If you’re frustrated with the lack of conversions on your emails, I’ve got good news for you: We’ve all been there. The truth is that most people don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to email marketing.
In fact, many companies are still sending emails based on assumptions they made in 2009, like “people love hyperlinks”. But just because something worked then doesn’t mean it will work now.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| Crafting a successful cold email strategy requires careful planning and execution. |
| Personalization is crucial for capturing the recipient’s interest and increasing response rates. |
| Providing value and addressing the recipient’s pain points can lead to better engagement. |
| A/B testing subject lines, email content, and sending times can help optimize your strategy. |
| Building a strong email list and maintaining proper segmentation can enhance targeting. |
| Avoiding spam triggers and using reputable email service providers is essential to deliverability. |
| Monitoring key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and responses helps measure success. |
| Continuous learning and adaptation are vital to refining and improving your cold email strategy. |
1. Get to inbox, not Spam
In order to avoid being flagged as spam and bouncing your emails, you must follow these simple rules:
Use a professional email address. This is one of the most important factors in getting your emails delivered to the inbox. If you’re sending cold emails, use an employee’s name or company name for the sender’s address instead of your one.
Make sure this address is not associated with any other email accounts on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram;
If it is, make sure you don’t have any public posts there that could show up in the recipient’s search results when they look for more information about who sent them an email from that address!
Add a professional signature to every message before hitting send (or at least when needed).
People often forget about this small step but adding one can help give recipients a better idea of who sent them an email without having to open each message individually. A simple line like: “From Name
Crafting effective cold emails requires finesse and strategy. Learn the ropes with our guide on A Simple Guide to Cold Emailing: How I Got 5x Response, and discover how to increase your response rates while reaching new prospects.
2. Write Compelling Email Copy
Write compelling email copy.
Use a conversational tone. Don’t be afraid to speak directly to your audience in the first person, and use words like “you” and “we.” It makes your emails feel more personal.
Use a personal tone. If you’re trying to get someone’s attention, don’t just send them an impersonal message about how great their product is or why they should buy it tell them why YOU are recommending it! You’ll come across as more credible this way (and less like a robot).
Make sure the content is relevant to the recipient. If you want someone else’s money or time, make sure they know how they can benefit from giving it back to you in return!
This goes double if there is no obvious benefit for them at all…in which case maybe rethink whether this person even needs what you’re offering?
Use templates that help guide your writing process while still allowing room for creativity when appropriate (e.g., headers/paragraphs).
They won’t replace good old-fashioned brainstorming sessions with friends or family members willing enough (and brave enough) not only tolerate but also give constructive feedback on whatever wild idea(s) may pop up during such conversations;
However, using some sort of structure when writing emails will likely save precious time spent going back over things again later because something wasn’t quite right earlier on.
Especially since many companies have strict policies regarding followup emails sent within certain time intervals after sending initial contact messages such as cold calls/emails/etcetera…
3. Use An Engaging Subject Line
The subject line is the first thing a recipient will see when opening the email, so it’s important to make sure it’s engaging. A good subject line will be clear and concise, personal, relevant to the content of your message, actionable and concise.
Clear: Make it easy for recipients to understand what they’re going to get from reading your email by being crystal clear about what you’re offering them.
If you’re writing an email with a purpose other than selling something for example an announcement or invitation make sure that comes across in your subject line as well!
Concise: You don’t have much space (or time) when crafting an effective cold email marketing strategy. So make every word count! The shorter and more precise you can get while still keeping things interesting for readers is ideal here.
Personalized: Personalizing our emails shows we care about them as individuals instead of just targeting them based on demographics alone.
Relevant: Including details like where we met or how long we’ve known each other helps build trust between companies/individuals which can lead not only result in increased sales but also to increased referrals because people love talking about great experiences they’ve had working together.
Actionable: This means giving recipients specific instructions on how they should respond if interested rather than simply asking whether or not something might interest them (for example “Call me at 415-555-1234.” vs “I’d love to hear more about this job opportunity…”).
If you’re a marketer or salesperson delving into cold emailing, you need to check out The Cold Email Guide for Marketers & Salespeople. This comprehensive resource offers invaluable insights and techniques to master the art of cold email outreach.
4. Avoid Common “Spammy” Words
There are many dirty words in cold email marketing that will get your message immediately placed in the spam folder. These include “free”, “buy”, and “cheap.” The same goes for words like “you” and “your”.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with saying “we” or even using the word “our” on occasion but if you do, make sure that it’s not done too often. A good rule of thumb is to avoid using these words more than once per email.
Also, remember that the subject line is one of the most important parts of your email campaign, so take care when choosing it! If your subject line doesn’t grab attention immediately, then you’re probably not going to get a response from anyone.
5. Create A Personal And Specific Message
Personalize the message: Don’t send blanket emails to everyone at once, but rather create a unique email for each person based on their needs and wants.
It’s okay to mention you found their name in a directory or searched LinkedIn for someone with expertise in your field, but make sure it comes across as genuine interest rather than just being another list they need to deal with.
Don’t use templates: Templates are handy when you’re sending out thousands of emails, but when you’re just starting don’t send them yet! Instead, make sure each email is personalized with relevant information from what’s on the recipient’s profile page (or other sources).
Such as their company name or position title so that readers believe this wasn’t just plucked from thin air by some robot somewhere..
Do not send the same message over again: If someone doesn’t respond after receiving one email then follow up again in three weeks but not with more of the same content! Use fresh material every time so that people will take notice even if they didn’t reply before.”
Don’t struggle with creating cold email templates from scratch. Discover a range of effective templates in Cold Email Templates That Convert to make your outreach efforts more efficient and engaging.
