12 Cold Email Tips

There are few communication methods as widespread as email. More than 4 billion people around the globe use email, and that number continues to grow each year.

It’s only natural that email is an effective marketing tool. Not only is it prevalent, but it allows the sender to deliver practically any content without speaking to the recipient. Therefore, even cold emailing continues to help brands reach their target audiences in 2022.

When it comes to cold emailing, however, not just any message will garner replies. Effective cold emails are short, they get to the point, and their messages are intriguing and powerful. For best results, every aspect of a cold email campaign must be carefully planned and executed.

What is Cold Email?

What is a cold email? Like cold calling, cold emailing involves sending an unsolicited email to a person with whom you’ve had no prior relationship. A cold call email is an effective way to start a business relationship for a variety of reasons.

Through a cold email, a sales rep starts an online conversation with a potential client who likely knows very little about the company. Therefore, the content is of the email must not only grab their attention and appeal to the recipients, but it must intrigue and inform them.

Benefits of Cold Emailing

There are good reasons why cold emailing remains such a popular email marketing strategy. When done right, it’s highly effective. Plus it costs practically nothing, giving any positive results a worthwhile return on investment. Cold emailing benefits sales and marketing professionals in the following ways:

• Cold emails reach people – For many people, much of their time is spent online, checking their inboxes. Cold emails effectively reach the right person whenever happens to be the best time to read them.
• Email can be personalized – People respond to personalized sales strategies. Cold emails are simple to customize, adding the necessary personal touch with very little extra time and effort.
• Emails are informative – Email can be made more informative than a phone call, and it’s a versatile format that can include images, video, presentations and other multimedia content that engages recipients.
• Cold emails boost brand awareness – Even cold emails that don’t result in direct sales are effective at increasing recipients’ awareness of a brand. That increased brand awareness takes sales reps one step closer to converting a new customer.
• Email campaigns can be tracked and measured – By using cold email software, a sales team can track the success of their email campaigns, using the results to refine their cold emailing strategies.

12 Best Cold Email Tips

Hoping to launch a successful cold email campaign? Are you planning the first cold email campaign for your small business, or are you training your sales reps to master the art of cold emailing? The following 12 cold email tips will help you get positive results:

1. Compose an Engaging Subject line

A cold email subject line has been called the key that unlocks the door to your message. It can determine whether a potential customer opens the email and reads the content or sends it straight to the recycle bin.

A simple subject line is essential to an effective cold email campaign, but subject lines must also be intriguing and engaging enough to grab recipients’ attention and make them want to read more.

2. Reference a Cold Email Template

There’s nothing wrong with referencing a template for guidance when composing your first cold email. Cold email templates are available for a variety of purposes, including sales emails.

The templates will provide all the elements of a successful cold email, and they can be customized for any brand or market. Small business owners and marketing professionals can find a variety of cold email templates online, or they can rely on templates provided by their cold email software of choice.

3. Personalize the Details

Cold email campaigns can’t be effective if an email recipient sends their messages straight to the spam folder. Even worse, the email could become the victim of recipients’ spam filters. Personalized cold email is key to the success of a campaign.

The email must appear as if it was composed specifically for the recipient. Save time with cold email software that will personalize the details for you based on each potential customers’ data.

4. Rely on Cold Email Software

Creating a cold email campaign from scratch might seem like a daunting task, but a sales manager or small business owner can save time and effort by relying on a variety of cold email software tools.

Software helps facilitate cold email outreach by providing templates, tracking results and automating much of the emailing process, including personalization and sending follow up emails.

5. Develop a Cold Email Strategy

A cold email strategy is necessary for a successful campaign. What do you hope to accomplish from your cold outreach email and how do you plan to achieve that result? It’s not enough just to write cold emails, send them and hope for sales.

Every aspect of the email campaign – from the subject line to the follow-up schedule – should serve a purpose, and results need tracked so the strategy can be improved based on results.

6. Remember to Follow Up

One email isn’t always enough to convert a new customer. Every cold email campaign should include at least one follow-up email, although it’s often suggested to send two or three follow-ups for successful cold emails, helping to better inform potential customers and increase brand awareness.

Because sending cold emails can be a daunting and time-consuming task, it’s a good idea to rely on cold email software tools to automate this process.

7. Edit the ‘From’ Details in Cold Call Emails

Email recipients pay attention to who is sending an email, especially spam-wary consumers. If the sender appears untrustworthy, the email is unlikely to be opened. The “from” line of of your email settings can be edited at any time, and you can identify yourself however you choose.

Just as you want to carefully choose your subject line, you also should carefully compose your sender details to match the tone of your cold email while inspiring trust and authority.

8. Add a Call to Action

Never assume that email recipients will know what action you wish them to take or that they naturally will reach your desired conclusion. Remember, your cold email campaign is a sales strategy, and like any other it must include an effective call-to-action.

Do you want email recipients to purchase a product? Do you want them to visit a website, or attend an event? Then make sure you ask for it! Many successful cold emails, in fact, include multiple calls to action for recipients to read as they scroll through the message.

9. Include Irresistible Lead Magnets

How do you get the email addresses to solicit with your cold email campaign? A variety of options are available, but one effective strategy is through irresistible lead magnets. Offer customers something they want or need in exchange for their email address.

For example, you might offer an informative e-book on your landing page, but only to people who provide their email account. Cold emails also can include their own lead genertion, for example, offering an irresistible item, a download or a discount for example, to recipients who sign up to receive the company newsletter.

10. Create a Clever Introduction

Once a recipient opens an email, they will decide within just a couple of seconds whether or not they will continue to read the message. The introduction must grab their attention and almost instantly engage them.

An effective cold email introduction should only be a couple of setentces, but those sentences are powerful. Find a way to intrigue recipients, making them want to read more, while keeping the message relevant to the overall subject.

11. Pitch Your Value

One way to compose terrible cold emails is by omitting your value proposition. Why should recipients be interested in your brand or products? Why should they care? What value can you offer them?

Remember, however, that heavy sales tactics could result in spam complaints, so subtly is key when pitching your value. Instead of boasting about product features, inform cold email recipients of benefits. What do they have to gain from your brand?

12. Perfect Your Email Signature

Don’t ignore the email signure when creating a successful cold email. Your signature should not only tell recipients who you are, but in addition to a company name it should include details telling readers where they can learn more about the product, brand or company.

In fact, a strategic email signature can include information that might otherwise be in the email body, allowing for a shorter, more concise message. Like the subject line of a cold email, the email signature should be short, direct and trustworthy. It also should include contact information, such as a physical address, phone number and even a LinkedIn profile.

What is the best time to send cold emails?

A variety of studies have found the day and time a cold email is sent can have a significant impact on the success of a cold email campaign. It’s commonly believed that Mondays are the best day to send a cold email, and Fridays are the worst weekday to initiate a cold call email. A Yesware study found weekend emails are 10% more likely to be opened over weekday emails, probably because 80% fewer marketing emails are sent on weekends. The same study found the best time to send a cold email is either between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. or at about 8 p.m.

Are cold emails illegal?

Whether or not it is illegal to send cold emails depends largely on where you are doing business. While sending unsolicited emails is not legal in the United Kingdom, for example, cold emailing is legal in the United States. There are, however, restrictions and guidelines that must be followed, per 2003’s CAN-SPAM Act, which sets rules for commercial email, including subject line, identification and opt-out requirements.

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This article, “12 Cold Email Tips” was first published on Small Business Trends