For B2B marketers, finding creative ways to communicate and engage with customers and prospects is critical to creating and sustaining business relationships. E-zines are powerful tools that when designed and executed effectively can aid collaboration and drive qualified leads to a business.

1. Best Practice Guide
MOI DIRECT
Top success tips for creating effective B2B e-zines
For B2B marketers, finding 1. Content is king
creative ways to Content is absolutely crucial for the
communicate and engage success of an e-zine. Always include a
with customers and brief introduction that sets the context for
the e-zine and make sure it’s based on
prospects is critical to current economic or industry-specific
creating and sustaining conditions. The e-zine articles then need
Author: David Haward business relationships. to be of genuine value and relevance to
the reader, so it’s vital to work closely
Director E-zines* are powerful tools with industry experts.
Marketing Options that when designed and
International executed effectively can aid All the articles need to contain a strong
call to action, whether it’s to download an
collaboration and drive opinion piece or register for an event.
qualified leads Again, these need to be relevant and
to a business. offer real value to the reader.
Drawing on lessons 2. Make it readable
learnt and best If your e-zine is too densely packed with
practice experience, information it’s unlikely people will take
Marketing Options the time to read it. Keeping the copy light
International has and easy to read helps to engage the
developed our latest audience and, ideally, there should be a
top tips guide to help maximum of six articles in each issue. Try
businesses plan, highlighting key phrases in the copy to
create and manage enable speed reading, and use bullet
successful e-zine points and colour to break up the text.
communications.
3. Encourage open rates
Relevant, readable content is great, but
you also need to make sure as many of
your targets as possible open the e-zine
to guarantee measurable lead generation.
We’ve found that the more visual the
email the higher the viewing rate for the
e-zine. Always send out the e-zine from a
“real” person’s email address to make the
communication more personal and
authentic. After testing many different
email subject lines, we’ve found the most
successful ones are very simple, concise
and consistent – eg. “Business Insight
Newsletter: Issue 3”.
*The term e-zine is short for “electronic magazine” a
similar term is “journal”.

2. Top success tips for creating effective B2B e-zines
4. Keep it consistent avoid sending out communications on
Mondays and Fridays as this is when
It’s no good producing an e-zine as a
your targets are far less likely to read
one-off piece of marketing. Regular
them. In our experience, the optimum
delivery and a consistent look for each
number of times to distribute each e-zine
e-zine is important and helps to reassure
is twice in one week. We average 5%
the reader that they are receiving a
additional unique opens between the first
professional communication on a repeat
and second distribution.
basis. Making sure the e-zine is
produced regularly and to a high 6. Measure, analyse and learn
standard to raise the overall impact and
Whenever possible track and measure
success of the communication.
click throughs, open rates and download
5. Know when to send it activity. This will not only give you a
clearer understanding of which articles
To get the largest possible readership for
your targets were most interested in, but
your e-zine it’s vital to send it out at the
it will also help with follow up strategy
right time. We tend to see higher open
and ultimately to measure marketing ROI.
rates when e-zines are sent either late
morning or early afternoon. And always
TOP 10 BENEFITS OF E-ZINE COMMUNICATION:
Easy response tracking helps keep databases up to date
Enhances an organisation’s reputation and increases lead generation
opportunities
Increases the lifetime value and loyalty of prospects and clients
A cost-effective communication channel to reach a chosen audience
Keeps you in contact withyour target audience on a regular basis
Helps your audience engage with you and promotes a two-way
dialogue
Excellent response rates by appealing to a more receptive audience
Significant cost savings compared to printed newsletters
Can serve as a positive reinforcement to other marketing initiatives
About Marketing Options International
Marketing Options International is a fully integrated B2B technology marketing agency, offering results-focused direct, digital and
event marketing solutions.
With offices in London, San Francisco, Singapore and Sydney, Marketing Options International combines global reach and local
understanding to produce results-driven marketing campaigns that span evolving media, markets and territories.
The agency was founded in 1987 on the core belief that clients are served best when people share common values –
marketing intelligence, imagination, empathy and a passion for technology and delivering exceptional marketing programmes.
To learn more about Marketing Options International, visit www.mointernational.com or call +44 (0)1932 233000
For more information, please contact: David Haward, Marketing Options International, +44 (0)1932 233000
david.haward@mointernational.com
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