In our previous blog, we talked about B2B email acquisition campaigns – what they are, how to optimize them, and why so many businesses struggle with them. It’s a shame that they’re underutilized because, when done right, they offer one of the most effective ways to find more customers at scale. I know this from experience. For more than two decades, together with my team, I’ve managed successful email acquisition campaigns for Fortune 1000 brands and start-ups alike.

Last week we covered three of the five most common email acquisition pain points (deliverability, audience selection, and content). I’m now sharing two more below – along with suggestions for removing the pain so that you can fast-track your way to more business growth.

• Select the Appropriate Platform

Acquisition emails are designed to acquire new customers, while nurture emails are designed to keep existing customers engaged and loyal. And while each one requires a different content approach, it’s important to understand that each one also requires a different platform approach. For example, third-party email data often fuels acquisition campaigns. But many CRM platforms, which you may be using for customer or transaction emails and nurture campaigns, follow strict guidelines and do not allow the use of third-party data.

Sending acquisition campaigns through a CRM is not only potentially against the platform’s policy, but it can also create deliverability issues and result in lower open rates. Even worse, it can lead to blacklisting. When a brand's domain name or IP address is blacklisted, its emails end up in the user's spam folder instead of inbox. 

Fortunately, there are other options: acquisition email sending platforms are purpose-built for reaching out to “cold” contacts – people you haven’t engaged with before. They have different standards for white-listing, reputation management, and IP address cleanliness, making them ideal for third-party data campaigns designed to help you find more customers.

OMI offers acquisition campaign management as a service to our clients. After working with you to build your custom B2B audience, we’ll send the first “cold” email through our email acquisition sending platform. From there, we can transfer any contacts that open or click the initial email to your CRM platform for ongoing outreach via sequenced nurture emails and automated follow-ups.

• Expand Your Reach

Most B2B businesses don’t have a database that’s large enough to create an impact for acquisition campaigns. Sure, you can collect emails for gated content or use prospect data generated by SEO, trade shows, display ads, and other digital marketing campaigns, but these options typically lack the scale required to drive significant reach and results.

Third-party data providers can give you access to a wider audience that matches your ideal target, is segmented by multiple factors, and even contains contacts matched to intent monitoring data, indicating individuals who are ready to buy. OMI maintains as many as 117 million B2B contacts with email addresses – now that’s scale!

Simply put, third-party data gives you the reach you need when you need it the most.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: from my perspective, saying no to email acquisition is the equivalent of saying no to business growth. By following best practices and using the right tools, you can create and implement campaigns that really make a difference for your organization.

Ideally, email acquisition should be an ongoing part of your business development strategy. If you need further guidance, please reach out to my team. We can’t wait to assist you!

OMI’s high-quality B2B business contact data comes with a 95% email validity guarantee. Fortune 1000 firms and start-ups use our data to drive modern digital marketing initiatives—including intent monitoring, email marketing, ABM, and omnichannel campaigns utilizing display, social media, and more. Reach out to our team today for more information.