Cold email marketing is similar to being a door-to-door salesman, except you don’t see doors closing in your face, or even opening at all. However, like door-to-door sales, it can greatly benefit your business if done correctly.
Let’s explore the world of cold email marketing and learn how to reach the point where people can’t resist responding.
What is Cold Email Marketing?
Well, in simple terms, cold email marketing involves sending emails to promote your product or service…emails that no one specifically requested. That’s one reason why it’s not the most popular approach out there. But don’t let that discourage you from considering cold email outreach campaigns altogether.
An effective cold email can still yield results. Research by Backlinko analyzed 12 million outreach emails and found that, on average, the reply rate is 8.5%.
Now, you might be thinking, “Just 8.5%?” Yes, it’s a relatively low percentage, but when you put a monetary value to it, that number becomes more significant.
For instance, let’s say you’re a B2B software company selling your SaaS for $10,000 per year. If you send out 5,000 cold emails to potential customers over a few months and get an 8.5% response rate, that’s 425 potential leads.
Now, imagine if your sales team closes just 10% of those leads after a few phone calls—that’s 42 new customers. At $10,000 per year per customer, that’s $420,000 in annual revenue generated from your cold email campaign.
Of course, these are hypothetical figures, and the actual outcome depends on various factors like your industry, target audience, email content quality, etc.
But one thing is clear: cold email marketing still holds promise for lead generation.
The underlying principle behind cold emails is permission-based marketing. Recipients have the option to opt-out and unsubscribe, and they will do so if you bombard them with emails. Sending too many emails can not only lead to low open rates and wasted effort but also damage your sender’s reputation.
So, the key is to choose the right cold email strategy that avoids ending up in the spam folder.
Cold Email Marketing: Easy Tips and Helpful Practices
The main hurdle in creating effective cold emails is making them brief yet compelling enough to prompt a response. However, using well-crafted personalized cold email templates is just the beginning. It’s also crucial to adhere to various legal regulations, such as those outlined in the CAN-SPAM Act, and stay updated on the latest sender requirements from platforms like Google and Yahoo.
Let’s delve further into each step to grasp what it entails to plan and carry out a successful cold outreach campaign.
Step 1: Plan Your Cold Email Marketing Strategy and Prepare
No matter how compelling your “sales emails” may be, they won’t generate any conversions if you’re not targeting the right audience. Therefore, before you start drafting anything, gather your team and brainstorm to define your strategy. Identify your target audience, ascertain if they’re decision-makers, determine the message needed to address their pain points, decide on the number of email sequences required, and establish your ultimate goals.
Once you’ve completed this step, research and select the appropriate sending tool (more details on this below). This is also the right time to establish how you’ll measure the success of your campaigns and which metrics are most important to you. Keep in mind that most reliable sending tools offer analytical capabilities.
It’s also crucial to remember that email providers prioritize SPF, DKIM, and DMARC protocols, and so should you, as they influence email deliverability. Therefore, ensure that all your email authentication protocols are properly set up.
Step 2: Acquire the Contacts
Once you’ve determined your target audience through brainstorming, the next step is to gather their email addresses. Here are a few methods to acquire the contact information of potential customers:
1. List Building:
Building a robust email list is essential for success, although it may require some time and effort initially. Consider using LinkedIn Ads or other relevant social media platforms to drive traffic to a value-oriented landing page where users can leave their email addresses for more information. Don’t overlook the importance of SEO optimization for organic traffic, even if you’re using paid promotions.
2. Email Scraping:
Email scraping involves automatically extracting email information from publicly available or private sources. The software can collect data online quickly and cost-effectively, allowing for personalized emails by obtaining not just the prospect’s name but also their job title, company name, and other useful information. However, email scraping has downsides, such as lower lead quality and potential legal issues if scraping violates website terms of service.
3. Purchasing:
Avoid purchasing email lists altogether. Trustworthy, high-quality email lists are not available for purchase, and doing so can result in serious legal and reputational consequences, including poor email deliverability and IP reputation. It’s best to focus on organic list-building methods to ensure compliance and maintain email quality.
Step 3. Write a cold email
It’s time to don your copywriter’s cap.
Before you begin drafting, keep in mind that the primary aim of a cold email is to elicit a positive response (engagement with your call-to-action counts too).
Some experts advocate for personalized, concise, and creative subject lines for cold emails—and they’re right. However, honesty should be the top priority above all else.
Don’t overthink it, and avoid being misleading.
When it comes to the email body, this is where you can give it more thought. The goal is to grab the prospect’s attention from the start and, once again, prioritize honesty. Avoid resorting to unoriginal or tasteless “dirty tricks” like using provocative statements followed by a “now that I have your attention…”
Instead, consider mentioning something you have in common or asking a relevant question that addresses a pain point, while keeping it brief—a subtle attention-grabber with a touch of humor.
Next, transition to what you have to offer. It’s crucial to keep it short and to the point. No one wants to or has the time to read a lengthy email. One effective way to decide what information to include is to ask yourself: “If this were a cold call and I had 60 seconds, would I say this?”
Since you’re not providing extensive information, include a link where more details can be found.
