How to Use B2B Email Marketing for Lead Generation

Knowing your audience is the key to a successful marketing strategy. Each segment expects to see different content to stay engaged and move closer to taking action. 

So, what is B2B email marketing lead generation, and how can we make the most of it?

Here’s a tell-all on B2B lead generation through email marketing. In this tutorial, you’ll learn:

• How to generate and nurture leads who are groups of stakeholders
• Why email hygiene makes sales success stories in B2B
• Examples of amazing lead nurturing emails in the B2B segment
• Top 3 tools to streamline your B2B email marketing

What lead generation means in B2B email marketing

Lead generation is attracting potential clients and turning them into leads. You can do this through cold or warm outreach.

Cold email outreach is when you contact someone who has not agreed to receive messages from your company. The goal is to introduce a business and start a conversation. If they show interest, they become a lead.

On the other hand, email marketing has to target people who have agreed to receive your business emails. This means you reach a warm audience already interested in your services. 

The goal here is to build the relationship and guide the warm audience to take action, like signing up or booking a meeting. This is more like lead nurturing.

To the above, email-driven lead generation and nurturing can help overcome common B2B challenges, including:

1. Targeting diverse audiences — You can target different stakeholders within a particular business.  Say your business offers a CRM system; your target segment is business owners, CEOs, C-level executives, and financial executives across most industries. Each segment will be hooked by different value points your product can add to their business processes. For example, a CRM system is a scalability solution for a CEO, operation streamlining for the C-suite, and cost savings for financial decision-makers.

2. Keeping up with the prolonged sales cycle – As more people are involved in decision-making, the lead nurturing timeline may span months. To stress, you shouldn’t expect a quick response. So, develop a follow-up strategy and track each stakeholder’s engagement (I’ll cover what high engagement is later in this guide) to optimize campaigns. 

3. Disseminate value-driven content — Targeting different decision-makers throughout the sales cycle enables you to cater to diverse content expectations as you nurture leads. Your content aims to give a 360° view of what value the potential lead gets by signing up to narrow the knowledge gap and dispel doubts.

How to launch lead generation B2B email marketing

Launching B2B email marketing lead generation has some technical and less technical aspects. I’ll cover them all below, following a stepped logical flow. 

Step 1: Build a quality email list

Establish inbound marketing channels to collect active target contacts. You need active social media, content marketing, and an SEO-optimized website.

Sender reports on these perks of inbound marketing for lead generation:

• More leads (54% more than from outbound approaches)
• Lower operational cost (3 out of 4 inbound marketing methods are less expensive than outbound)
• Lower lead cost (on average, save $14 on every new lead)
• Higher conversion (doubled average website conversion rate — 6% outbound vs. 12% inbound)
• Better ROI (82% of websites with a blog see a growing ROI from inbound marketing)

So, inbound marketing gets you more leads for a lower price than cold outreach. 

Now, how do you build a quality contact list through inbound marketing? Here are the best practices:

• Create valuable content — B2B buyers research online thoroughly before deciding, so show expertise via posts, videos, or infographics that solve problems or answer common questions. Focus on quality, not quantity!
• Use lead magnets and test them — Set up sign-up forms, create landing pages, and offer free resources like eBooks, webinars, or discounts in exchange for contact information. Test a few options to determine which type of lead magnet works best in your niche. 
• Host live events — engage your audience with live streams and encourage them to sign up for newsletters or provide emails for follow-up content
• Use polls and surveys — create interactive polls or surveys related to your industry and ask participants to share their contact details to access post-survey insights. Again, you should test this to determine what kind of survey would attract attention. 

Step 2: Pick up and set up email marketing software

Choose an email marketing software that offers as many core functions as possible in a single platform to cut time and effort when switching between several tools. 

