Step by Step Guide to Creating Email Campaigns in Terminus for B2B Marketing

So, you’re running B2B marketing and need to get results—not just pretty reports. You’ve got Terminus in your toolkit, but you want to actually use it, not just check the box. This guide is for marketers who want to build email campaigns that work, without getting lost in buzzwords or wasting hours chasing “best practices” that don’t move the needle.

Below, you’ll get the practical, step-by-step rundown on building email campaigns in Terminus. I’ll call out what matters, what doesn’t, and how to avoid common facepalms.

Why Use Terminus for Email Campaigns? (And Who Should Skip It)

Before we dig in: Terminus is built for B2B marketers focused on account-based marketing (ABM). If you’re just blasting newsletters to a big list, other tools might be simpler and cheaper. But if you want to target specific accounts, personalize messaging, and track real engagement, Terminus has some unique strengths:

  • Ties email campaigns to ABM programs and sales activity
  • Syncs with your CRM and ad campaigns for real reporting
  • Helps you avoid “spray and pray” by actually segmenting and measuring

If you’re not running ABM or don’t care about account-level insights, Terminus can feel like overkill. But if you’re serious about B2B pipeline, read on.

Step 1: Get Your Foundations Right

1.1 Connect Your Data Sources

If your Salesforce or HubSpot data is a mess, Terminus will just make it messier. Clean up your CRM before you connect anything.

  • Sync your CRM: Make sure fields like account owner, industry, and status are up-to-date.
  • Check permissions: Double-check that Terminus can actually see the lists and fields you plan to use.
  • Don’t ignore opt-outs: If your suppression lists are old, you’ll risk spam complaints.

Pro tip: Run a test sync with a small segment first. Don’t wait until you’ve built a full campaign to discover your data is broken.

1.2 Define Your Audience

This is where most campaigns go sideways. “Everyone in the database” is not an audience. Get specific:

  • Choose accounts, not contacts: Target companies, then choose the right people at those companies.
  • Use filters: Industry, company size, buying stage—whatever matters to your sales team.
  • Align with sales: Run your list past sales reps. They’ll spot dead accounts or bad fits you might miss.

If you’re not sure who to target, ask yourself: “If these people replied, would my sales team care?” If not, rethink your list.

Step 2: Build the Campaign Structure

2.1 Create a New Email Campaign

  • In Terminus, head to the Email Experiences or Campaigns section (naming changes, but you’ll find it).
  • Start a new campaign and give it a name you won’t regret later. “Q2-2024-ABM-Launch-CTOs” is better than “Spring Blast.”

2.2 Set Campaign Goals

No one likes vanity metrics. Decide what success looks like before you build anything:

  • Meetings booked is better than opens or clicks.
  • Account engagement (e.g., multiple contacts from a target account engaging) is a good secondary metric.
  • If you have to report on opens, at least combine it with real outcomes.

Ignore: Open rates as a primary measure—they’re unreliable thanks to Apple Mail Privacy and general overreporting.

Step 3: Craft Your Email Content

3.1 Write Like a Human

Most B2B emails are unreadable. Terminus supports personalized tokens (like {{FirstName}}), but don’t let that trick you into writing robotic copy.

  • Subject lines: Short, clear, and not “Sales-y.” E.g., “Quick question about [Company]’s Q3 goals.”
  • Body: Two to three short paragraphs, max. Ditch the jargon. Get to the point fast.
  • Call to action: One thing you want them to do. Don’t ask for a meeting, a download, and a demo all at once.

3.2 Personalize (But Don’t Overdo It)

  • Use company and industry info if you have it, but don’t fake “personalization” with bad data—no one believes “Hi [FirstName], saw you love ‘INSERT INTEREST HERE.’”
  • Segment by persona or buying stage if you can. A CFO and a Marketing Director care about different things.
  • Review your preview text—it shows up in inboxes and is often ignored.

Pro tip: Send a test to yourself and read it on your phone. If it makes you cringe, rewrite it.

Step 4: Set Up Sending Logic

4.1 Timing and Cadence

  • Best days/times: Midweek mornings are usually safe, but there’s no magic time. Test, but don’t obsess.
  • Frequency: Less is more. One thoughtful email beats three “checking in” messages.
  • Sequences: If you build a series, space them out over a few days. Don’t nuke inboxes.

4.2 Sender Settings

  • Use a real sender name your audience will recognize (ideally their assigned rep or a leader).
  • Avoid generic “info@” or “marketing@” addresses—they tank open rates.
  • If you’re using a shared inbox, make sure replies get routed to a human.

Step 5: Launch and Monitor

5.1 Test Before You Send

  • Send to yourself and a colleague (preferably outside your company) to check for formatting, typos, or weird rendering.
  • Test your links—you’d be surprised how often these break.
  • Check for spam triggers: Words like “free,” excessive exclamation points, or weird formatting can send you to junk.

5.2 Launch the Campaign

  • Hit send (or schedule).
  • Monitor the first batch—if you see bounce spikes or weird reply patterns, pause and investigate before sending to the rest.

Step 6: Track Results That Actually Matter

6.1 Focus on Real Outcomes

Terminus will give you a firehose of data. Most of it’s noise. Here’s what to actually watch:

  • Meetings/Replies: Are target contacts engaging and interested?
  • Account-level engagement: Are multiple people from the same company opening or responding?
  • Sales feedback: Ask your reps if the leads or conversations are any good.

Ignore “impressions” or “delivered” stats unless you’re troubleshooting.

6.2 Adjust and Iterate

  • Kill what’s not working. If a subject line tanks, try another.
  • Share real results with sales, not just charts. “We got two demos from X company” is gold.
  • Don’t be afraid to shut down a campaign early if it’s obviously not landing.

Common Mistakes (And How to Dodge Them)

  • Too broad an audience: If you’re emailing everyone, you might as well email no one.
  • Over-engineering personalization: If you need a spreadsheet to track tokens, you’re doing too much.
  • Ignoring sales: If sales doesn’t know about your campaign, you’ll waste good leads.
  • Not testing: Rushing leads to embarrassing mistakes. Always send a test.

Pro Tips for Better Campaigns

  • Align with campaigns in other channels: Email works best when it’s part of a broader push (ads, SDR outreach, events).
  • Use suppression lists: Don’t email existing customers with prospecting messages.
  • Automate reporting, but sanity-check it: Just because Terminus says an email was “opened” doesn’t mean it was read.

Keep It Simple, Ship, and Iterate

The best Terminus campaigns aren’t the fanciest—they’re the ones that actually get sent, get read, and get responses. Don’t overcomplicate. Start with a clear audience, a simple message, and a goal that matters. Ship it, watch how it does, and make the next one better. That’s how you actually move the numbers—and keep your sanity.