Are we doing emails right? |
Emails. We know ‘em, we love ‘em, we’re in the business of ‘em. They’re a staple in B2B marketing and a primary lead nurturing channel.
But here’s my hot take of the day: When it comes to email, sales and marketing shouldn’t be on separate teams. In a typical email workflow, marketing preps a bunch of demand gen messages and assets to engage leads and grow their contact list, then passes the best contacts off to sales to convert.
Sometimes, the process works. But too often, these leads end up stalling or leaving sales frustrated. They don’t fit the ICP, or they’re just not ready to buy. Marketing doesn’t get it either. They’ve spent hours targeting the right customer persona and finding the right messaging points for their emails. What’s the issue? |
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In my opinion, the days of traditional sales-to-marketing email workflows are over. The “marketing-to-sales email workflow as we know it is outdated. Sometimes, marketing means more of that one-on-one communication that’s usually sales’ specialty. Sometimes, story-based emails and testimonials are what close the deal. When it comes to emails, it’s time for marketing and sales to work together to create one continuous, boundaryless customer journey. Genuine human communication, combined with data and social proof, not mass emails or hard-sell pitches, is what buyers connect with (yes, even B2B buyers) — which takes both sales and marketing’s superpowers.
There’s data behind that, too: end-to-end buyer personalization can increase revenue by 10% and sales efficiency by 25%, according to McKinsey. Today, let’s discuss how to build a truly collaborative email experience that moves leads forward. |
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Get in, we’re entering our microsegmentation era |
“Segmentation!” and “Personalization!” have been email marketers’ battle cry for a while now, but they go beyond adding recipients’ first names to email greetings. As we settle into Q4, now’s the time to get into our audience micro-segmentation era. ✨
An example of a micro-segment might be audiences of a specific job title and company size and behavior, like CFOs of medium-sized enterprises with 50-250 employees who previously downloaded an asset.
Another way to micro-segment audiences is by conducting a recency, frequency, and monetary (RFM) analysis to see where audiences are in their buying journey, and prioritize the most ready-to-purchase customers. Or, if you offer a SaaS product, to evaluate how often they’ve renewed their contracts or how much they use your product. |
Just with any other audience set, figure out the wants, pain points, and priorities of these micro-segments and craft messaging points for each. A CFO of a medium-sized enterprise might be concerned about proving ROI or justifying the long-term value of a purchase amidst economic uncertainty. I typically visualize these by plotting them into a table with the audience’s needs, wants, and pain points, and their corresponding messaging (ideally, with sales input). |
| Segment | Needs/wants/pain points | Messaging |
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CFOs of medium-sized enterprises
| Financial justification – proving ROI of purchase in an uncertain economy |
Testimonial and story of a similar client who cut overall costs within 6 months, and how they did it
Identifying areas for strategic cost cutting, like operational or overhead costs | | | Implementation difficulties | Clear 30-, 60-, and 90-day plan and milestones tailored to their business |
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With marketing doing most of the messaging work (yay!), all that’s left for sales is to not drop the ball on those points.
Sometimes, that’s as simple as ditching highly scripted check-in emails and leading with a quick story or example that illustrates value, ideally drawn from one of marketing’s best campaigns. Take a look at marketing’s content library — webinars, blogs, testimonials, and newsletters — and add your own insight or customer context.
I know, I know — your day’s already packed as it is. Try this: Take one morning to gather your team and create a “story bank” of customer success snapshots or use-cases based on marketing’s existing content. Match each snapshot or use-case (aka “story”) to the customer profile they match best. Then, copy-paste one relevant story as an opener on your next outbound email.
For example: “A SaaS business working with us recently cut onboarding costs by 30% — can I share how they did it?” |
Pro tip from a marketing copywriter: Make everything about the customer. They’re the hero of the story, not your business. For instance, instead of saying, “We recently helped X business cut onboarding time….” say “A business we’re working with recently cut onboarding time…”
Little changes like that make messages feel a ton more personal. Then, close the feedback loop by letting marketing know which “stories” are converting the most sales. Hooray for teamwork and alignment! 🎉 |
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Marketing: “We sent out a beautifully branded nurture email to 5,000 prospects, but hardly anyone replied. Maybe sales can warm up the list?”
Sales: “I followed up with a few people from that list, but some said they already got an email — from us. They seemed confused and annoyed.” |
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→ Translation: Marketing is focused on reach and branding; sales is focused on relationship and response. When both teams email the same prospects separately, with different tones, stories, and timing, recipients just feel bombarded with mixed messages. Meanwhile, both teams wonder why response rates are low and meetings are hard to book.
It’s time to retire thinking of sales and marketing emails as separate “tracks.” Sync on messaging, cadence, and goals. Build sequences and stories together, so every touch feels coordinated and every recipient gets a consistent, valuable experience. |
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Audrey has built marketing strategies for startups, small businesses, and agencies—covering everything from websites to social media. She writes about practical marketing tactics for Fit Small Business, Marketing Interactive, and more, helping brands grow their online presence. |
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| Skylar has spent more than a decade creating sales and marketing content that works. She's held key content and leadership roles at TechnologyAdvice, Equifax, and Intuit — turning complex ideas into strategies and stories that drive growth. |
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