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In a survey of B2B marketers conducted by my company emedia, 49 per cent cited lead generation as the core objective of their e-marketing activity. While e-mailing your existing B2B customer base may be an excellent way of communicating with current customers, how can you harness this powerful tool to find new ones?

Don't skimp on resources

Purchasing vast lists of e-mail addresses and sending out sporadic, unsolicited e-mail shots can make new business prospecting seem like panning for gold - and the odds are never in your favour.

Buying a list of e-mail addresses on the cheap can be tempting, with offers such as opt-in e-mail lists of 673,000 UK email addresses for only £25. You are extremely unlikely to strike it lucky, however, and you risk your message being seen as spam. E-mail should never be viewed as the cheap option, but done properly and legitimately, it can be by far the most cost-efficient.

Check data quality

The EU Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive will become UK law later this year, making opt-in compulsory, so it is vital to ensure compliance. Ask the following questions of established e-mail vehicles to give a clearer indication of their quality of circulation: How is circulation built and maintained? How is content managed? Are all recipients opt-in? How did they opt in? What have they opted-in to?

There are many specialist e-mail marketers that have invested heavily in database development and research into e-mail usage and trends. Don't consider that e-mail lists are your only option.

Communicate your message

Think carefully about how to present the message in the most effective way. Whether you're offering free event registration, special offers, downloads, white papers, or training courses, the most important criteria are that the proposition has a single focus which is simple to understand, easy to respond to and is relevant. E-marketing service suppliers can offer valuable guidance on how to achieve maximum response. For instance, the optimum time to send B2B e-mail is between 4pm and 5pm, as people are starting to wind down at the end of the working day.

Select the right response mechanism

The golden rule when deciding on a response mechanism is to make it as easy as possible for prospects to interact with you.

E-mail bulletins (e-bulletins) are a cost-effective and quick method of initiating contact, and give you access to an immediate prospect pool.

E-bulletins are periodical e-mails that include privileged content from various vendors to a subscriber-base that has expressed a continued interest in receiving such information.

Also, do not underestimate the power of an online survey for generating leads. If the topic is appropriate and the completion of the survey incentivised, consumers will be inclined to complete it. Your first interaction with the prospect will have been mutually beneficial.

Whatever channels of response you offer, ensure that they are all supported effectively and integrated with your e-mail marketing.

Dealing with response

Expectations are changing. Aim for a response within 24 hours even if it is only an acknowledgement of the customer's enquiry.

If your initial call to action is a reply to your e-mail, consider using an automatic e-mail request fulfilment tool. That way you can ensure prospects receive the information they want immediately without tying up your sales resources. And remember, first impressions count: aim to fulfil the enquiry as soon as possible.

CASE STUDY: GROOVY CHOCOLATE

Groovy Chocolate (www.groovychocolate.com) is an online UK retailer selling personalised confectionery to companies such as Peugeot (see right).

With a new product line of corporate gifts, Groovy Chocolate required a cost-effective vehicle that would accurately reach its target audience.

The company considered a number of marketing channels, settling on e-mail. "Emedia convinced us e-mail marketing was the way forward and proved it would be possible to achieve the results we were expecting," says director of sales Andy Fairburn.

Corporate leads

The first inclusion, published in the monthly Promotions and Incentives Bulletin, offered an 'ideal solution for your corporate gift problems' with a seasonal chocolate gift card. This generated more than 100 leads.

A campaign was devised to include all forthcoming promotions within emedia's Marketing, Events Organisers and Promotions & Incentives bulletins.

Groovy Chocolate went on to use emedia's RapidRequest service, enabling the bulletin recipient to request further information on promotional offers through two clicks of the mouse. This provided Groovy Chocolate with profiled and qualified leads.