Here are the essential features you should look for in an email marketing tool:

• Safe and usable shared IPs to send deliverable campaigns and keep your sender’s reputation high. You can inspect this info by checking user comments on niche forums and software catalogs. 
• Template creation and management options to save time on creating new campaigns and editing email drafts for optimization.
• Template personalization via merging fields, integration with CRM system, etc. 
• Automation to send campaigns based on triggers, scheduling, or user actions.
• Recipient management (i.e., dividing recipients into cohorts) for precise audience targeting.
• Email analytics to track engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and bounce rates — access to this much detail on your campaign performance shows where recipients lose interest in your content so that you can take action to engage them back as soon as possible
• Email testing to ensure your emails render and deliver well before they reach a real audience

Some platforms offer helpful auxiliary options; but note that these aren’t something your campaign won’t do without. Here are the most common ones: 

• AI assistance with email templates, personalization, and automation gives you suggestions based on previous campaigns so that you can incorporate proven strategies to get higher engagement.

• Landing page creation within a platform lets you cut operation time with pre-made page templates and easy form setup. You can customize designs to match your brand, add buttons, A/B test, and track how well your page works.

• Social media options let you schedule posts, track results, and manage campaigns across all social channels in one place.

Step 3: Take care of email deliverability

Email deliverability means your emails land in your recipient’s inboxes. If your emails go to spam, your deliverability rate drops, limiting your reach.

A good deliverability rate is between 85% and 95%. Most email platforms help with inbox placement, but it’s good to check it yourself regularly to keep the rate high and stable.

Here’s what to pay attention to:

• Email Service Provider (ESP) reputation — the more reputable ESP, the better the email infrastructure to deliver messages with no issues.
• Domain authentication — set up Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) to build trust with email providers and prevent bouncing.
• Double opt-in — use it to get contacts genuinely interested in your emails and reduce bounce rates.
• Email list hygiene — remove invalid or inactive addresses and unengaged subscribers to keep your list clean.
• Audience segmentation and email personalization — tailor your emails to specific groups to increase open rates and show ESPs that recipients value your content.
• Avoid spam triggers — keep content professional, avoid too many promotional words, and include a plain-text version along with the HTML.
• Test your emails before sending — test your email on different email clients and devices to ensure it renders correctly.
• Set up an email feedback loop (FBL) — once securing a high sender reputation, FBL enables you to find out and remove subscribers marking your emails as spam. 

Pro tip: Warm up new domains

If you’re using a new domain, warm it up before sending out email campaigns. Email providers have no data on your new address’ sender reputation. A sudden jump in volume could trigger spam filters, blocking your emails or sending them to spam.

So, start slowly and increase the sending volume over time to build a positive sending reputation. And for this, you can use tools too.

Once your domain is warmed up to the volume you need, apply the tips above in this section to keep your email deliverability high.

Step 4: Prepare content and design email templates

Creating templates is a step towards structured and engaging emails. It also makes setting up repeating campaigns like newsletters or follow-ups easy.

Here’s a simple guide to creating professional and impactful emails for B2B lead generation.

1. Define the purpose of each email

Decide what you want to achieve before writing your email. Make sure it fits your marketing goals and your customer’s journey. 

For example, you need to welcome new subscribers and share educational content. Then, promote events if that works well in your niche. Whether there are events or not, the follow-up email flows are critical for B2B, given the long sales cycles. This goes for new leads and prospects (leads who expressed interest) or to re-engage inactive subscribers. 

The bottom line is that defining the purpose and understanding the types of email marketing campaigns you want to run guides how you write and design the email. Of course, the goal is to get as much engagement as possible. 

2. Structure your email

An intuitive message structure makes it scannable and comforts the recipient.  

Start with a short, attention-grabbing subject line and use the pre-header to summarize or extend the main message in a few words. 

In the body, begin with a hook that connects to your audience’s needs or interests. Finally, end emails with one clear and direct CTA, such as “Download now,” “Register today,” or “Learn more.”

3. Add content

As indicated, your content should be relevant and actionable to build trust and encourage engagement. This goes for B2B email marketing or any marketing, so remember it as an umbrella suggestion.

Focus on value-driven content like showing the benefits of your service rather than just listing features. Don’t be shy to build credibility with testimonials, case studies, or certifications. 

And avoid overly promotional language because B2B audiences prefer solution-focused communication.

Important Note: 

What I mentioned above may seem like a lot, particularly since you need to package it into a relatively short email. So, unless you’re sending a newsletter, I suggest focusing on one action, one piece of information, or one case study per email. 

The idea is to keep the top-level B2B messaging covering a particular pain point in reasonable detail without too many distractions. Otherwise, your emails might communicate cacophony rather than quality, even if you’re working with great information and data points.