6. Send At An Optimal Time
You’ve got your perfect email message and you’ve personalized it for maximum impact. You’ve sent it by the best time, but now you’re thinking about timing the actual sending of that email to make sure people see it when they’re most likely to engage with it.
If you don’t already have an app like Boomerang (which I highly recommend), this is a good place to start playing around with scheduling your emails.
Ideally, you want to send your cold emails at a time when your target audience is most likely to be at their computer accordingly, they’ll get the message while they’re not distracted by something else and can give it their full attention (and hopefully respond).
Here are some general rules:
Don’t send too late or too early; between 8 pm and 9 am EST may be prime time for some audiences but probably isn’t right for everyone.
On weekends, try avoiding sending any emails after 1 pm EST unless there’s a very clear reason why someone would be checking their inbox then (i.e., they work in sales).
7. Follow Up If You Don’t Get A Response
After you send your first email, wait at least two days before sending a follow-up. If you don’t get a response after the first follow-up, wait two weeks and then send another one.
If you still don’t hear back after another month, send yet another email but this one should be much shorter than the first one (just enough to remind them of the original point).
You can also try following up if your contact doesn’t reply within four hours of receiving your email.
If this happens more than once with a person who isn’t responding to any of your other emails and is ignoring all communication attempts from your company, it’s probably best just not to waste any more time on them.
Taking the plunge into cold email outreach? Our Ultimate Guide to Cold E-mail Outreach will provide you with the strategies, tips, and best practices needed to succeed in this essential aspect of modern marketing.
8. Track Your Email Campaigns With UTM Parameters
UTM parameters are a great way to track your email campaigns. The best part is that they’re also easy to add into your emails so you can get the most out of your efforts.
Let’s say that you have an email campaign where all you want to do is track the number of clicks on links in the body of the email, and create reports on those numbers. Here’s how you can do it:
First, insert UTM codes into each link in the body of your email using this format: “mailto:?subject=[URL]&body=[HTML CODE]” where [HTML CODE] contains your URL or CTA and [URL] is replaced with whatever link text you want to be associated with it (e.g., if I wanted someone who clicked on my “subscribe” button at bellowthefoldnewsletter@gmailcom to be redirected automatically).
This will make sure that all clicks from these links are recorded as such instead of just being lumped together as general “web” traffic which can cause serious confusion later!
9. Don’t Add Too Many Links Or Attachments To Your Emails
To avoid cluttering your email and making it difficult to read, avoid sending too many links or attachments in your emails.
If you do choose to include links or attachments in your messages, make sure that they are relevant to the content of your email.
For example, if someone replies asking for more information about a specific product or service you offer but they don’t need any other information from you at this time, then sending them another link about that same product or service makes no sense!
10. Make Sure Your Email Is Mobile-Friendly
To be successful with cold email marketing, you have to have a mobile-friendly email design. You can’t send an email that looks great on a desktop but is hard to read on mobile devices.
As we stated earlier in this post, people are checking their emails more often via their smartphones than ever before. If your emails look terrible or don’t load properly on mobile devices, likely, people will just delete them and move on.
In addition to making sure your emails look good on all browsers and devices (including iPhones), you should also ensure that your text is easy for readers to skim through quickly. This means short paragraphs with short sentences (no more than 10 words).
By keeping your content short and sweet, it will be easier for recipients of your emails to digest the information at hand without having to scroll down through multiple paragraphs or pages of text before finding what they’re looking for again later down the road after reading something else entirely different first instead!
Finally, remember not everyone likes receiving business proposals via email (or any other form of digital communication).
So if possible try calling ahead first before sending something off into cyberspace where no one knows who they’re talking to yet – especially someone who lives outside of North America/Europe where social norms are different than ours here at home 🙂
Looking to improve your LinkedIn cold email responses? Dive into Cold Email 201: How to Get Emailed Back on LinkedIn for insights that will help you break through the noise and establish meaningful connections through effective cold emailing.
Conclusion
Are you ready to try your hand at cold email marketing? If so, then I hope this guide has been useful in helping you understand the different strategies that work best when it comes to reaching out to potential customers.
Remember that while there are many options available today, it’s important not to get overwhelmed with all the numbers and statistics surrounding what works best for each individual sender.
What matters is that you stay consistent with whatever strategy works best for you personally!
Further Reading
Cold Email Strategy: A Comprehensive GuideDiscover a comprehensive guide to crafting effective cold email strategies, including expert tips and proven templates for boosting your outreach success.
Cold Email Strategy that Converts: Expert Tips and TemplatesLearn from experts about cold email strategies that convert, along with valuable templates to enhance your email outreach and increase your conversion rates.
Mastering Cold Email Marketing: Tips and Best PracticesDive into the world of cold email marketing with tips and best practices that will help you refine your approach and achieve better results in your outreach efforts.
And here’s the “FAQs” section:
FAQs
What is the key to successful cold emailing?
Successful cold emailing hinges on personalization and value. Tailoring your message to the recipient’s needs and providing value upfront can greatly increase your chances of a positive response.
How do I write compelling subject lines for cold emails?
Compelling subject lines are concise, intriguing, and relevant. They should spark curiosity and convey the benefit the recipient will gain from opening the email.
How can I avoid my cold emails ending up in spam folders?
To avoid spam filters, use a reputable email service provider, personalize your messages, avoid using excessive capitalization or too many links, and encourage recipients to add your email address to their contacts.
What’s the ideal frequency for sending cold emails?
The ideal frequency depends on your target audience and their preferences. Generally, spacing out your emails and not overwhelming recipients can lead to better engagement.
How can I measure the success of my cold email campaigns?
Track metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and response rates. Experiment with different approaches and analyze the results to refine your strategy over time.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.