How to run an email campaign to distributors
Run an email campaign to distributors in 8 steps: build the list from your CRM, segment it, write a short sequence, test it and turn replies into samples.
By the PromptLab team27 October 20268 min read
To run an email campaign to distributors, pick the distributors you want from your CRM, split them into groups with a shared reason to talk, and send each group a short sequence of three to five emails from real reps' mailboxes. Space the emails a few days apart, stop the sequence the moment someone replies, and answer each reply with the next concrete step: a partner price list, a sample or a quote.
The rest of this guide walks through each step with a worked example. Say you are a coatings maker with a new range of water-based floor coatings, looking for distributors in three regions where you have no partner. The same steps work for a resin supplier, a packaging maker or an ingredients producer. For the wider strategy, read how to sell through distributors first.
1. Pick the distributor list from your CRM
Start with records you already have. Distributors you met at trade shows, ones that asked for a catalogue and ones that buy from you in another region are all better first targets than a cold list.
In the CRM, filter accounts by type (distributor or wholesaler), by region and by what they carry. A distributor that already sells industrial cleaning products and flooring tools is a better fit for floor coatings than a general builders' merchant. Then pick the right contact at each account: the category or purchasing manager, not the accounts payable address.
Exclude the people who should not get this email:
- Your current distributors, and any account with an open deal
- Contacts who unsubscribed or asked not to be emailed
- Addresses that bounced before
- Distributors in a territory you have promised to an existing partner
If you need to add new distributors from outside the CRM, import them first so they sit on accounts like everyone else. Check the addresses before sending; our deliverability checklist explains why old lists hurt.
2. Segment so every email has a reason
A campaign to "all distributors" ends up saying nothing to anyone. Split the list into groups that share one reason to hear from you, and write for that reason.
For the coatings maker, three segments work:
| Segment | Why they'd care | Opening angle |
|---|---|---|
| Distributors carrying solvent-based coatings | Their customers are asking for lower-odour products | A water-based range to sit beside what they sell |
| Flooring and cleaning distributors | They sell to the same contractors | An add-on line for existing customers |
| Distributors met at the spring trade show | They've seen the product | Pick up where the stand conversation ended |
Keep segments small enough that a rep could, in principle, read every reply. If replies would swamp the reps, split the segment again.
3. Write a 3 to 5 step sequence
A sequence is a set of emails sent in order, with a wait between each one, that stops when the person replies. For distributors, three to five steps is plenty. Each step should add something new, not just ask "did you see my last email?".
A sequence for the flooring segment might look like this:
| Step | Wait | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Day 0 | Who you are, the range, why it fits their customers, offer the partner pack |
| 2 | 3 days | One concrete proof point: a technical data sheet or an application example |
| 3 | 5 days | The partner terms in one line: margin structure, territory, support |
| 4 | 7 days | Offer a free sample kit for their sales team to try |
| 5 | 10 days | A short close: "Shall I stop here, or is someone else the right person?" |
Keep each email under 150 words, in plain text, from a named rep with a full signature. Put the offer in the first two lines. Our distributor outreach email templates give you a first approach, follow-ups and a partner price list email to adapt.
4. Schedule the sends
Distributors read email in working hours, in their own time zone. Set the campaign to send on working days only, inside a window such as 8:00 to 16:00 local time. If the three regions span time zones, run a campaign per region.
Spread the load across mailboxes. If two reps cover the regions, send each region's campaign from that rep's own mailbox, so the reply lands with the person who will follow it up. Keep each mailbox under a sensible daily limit, leave a random gap of a few minutes between emails and ramp up any new mailbox slowly. A new mailbox that sends too much too soon lands in spam.
Set a start date, and an end date if the offer is tied to something like a season or a price list valid until year end.
5. A/B test one thing at a time
With a few hundred distributors, you won't get statistically clean results, but you can still learn. Test one variable per step, usually the subject line on step one, and keep the rest the same.