4. Clear design

Your email design should guide attention to key elements like the CTA. Keep the layout simple with plenty of white space to avoid overwhelming readers. 

Make the visuals speak for your brand. Use your brand’s colors, logo, and font for a consistent and recognizable look. 

To create a clear visual hierarchy, organize information with headings, bullet points, and bold text. 

Ensure the email adapts to different screen sizes, especially for mobile users. Add images, icons, or infographics to enhance your message but compress them to reduce loading times.

5. Include legal and compliance elements

Make sure your emails follow regulations like CAN-SPAM, HIPAA (for US), GDPR (for EU) or CCPA (for California). Email compliance keeps your campaign legal, builds trust, and strengthens your professional image.

As a rule, every email should have:

• A visible and easy-to-use unsubscribe link
• Your company’s physical address in the footer
• Accurate sender information

Now that you know how to create email templates and what content to include, here is Adobe Experience Cloud’s example of lead nurturing via email in B2B to inspire you.

Adobe Experience Cloud helps businesses manage marketing, analytics, and customer experiences. So, the target segment of their email marketing is business owners, stakeholders, and decision-makers in the marketing and IT industries.

The email above aims to introduce a guide on omnichannel analytics. The email is both educational and demonstrative of the company’s expertise in marketing, falling well into the lead nurturing stage of the B2B marketing funnel. 

Adobe’s email has everything a lead nurturing email needs to have. From a clear purpose and simple structure to visuals for quick scanning, this email showcases the practices I’m discussing in this guide for B2B email marketing.

Let’s take a closer look at the structure of this email:

✅ Company’s logo at the top for recognizability.

✅ Straightforward header hinting the email’s about analytics.

✅ Short description of the content delivered.

✅ Single and clear CTA finalizing guide introduction and driving action.

✅ Sneak peeks of the guide and increase interest.

✅ A clear divider between the main email body and the footer.

✅ An informational footer that has all the other important information:

• Social media links
• Legal information
• The company’s physical address
• Unsubscribe link
• Guidelines for the recipient to ensure deliverability
• An alternative render link for browser view

Each section is essential, except for the quote in the divider before the footer, which is just a lovely use of space. This example shows that a fantastic email doesn’t need much—cover the essentials listed in this guide, structure them clearly, word the copy well, and you’ve got an email ready for testing.

Step 5: Start sending

Once your email list is ready and the templates are designed, it’s time to launch your B2B email marketing campaigns. 

For a smooth start, segment your audience based on demographics, behavior, or stage in the buyer’s journey. This lets you craft personalized email campaigns that grab attention and increase engagement. 

Sender reports a 30% higher open rate and 50% higher CTR after email segmentation. This is because emails targeted at segments appeal to the exact decision-making context your leads are currently in.

For example, an email targeted at a business owner at the Decision stage won’t drive action for a fresh CMO lead. You’ve educated the first on your business’s value, supporting their interest enough for them to enter the Decision stage. The newly attracted CMO, on the other hand, will just lack the knowledge and won’t be ready to sign up.

After sorting the recipients, A/B test different versions of your campaign on a smaller audience before choosing the final copy. Test elements like subject lines, CTAs, or images to see which perform best. Once you know what works, use it in your big campaign for maximum impact.

Important Note: When A/B testing, don’t try testing several email aspects simultaneously. Focus on subject lines, body copy, CTAs, or messaging based on the deliverability metrics you want to improve (open rates, click rates, conversions, etc.). 

Anyway, I’ll give you an example so you understand the context better. 

Respect Studio is an agency that conducted a case study on lead generation and nurturing for a 3D visualization business. Laser-focused A/B testing was a big part of the study’s success. 

They tested two types of subject lines: 

1. One subject line focused on the offer.
2. The other asked the recipient a question.

The results showed that the question-based subject line performed better — these emails had a 25% higher open rate and better audience engagement.

Another key point when it comes to launching a campaign is consistency. Set up a regular schedule for emails to stay on your audience’s radar. However, avoid overloading subscribers with too many emails to prevent fatigue or unsubscribes.

Step 6: Track results, run tests, and optimize campaigns

Running analytics for your campaigns lets you tweak them when they start underperforming. So, what should you look at on your analytics dashboard?