Conclude your email by expressing genuine appreciation, going beyond the standard “Thank you.” After all, someone is taking the time to read your email.
Now, it’s time to craft another version of the email. Same concept as with the first email. Once the campaign is underway, consider conducting A/B testing to determine which version yields better results.
This is also a suitable moment to contemplate the copy for follow-up emails. While a drip campaign with a sequence of emails can potentially garner more replies, it may also increase the likelihood of being marked as spam. Trust your instincts: do you genuinely want to follow up more than once?
Step 4. Launch a Campaign
That’s it, you’ve completed all the steps, and now you can schedule your emails using a cold email outreach tool like Reply, Saleshandy, or Smartlead, and take a breather. But not quite.
While email automation is crucial, and we’ll discuss some top tools for that below, here’s where the real challenge begins… metrics.
It’s challenging not because you have to manually tally each key performance indicator (KPI)—various CRM integrations and other tools can handle that for you.
The challenge lies in the continuous monitoring, analysis, and decision-making based on the data you gather. Making data-driven decisions is tough, but like anything, it gets easier with practice (and a bit of research).
Top Tools for Cold Email Marketing
Utilizing the appropriate tools to establish and execute your cold email campaign can streamline your process and enhance your chances of success (assuming the copy is effective ). Here’s a brief overview of the top 5 cold email marketing tools to explore. The pros and cons of each tool are derived from publicly accessible user feedback.
1. Woodpecker is a cold email marketing tool that seamlessly integrates with Gmail and Outlook, enabling you to send personalized emails and follow-ups while easily tracking them.
Key Features:
– Automation of follow-up sequences
– Security features including auto duplicate detection, email validation, bounce tracking, and blacklist management
– Teamwork functionality to prevent multiple team members from contacting the same prospect, along with a “Team View” section for campaign monitoring
– A/B Testing capabilities
Pros:
– Excellent tracking system
– Effective email validation and list cleaning
– Ability to create diverse follow-up scenarios
– Responsive and supportive customer service
Cons:
– Changing the email sequence order can be cumbersome
– Analytics may not be as comprehensive as other tools
– Opt-out link solution lacks smoothness
2. Overloop (formerly known as Prospect.io) is a lead generation and email automation platform designed to assist businesses and freelancers in discovering leads and initiating contact with them through cold emails.
Key Features:
– Search and verify email IDs of prospects
– Creation of personalized campaigns, including drip sequences
– Customization and sharing of email templates with sales teams
– Detection of replies, including tracking bounce rates and out-of-office responses
Pros:
– Accurate email finder extension
– Strong integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, and other leading tools
– Comprehensive outbound sales automation at an affordable price
– Simple yet powerful, with customizable workflows
– Prompt and helpful customer support
– User-friendly intuitive design
Cons:
– Manual steps required when integrated with LinkedIn
– Not as cost-effective for small to medium businesses
3. SalesHandy is a tool for automating sales workflows and email marketing, allowing you to send cold emails and interact with leads.
Key Features:
– Sending personalized emails to multiple recipients
– Automating follow-ups for individual emails or entire campaigns
– Built-in email limiter to safeguard domain reputation
– Email verification tool to validate email addresses before sending
Pros:
– Robust scheduling features for campaigns
– Excellent customer service
– Straightforward setup process for email campaigns
– Comprehensive analytics with frequent feature updates
– Cost-effective for small sales teams
– Smooth integration with Chrome
Cons:
– Limited usability on mobile devices
– Lack of support for XLS file format (only CSV)
4. Mailshake is an email outreach software and sales engagement platform designed to streamline the process of sending personalized emails from Gmail and G Suite, as well as scheduling and tracking email campaigns.
Key Features:
– Customizable personalization for cold emails and other sales outreach methods (e.g., LinkedIn)
– Advanced integrations with platforms like Zapier, Slack, Pipedrive, etc.
– Comprehensive analytics for monitoring email campaigns
Pros:
– Intuitive user interface, making it easy to use
– Affordable pricing for core features
– Excellent customer service and useful resources
– Functional Chrome extension
Cons:
– Limited in some advanced flow features
– Lack of email tagging capability
– Additional cost to add more team members
5. Lemlist is a well-known email tool that enables you to personalize various elements in your cold emails and other outreach methods.
Key Features:
– Email personalization with customized variables and personalized images
– Automated follow-ups and personalized email sequences
– Custom tracking domains to enhance email deliverability
Pros:
– User-friendly campaign building tools
– Responsive support team
– Effective warming-up tool
– Extensive library of email templates
Cons:
– Time-consuming process to create personalized email templates
– Higher pricing compared to other platforms
– Limited capabilities for complex campaign automation
Conclusion
In summary, although cold email marketing may not be the most widely embraced approach, it still holds promise as an effective lead generation tool when executed properly. Crafting concise yet compelling emails that prompt reader engagement is a major hurdle. Targeting the appropriate audience, defining the message, and selecting the appropriate cold email tool are all critical factors for success.
We trust that you have found this article valuable, and we encourage you to maintain a balance of persistence and respect for recipients’ preferences, ensuring their right to opt-out and unsubscribe is always honored.
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.