3 simple tips for selling to B2B audiences

Happy Monday!

One question I get from time to time is:

“Does Email Storyselling also work for B2B?”

And the short answer is:

Yes :)

I am a believer in all marketing being H2H…

(aka Human-2-Human)

Which is to say the most important thing is writing to ONE specific person…

And so long as you understand their hidden fears, frustrations, desires, beliefs, etc…

Then it doesn’t matter whether you’re selling $2 widgets or $20,000 engagements.

But on the flipside…

I think it’s a tad naive to pretend there are no differences whatsoever between selling B2C vs B2B.

In fact, there are a few subtle nuances people tend to miss when applying Email Storyselling in a B2B context.

So here are 3 tips for selling specifically to B2B audiences:

***

1) More direct stories

Quick refresher in case you forgot…

Direct stories are stories that relate to your core topic where the lesson is immediately applicable to the audience.

For example — me telling a story about email.

Indirect stories are about something OTHER than your core topic… and serve as analogy or metaphor that also applies to your audience.

For example — me telling a story about going to the gym.

Now, I typically recommend a 80/20 ratio of direct vs indirect stories…

But if you’re selling B2B, I’d bump those numbers up even higher.

Shoot for 90/10 or even 95/5.

This is because B2B audiences are usually a bit less interested in you and your personal life.

Which leads me to…

2) Signal relevance in every subject line

Don’t just prioritize relevance through story selection…

You should also emphasize it in every one of your subject lines.

How?

By including a specific keyword or phrase that signals “this is for you.”

For example, if I include one of these words or phrases in a subject line…

- email
- inbox
- audience
- online course
- sales funnel

… I’m signaling the email is relevant to you + why you joined my list in the first place.

3) Help them sell it internally

A subscriber might LOVE your offer…

But they may still need their manager to sign off on it.

Especially if it’s higher ticket.

Which means your job isn't just to convince the person reading your email…

… it's to make it as easy as possible for THEM to sell it to higher-ups.

(which comes back to knowing exactly WHO you’re writing to and what their motivations are)

So how do you do that?

Create a one-pager they can submit their manager or supervisor with stuff like:

- ROI calculators
- Case studies
- Specific metrics they can bring to their boss (time saved, $$ added, etc)

And make sure to use language that translates to business value…

Not just personal transformation.

The easier you make it for your subscriber to justify the purchase internally…

The more B2B sales you'll close.

***

There you have it.

3 tips for writing emails that sell to B2B audiences.

That’s all I got for ya today, though :)

I’m off to review some client stuff + do some more work on my next promo….

Adios ✌️

Jim Hamilton

P.S:

Speaking of which…

Next week, I’m doing something special for Black Friday:

For the first time ever, I’m opening the doors to my brand new Email Storyselling AI tool.

This is my personal AI assistant that is trained on the exact email and ad writing frameworks responsible for $50m+ in sales for myself and clients.

And up until now, it’s only been available to community members and private clients.

But next week, you’ll be able to try it out yourself for just $1.

So if that sounds interesting…

Stay tuned for more info :)

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