Here are the main email campaign’s success KPIs:

• The open rate measures how many recipients open your emails. A good open rate is 17–28%, and it varies depending on your industry.
• The click-through rate tracks how many recipients click on links in your email. A satisfactory percentage is between 2% and 5% CTR.
• Bounce rate identifies delivery issues and poor list hygiene. A high bounce rate is anything above 2%, and if it gets close to ~10%, you’ll need to stop your campaigns and carefully inspect your email infrastructure.
• The conversion rate shows how many recipients complete your desired action, like signing up or purchasing. The usual conversion rate is 2–5%, but again, it depends on the niche and the type of conversion you’re aiming for.

Now, what do you optimize when campaigns underperform? 

Here are the common issues and some A/B testing tactics to fix them:

Open rate is low — test subject lines or experiment with sender names to find what grabs the most attention

CTR is low:

• Experiment with CTA wording, placement, and design.
• Work on how engaging the copy is.
• Add or change visuals.
• Adjust the campaign’s offer.

Conversion rate is low:

• Look into the landing page elements (forms, CTAs, loading speed, etc.). 
• Check if the landing page matches email expectations offer-wise and in terms of copy and visual consistency. 
• Review your segmentation to verify you’re reaching the target audience. 

Unsubscribe rate is high — test different sending frequencies or look into email relevance to ensure the content is valuable to your audience

B2B email marketing software

We’ve talked about the importance of using email marketing tools earlier. Now, here are the top 3 tools to try out. 

These were our evaluating options:

• Free plan limitations — what the free plan offers for launching your first campaigns
• Pricing — what cost to expect as you scale campaigns
• Features — are there essential features like automation, analytics and tool integration
• Use case fit — what marketing goals the tools help you meet

Mailtrap Email Delivery Platform

Mailtrap is an email delivery platform for marketing, mass, and transactional emails with industry best analytics. It’s great for dev, and marketing teams to send the given types of emails without stressing whether they’re going to be delivered or not.

Key features are:

• High deliverability by design
• Industry best analytics
• Human 24/7 support
• Major SDKs
• HTML and CSS email validation
• SPAM score checker
• Preview email on the mob, desktop, and tablet screens
• Automate emails tests
• Forward email to own inbox to preview

Mailtrap offers a free forever plan for 1000 emails per month and 500 contacts, paid plans start at $9.99/month.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is an okay option for those who’re just starting in the B2B space or have little experience with marketing campaigns. The platform is very versatile, so it fits businesses in different development stages. 

Key features:

• Drag-and-drop email builder
• Customizable email templates
• Email automation and personalization
• Contact list management and segmentation
• Campaign analytics and reporting
• Tool integration and multichannel marketing

The free plan supports up to 500 contacts and allows for 1,000 emails per month. It includes basic features like email templates, basic automation, and reporting. Paid plans start at $13/month.

Note: If you aim to scale and use more advanced features, Mailchimp can become pricy fast. This goes double if you also want to use user-triggered (transactional) emails. So, weigh your needs carefully before making the choice. 

Omnisend

Omnisend is a platform for e-commerce and B2B businesses looking to execute multichannel campaigns. It gives extensive automation, segmentation and e-commerce tool integration capabilities.

Key features:

• Drag-and-drop email editor
• Pre-built customizable templates (e-commerce optimized)
• Omnichannel marketing (email and SMS)
• Email workflow automation 
• Campaign performance analytics
• E-commerce platform integrations

The free plan allows up to 500 emails per month with limited automation features and includes basic email templates, segmentation and reporting. Paid plans start at $16/month.

Omnisend is best for e-commerce businesses focusing on omnichannel marketing and segmentation.

Wrapping up

B2B email marketing isn’t just about sending promotional emails. It’s a long process of nurturing leads with valuable content to create meaningful connections toward a contract.

Take time to build your sender reputation, use software at all stages of the campaign, and keep testing and refining your email marketing strategy. Remember, every email you send is a chance to build trust, provide insights about your business’ value, and move your leads closer to becoming loyal customers.

Now it’s your turn. Start putting these strategies into action and watch your email marketing transform into a powerful engine for B2B lead generation.