For the coatings maker, the test might be:
- Variant A: "Water-based floor coatings for your contractors"
- Variant B: "A low-odour line next to [Their current brand]"
Judge by replies, not opens. When one variant is clearly behind after a fair number of sends, pause it and let the rest of the campaign go out on the winner.
6. Handle replies the same day
Replies are the point of the campaign. Every reply should stop the sequence for that person, so they never get step three after saying yes to step one. Then the rep answers within the day.
Most replies fall into a few types:
- "Send me the price list." Send the partner price list and suggest a short call.
- "We'd like to try it." Log a sample request and confirm the delivery address.
- "Not now, try in the spring." Close the campaign for them and set a task for the spring.
- "Wrong person, ask Maria." Thank them, add Maria as a contact and email her personally.
- "Not interested." Thank them and make sure they get no more campaign emails.
Out-of-office replies are not real replies. Check the return date and follow up by hand.
7. Link a web form for inbound distributors
Some distributors will not reply but will visit your site. Put a "Become a distributor" form on your partner page asking for company, region, product lines carried and annual volume, and link to it from the second or third email.
Give the form its own short follow-up sequence: a distributor who fills it in gets a quick acknowledgement and the partner pack, then a call from the regional rep. The same form, printed as a QR code on your trade-show stand, catches distributors who stop by. How to capture leads from your website covers the fields to ask for.
8. Follow up with samples and quotes
A positive reply is the start of the sale, not the end. Turn it into a deal on the account, then move it with the things distributors actually decide on:
- The partner price list. Agree the distributor price list and send it with the terms.
- The sample. Ship the sample kit, log it on the deal, and set a task to ask for feedback a week after it arrives.
- The first quote. Quote the opening stock order from that price list.
- Onboarding. Once they sign, run your distributor onboarding checklist.
A resin supplier works the same way. A distributor of composite materials replies to step two asking for a sample of the new low-shrink resin. The rep logs the sample, ships it, and a week after delivery calls to ask how the trial went. The quote follows the feedback, not the other way round.
How PromptLab helps
We built PromptLab for teams that sell products, so campaigns run on the same accounts, contacts and deals as your quotes and samples.
- Audience from the CRM. Pick accounts, contacts or opportunities with filters, or upload a file, and exclude people by hand. Anyone who has unsubscribed is blocked company-wide.
- Sequences. Up to 10 steps, each with a delay in days, hours or minutes, and A/B variants of subject and body. Pause a losing variant at any time. AI can draft the emails.
- Your own mailboxes. Send from connected Gmail, Outlook or IMAP mailboxes, rotating up to 20 per campaign, with each rep's signature.
- Schedule. Choose the days, a sending window with time zone, a random gap between emails, and start and end dates. Daily limits per mailbox are built in, and new mailboxes ramp up over three weeks.
- Replies and bounces. A reply stops the sequence and can notify the owner. Bounces stop it too and appear in the bounce list.
- Web forms. Build a form from the Accounts or Contacts page, embed it, share a hosted link or print a QR code, and link it to a campaign so everyone who submits gets the sequence.
- Samples and quotes. Log the sample and build the quote from a customer price list on the same account. See quotes and samples.
Frequently asked questions
How many emails should a distributor campaign have?
Three to five steps is enough for most distributor campaigns. Each step should add something new, such as a data sheet, the partner terms or a sample offer, rather than repeating the first email.
How long should I wait between emails?
Three to seven days between steps works for most B2B buyers, with longer gaps towards the end. Distributors are busy, and a gap of a day or two can feel like pressure.
Should the campaign come from a rep or from the company?
From a named rep, with a full signature. Distributors reply to people, and a reply should land with the rep who will follow it up.
What should I offer distributors in the first email?
The reason they would carry your line: what their customers gain, the margin structure in a line, and support such as samples or technical help. End with one small ask, such as sending the partner pack.
Can I run distributor campaigns from my CRM?
Yes, if your CRM has campaigns built in. PromptLab sends sequences from your own mailboxes to accounts and contacts already in the CRM, and a reply stops the sequence for that person.