert, which keeps the audience interested.
Also, redirecting the readers to connect on LinkedIn instead of pushing for a sale is a good for establishing a professional relationship and creating opportunities for future engagement without pressure.
Lead nurturing email — Grammarly
Lead nurturing emails help you move leads through the sales funnel faster and close more deals by sending them highly personalized, tailored content at the right time. They include:
- Welcome email series
- Educational content
- Product tips and insights
- Special offers or promotions
- New product updates
- Follow-up emails after meetings
- Free resource email
Let’s look at the next email from Grammarly. Grammarly, an AI-powered writing assistant, offers a special deal to nudge users to upgrade their tier.
Grammarly highlights the importance of mistake-free copy for businesses and offers a compelling incentive to upgrade plans. The brand also demonstrates the tangible results achieved by its users to showcase the value of the product’s Premium functionality.
Once the value is clear, Grammarly offers a yearly Premium plan at a 45% discount, emphasizing a strict timeframe to create a sense of urgency.
This example can be a great source of inspiration for your next email campaign.
Educational content email — ProductBoard
Emails with educational valuable (relevant, not easy to find, unique) content can strengthen your relationship with a client, increase your brand authority and persuade them to trust your expertise, engage with your offerings, or make a purchase.
Emails with educational content can include:
- Guides and tutorials
- Whitepapers and eBooks
- Webinars
- Case studies
- Infographics
- Video tutorials
- Blog articles
- Checklists or templates
Look at how ProductBoard, a product management software, presents its educational content in the following email.
The email addresses a common business pain point: the fear of failure. Their educational materials, aptly named the “Survival Kit,” promise valuable insights into building a successful business.
Also, the authors list how the guides will help readers solve their challenges. They want to make the guides’ value immediately apparent and encourage the reader to take action.
Feedback or survey email — Algolia
You can use surveys and feedback emails to gather opinions, insights, or experiences about your brand. The gathered information will give you an understanding of how your audience perceives your business, what it wants to improve and what it likes the most about you. Such emails can include:
- Multiple-choice surveys
- Simple questions
- Options for detailed feedback
- Simple rating.
Let’s look at how Algolia, a search and discovery API platform, designed this feedback email, requesting an honest review on the G2 (formerly G2 Crowd) platform.
The email content starts with a warm Thanksgiving message expressing appreciation for the recipient’s support. Professionals value being recognized for their contributions, and this section acknowledges that.
Authors of the letter explain why the recipient’s feedback is valuable and how it will help others learn more about Algolia. They ask users for an honest review on a public platform and assure their input will directly contribute to improving the product and helping potential users make informed decisions. Also, they offer a monetary incentive to active participants.
This is an excellent example of how you can use a feedback email to strengthen relationships, encourage action, and boost trust.
Webinar invitation — Neil Patel
Not every business needs to run webinars. However, if your audience values interactive learning and the chance to ask questions in real time, webinars are a great way to do that. They work well for products or services that need detailed explanations or hands-on demonstrations, like SaaS tools or technical solutions.
In the example below, Neil Patel, a digital marketing influencer, crafts an email subject line that immediately grabs attention by addressing a key pain point of his audience. The subject line is clear, benefit-focused, and designed to ignite interest and motivate the recipient to open the email.
All invitations, whether for a webinar or an event, follow a similar structure. These emails typically include details about the date, time, topic, and speakers, as well as the benefits recipients will gain by signing up.
Neil’s email clearly presents all the key details, including the date, time, topics, and speakers, while emphasizing the problems subscribers can solve after the webinar.
The email establishes credibility by introducing senior experts from Neil Patel’s team. B2B professionals trust insights from industry leaders, so listing them gives this email a strong selling point.
The email builds credibility by highlighting senior experts from Neil Patel’s team who will speak at the webinar. Businesses trust insights from industry leaders, so listing them adds value to the invitation.
Event invitation — Slack
Invitations to webinars and events are very similar, yet there are differences.
| Webinar invitation | Event invitation |
| Always virtual and accessible from anywhere | Can be online, hybrid, or in-person |
| Focuses on education or knowledge sharing | May include networking, product launches, or celebrations |
| Emphasizes registering for a webinar link | Includes RSVPs, ticket purchases, or event registration |
| Typically takes several hours | Can take from a few hours to multiple days |
Now let’s take a look at a webinar invitation email from Slack, a collaboration and communication platform.
The brand introduces the topic with a catchy heading and shows all the key information (date, format, price, and location) at the top of the email.
Slack focuses on how the event can help the recipient achieve their goals and uses its clear branding style to present ideas in a manner familiar to the audience.
Drip email — HubSpot
Drip campaigns deliver a series of emails based on a recipient’s actions, interests, or stage in the sales funnel.
For example, when someone signs up for your webinar but doesn’t show up, a well-timed drip email can remind them to catch the replay.
Drip email campaigns can include:
- Product recommendations
- Onboarding campaigns
- Abandoned cart reminders
- Post-purchase follow-ups
- Informational or educational campaigns
- Upselling campaigns
- Engagement campaigns
- Re-engagement campaigns
- Renewal reminders
Look at this email from a popular CRM HubSpot. The email is a part of a drip campaign designed to re-engage inactive users and prevent account churn.
The subject line and headline grab attention with a time-sensitive message: “Your HubSpot account will be deactivated in 30 days.” For businesses that rely on tools like HubSpot, this creates urgency to act quickly.
The call to action is simple: sign in by a specific date to keep the account active. It’s a clear instruction that is easy to follow without unnecessary hassle.
Re-engaging email — Asana
Re-engaging emails can help you reconnect with your target audience and remind them why they chose you in the first place. It can be someone who hasn’t opened your emails in months or a customer who hasn’t purchased in a while.
You can use email marketing software to segment your email list and send re-engaging targeting emails.
The email from Asana, project management and team collaboration software, is a great example of such email. It starts with “grab a coffee and let’s catch up” – a friendly invitation that creates personal connection.
The email authors highlight new features and their benefits to nudge users to explore and integrate them into their workflow. Instead of pushing a hard sell, the email adopts a friendly and approachable tone and emphasizes how these features can streamline processes or address specific challenges users face.
Wrapping up
The emails we discussed today have a similar structure yet are all unique and tailored to the specific needs of their authors. You can use these designs as inspiration and examples to craft your own B2B emails that align with your audience’s needs and your brand’s goals.
Here are some extra resources you might find helpful as you work on your email campaigns:
