Cold email outreach is a great sales pitch strategy for raising awareness and selling products or services. However, it can be a thorny road for many marketing professionals.
Average reply rates fluctuate between 5 and 12%. That means if you’re on the low end of this statistic, 19 out of 20 emails you send are ignored. Of the 1 in 20 that gets a response, you’ll likely have to put in additional effort to convert it into a sale.
To outperform this and achieve your business goals, you need to take a strategic approach to cold email outreach. Thankfully, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog post, we will cover a range of cold email lead generation techniques that can help grow your business.
If you want to improve your strategy, prepare and craft compelling email copy for outreach; read on. In this article, we will discuss the techniques, templates, improving efficiency, how to measure and optimize outreach campaigns, and the common mistakes that return negative results everyone fears.
Cold email outreach refers to contacting leads for the first time and sending marketing material directly into their inbox. These are people who have had no previous interaction with your company. Hence, you are introducing your business and communicating with them “cold.”
The aim is to establish a connection with prospective clients, drive interest in your product or service, and then get them to complete a desired action. This could be enquiring about more information, setting up meetings, sending traffic to websites, or jumping straight to a sale.
The success of this marketing method depends on:
Most businesses that take cold email outreach seriously use automation and software to improve operations. With cold email outreach software, you can scale operations, ensure quality and consistent messaging, and better target your chosen audience.
Listed below are three best practices to follow when preparing your cold email outreach campaign.
Researching your ideal customer persona and their potential problems is a vital marketing technique. Whether it is sending personalized emails or identifying the best possible leads, understanding your target audience creates compounding benefits across your campaign.
Having the correct contact information is as important as knowing what to write in the email. By finding your prospect’s email addresses, you can boost the effectiveness of your outreach and increase deliverability.
There are many ways to find addresses online and build your email list. The most efficient one is to use email finder tools that offer filters to search for contacts. Additionally, the tool automatically verifies the identity of all email addresses, leaving no room for bounced emails. Many also offer features for syncing contact lists and updating contact information, so your salesperson is always starting conversations with the right people.
Segmentation allows you to divide your customers into meaningful groups based on specific criteria. For example, their interests, behaviors, or demographic data. Segmenting email lists acts as a guide to which message will be the most appropriate for that audience, increasing the frequency of replies.
Writing cold emails is no simple task. Listed below are six steps to consider before you click the send button.
Many cold email guides start by focusing on the subject lines. This ignores the other thing recipients see when your email lands in their inbox: the “from line” showing who sent it. It’s easy to just let the email client auto-generate the “from line,” but customization can make a big difference to the recipient and how they perceive your email.
Whatever subjects your cold emails cover, distilling the message down to a single line is a necessary skill to start seeing results. Crafting subject lines is like writing a headline for an article - you need to give people a reason to continue reading and open your email. This means summarising your value proposition and speaking directly to your target audience in an engaging and captivating way.
If you’re unsure how to proceed and have multiple ideas you want to try, consider using A/B testing to monitor recipient engagement and response. By tracking email opens and clicks and identifying the most effective email subject line for a given audience segment you’ll go a long way to maximizing your cold email efforts.
Additionally, you can borrow ideas from other digital marketing strategies, such as SEO. By including keyphrases that your target audience is searching for, you can tailor your subject lines to match. There are a range of SEO tools you can try for keyword research, including Ahrefs and Semrush.
The subject line might get readers to open your email, but that is just the first step on the way to converting prospects into customers. Sales emails require a strong introduction to keep people hooked. The goal is to create connections and build relationships with your leads. You need to set up your offerings while also trying to include personalized details to let them know the email was written for them.
Now comes the part you are waiting for: your pitch or sales proposal. Aim to provide value to the reader by demonstrating how your product or services help. Try to answer the question, “What's in it for them?”
That means focusing your message on the benefits of using your products or services, not the features you provide. Keep it concise, you only have a few sentences and bullet points to show them why they should respond. You don’t want to scare readers away with a wall of text containing paragraphs after paragraphs of detail about your company.
After the sales pitch comes the call-to-action (CTA). You need to direct them to the next step for keeping the conversation going. That means a short and succinct message that demonstrates the value you’re offering and tells them what to do. Whether it's a meeting, phone call, or visit to your website, stay to the point and follow the rest of your messaging.
Don’t forget that there is something after your CTA, your email signature. Use this to give your reader clear contact information, who you are, and where you are coming from. Don't keep them wondering who sent the email and where they should find your contact information because they don't have that time. The email signature also adds a layer of trust. It is easier to build a relationship with a client as a person not a large corporate entity.
The length of the message is the first thing you see when you open an email. Most people aren’t willing to invest a significant amount of time reading an email, especially a cold sales email sent from someone they’ve never met or corresponded with.
Therefore, keep your email copy as short as possible to minimize the effort required to consume all your messaging. Keep it below 200 words and ideally aim for 125 words. You should be able to convey everything you need in this short amount of words. Remember, cold emails are just the start of conversations. Don’t try to give the reader every detail in a single message.
Effective cold email outreach depends on the content of your message. The best way to reach a large number of people without investing a massive amount of time is to develop a series of cold email templates for different scenarios. However, that doesn't mean you should fill out a general template and leave it there. Even with templates, you should customize your message to the individual you are speaking to.
Let's take a look at five examples to help your business when designing email templates.
A quick question template is used when you are not entirely sure if you have the right email address or the correct contact information. It's short and to the point, simply asking for relevant contact information.
Example:
Hello [Name of the recipient]
I am [Your name] from [Your company name]. Could you tell me who makes decisions in the [Sales/Product buying] department and how I can contact them?
I appreciate any help you can provide.
[Your email signature]
Why it works: This type of template has a high response rate because it's direct and easy for the recipient to answer.
Third-party connection emails are used when you have a mutual acquaintance or a referral with the person you are writing to. Whether it is a connection through online networking, such as LinkedIn, or a previous client who liked your work passing on their business partners' contact information, ensure you clearly state the source of the referral in the subject line and opening sentence.
Example:
Hi [First Name],
[Mutual connection] suggested I contact you about [specific topic]. I'd love to connect and discuss how [Your product/Service] can benefit [Recipient's Company].
Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Email signature]
Why it works: This style of cold email is warmer than most as there is already a third party vouching for the quality of your service. It’s like they’ve read reviews of your company from people they trust.
PAS stands for Problem-Agitate-Solution framework. It's a simple way of structuring content, demonstrating a problem the reader has, agitating it to demonstrate the extent of the problem, and then offering the solution through your product or service.
Example:
Hi [First Name],
Are you struggling with [specific pain point]? It’s a common challenge for [industry/role], with many companies wasting significant time and effort struggling for a solution. Our [product/service] offers an end to [specific pain point], streamlining your services and saving you money. Let us know if you would like to learn more, and we can set up a Zoom meeting to discuss this further.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
Why it works: It might take some research, but addressing a specific pain point directly and highlighting your product as the solution is a great way to drive responses.
The AIDA template follows the Attention-Interest-Desire-Action model. Simply, it means grabbing the attention, creating interest in your offer, awakening the desire to hear more or buy a product, and ending with a clear call to action.
Developing a general-purpose AIDA template is difficult as it is dependent on the product or service offered. Below is an AIDA example for the case study of a recruiter looking for new talent.
Example:
Hi [Name],
My name is [Your Name], and I'm a recruiter at [Your Company]. I came across your profile on LinkedIn and was impressed by your experience in [specific skill or industry].
We're seeking a skilled [Job Title] to join our team. The role involves [briefly describe responsibilities]. Our company offers [mention perks, growth opportunities, or unique selling points].
If you're interested in learning more, let's schedule a quick call. My contact details are [contact details].
I am looking forward to connecting!
Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Your Company]
Why it works: AIDA provides an opportunity to keep the recipient engaged throughout the email before ending with a clear CTA.
The most straightforward template possible, straight-to-business emails, don’t waste any time before getting to the point. They are concise and direct while offering only relevant context.
Example:
Hi [Recipients Name],
I'm reaching out because [specific reason]. Our [Your Product/Service] has helped [similar companies] achieve [impressive results]. Can we discuss how it might benefit [Recipient's Company]?
Best regards,
[Your Name]
Why it works: Reducing the sales process to as few words as possible respects the recipient's time and doesn't disrupt their workday, which means you have a higher chance of getting a positive response.
You can think of cold email outreach as the digital version of cold calling. But unlike cold calling, which aims to secure a meeting or conversion in one quick conversation, the initial aim of cold emailing is to start the conversation. Hence, you should make that first chat brief and to the point.
Another important element for enhancing outreach efficiency is email deliverability and avoiding spam filters. Email service providers can mark you as spam if you don't warm up the account, authenticate it, or exceed the daily email sending limit.
Finally, as we mentioned earlier, segmentation is key to speaking the language your prospects want to hear. Try to use segmentation that addresses all of the possibilities before sending the message. Cold email platforms such as CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot) and email finder software can help you clean up your segmented lists and compose messages in bulk while incorporating personalization.
Optimizing email strategies for cold outreach requires tracking performance and results. That means evaluating your messages' impact on your prospects and adjusting your system accordingly. A couple of key strategies for optimization include A/B testing and measuring key metrics.
One of the most powerful tools you can use to enhance your cold email campaign is A/B testing - the process of comparing the outcome from two different approaches and versions of your content. Whether it's variations in the subject line, sales pitch, CTAs, or trialing different sequences of cold emails, with A/B testing you can determine which performs better based on the direct feedback and response of your prospects.
Your sales team can come up with new ideas and ways of iterating for better results. But until they’re put into action, they are just ideas. A/B testing shows which ideas are worth pursuing and which are best left behind.
So how do you measure the success of cold email outreach, for A/B testing purposes or just in general?
There are a number of key metrics and analytics that track the outcomes from cold email campaigns. These include:
Ultimately, tracking these metrics and others gives you the insights needed to determine how many new sales are coming from cold email outreach and how to adapt your strategy to increase this number moving forward. By combining additional sales data with the time and investment spent on cold email campaigns, you can determine your final ROI from the method.
The reality of cold email marketing is that there are many different reasons why you might not be getting the results you want. The most common mistakes businesses make include:
An email outreach study from Backlinko found some of the solutions to these mistakes include:
It is legal to send cold emails in most of the countries. That said, you need to follow the compliance regulations according to your prospects' location.
The most common challenges in cold email outreach are finding the correct email address, composing compelling messages, establishing the proper follow-up, and sending emails promptly.
You should follow up three times in a cold email; this gives the prospect enough time to make a decision without being too pushy and making people unsubscribe.
Having a verified and clean email list is the starting point of your outreach, and you must ensure that you reach the right contact. Using the software BookYourData to automate your search and validate email addresses can give you a higher deliverability score. BookYourData is one of the leading email finder tools on the market, with 97% accuracy and flexible pricing plans for businesses of all sizes.
[CTA1]
[CTA2]