Cold emailing can be a powerful tool for reaching out to new prospects and building relationships in business. But with so many emails being sent every day, it can be difficult to stand out and get your message noticed. That's why it is essential to approach cold emailing with a strategy that maximizes your chances of success.
To help you do that, we have compiled the top ten cold email best practices. Whether you're seeking new customers, investors, partners, or simply looking to network, these guidelines will help you craft effective, compelling messages that get results.
Ten Cold Email Best Practices
Make the most of your cold emailing efforts with these ten best practices. From personalizing your message to timing it right, these guidelines will help you effectively reach out to potential leads and achieve your desired outcomes.
1. Keep it short and sweet
Ask any expert, and they will tell you to keep your cold email under five sentences. Why? Because people don't like reading long emails, especially from a stranger. A short and concise email is more likely to be read and remembered.
According to Boomerang, the sweet spot for email length is somewhere between 50 to 125 words. But how do you articulate everything you need to say in such a short email? This is where your creativity comes in.
2. Know your prospects
Understanding the recipient's background, job role, and interests will help you tailor your message to their specific needs and make it more relevant to them. This will increase the chances of them responding positively to your email.
Knowing the recipient's name and using it in your email can make the message more personal and help establish a connection. Personalizing the email can also increase your email's open rate. In fact, email campaigns with advanced personalization get a 17% response rate in contrast to the 7% non-personalized emails get.
3. Validate yourself
Although personalized emails get a higher response rate, you shouldn't just send an email with someone's name on it. If a total stranger emails you addressing you by name, wouldn't you think it is a bit creepy and suspicious?
You need to establish right away that they can trust you. Knowing someone in common is the best social proof. Having a mutual friend no longer makes you a stranger. So if you have a direct connection, mention them. If not, don't worry. You can look for other ways to establish your credibility.
For example, if you have any authority or social status relevant to this person, let them know right away. This can make your email more convincing and increase the chances of your recipient considering your offer. But don't overdo it. A line or two should be enough.
4. Offer value
Offering value can help build interest and engage the recipient, making them more likely to consider your offer. This can be done by providing information, resources, or solutions that are relevant and valuable to their needs.
Also, make sure that your email is logical. It has to make sense from the start until the end. If your email is reasonable, the recipient will also see you as a reasonable person. Let them know immediately what you have to offer, how it can help them, and what the next step is. Make sure every part of the email is logically connected to each other.
5. Shift the focus from yourself
When sending a cold email, instinct tells you to talk about yourself and your achievements. After all, how will you sell yourself if you don't let them know about you? Well, as it turns out, people are less likely to listen to people who only talk about themselves.
When your cold email focuses solely on you, it appears self-centered. Nobody wants to hear a stranger go on and on about their achievements. Instead of talking about yourself, talk about the recipient's business, accomplishments, and how you can help them achieve more success.
6. Do not sell
Cold emails aren't meant for selling. Many have tried and failed. Why? Because nobody wants to read an email from a stranger selling them products from a brand they don't know. Imagine receiving an email you didn't ask for from someone you don't know selling you something. How would you feel?
That is why it is important to build a connection first before making a sales pitch. While cold emails aren't the best way to sell a product or service, they are a useful tool for generating leads. Use that to your advantage.
7. Don't sound like a robot
It's no secret that using templates can help you save time and effort. But it can also make you sound like a robot. So, it would be better if you avoid using them. Or, if you edit critical information to make your email sound more personalized.
When your cold email is written in a human voice, it can demonstrate authenticity and sincerity. This helps increase the recipient's trust in your abilities and services, making them more likely to consider your offer.
8. Send your cold emails at the right time
Sending your cold email at the right time helps ensure the recipient is able to focus on your message. This helps increase the chances of them taking the desired action.
According to WordStream, the best days to send emails are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Of course, many marketers may have already read this data. So, you'll be facing a lot of competition. To beat the rush, try something different.
Although Mondays and Fridays aren't the best days to send emails, who knows? They might actually work for you. Do your own research and experiment.
9. Have a follow-up plan
One message is usually not enough; it could get lost or overlooked. Some may have simply forgotten to reply, while others would purposely not reply to the first email to check your sincerity and tenacity.
Following up helps remind them about your emails. It demonstrates that you are serious about the opportunity. This shows your persistence in building a relationship with them. This way, the recipient is more likely to trust and value the communication.
10. Put yourself in your prospect's shoes
Putting yourself in the recipient's shoes will help you better understand their perspective and the challenges they face. This can help you craft a message that addresses their specific needs and provides real value.
It will also help if you take a moment and check if you would respond to your own email. This is a very simple yet effective test every marketer running a cold email campaign should do. Read it out loud. If it sounds too robotic or salesy, change it.
Best Uses for Cold Email
So now you know the best practices for crafting a compelling cold email. But before you start crafting your messaging, you need to know when and where you can use it first. Here are some of the best uses for cold emails.
Lead Generation
Lead generation is the process of identifying and nurturing prospects to create an opportunity for a sale or future business relationship. It is a critical component of any successful sales and marketing strategy, as it helps you grow your customer base and increase your revenue.
Cold emailing is a cost-effective and efficient way to generate leads, allowing businesses to reach a large audience of potential customers directly and quickly. By personalizing your message to the recipient's needs and interests, you can increase the likelihood of your message being well received. Additionally, cold email campaigns can be easily measured and optimized, allowing you to refine your message and improve its effectiveness over time.
To successfully generate leads through cold emailing, you must take care to avoid common mistakes such as being too salesy or impersonal, sending emails at the wrong time, or using a generic, mass-mailing approach. Instead, you should focus on providing value to the recipient, being personalized, and building trust with the recipient.
Link Building
Link building is the process of getting links to your website from other websites. This is an important factor in search engine optimization (SEO), as it helps search engines understand the relevance and authority of a webpage.
Cold emailing can be a valuable tool in reaching out to relevant websites and offering them value in exchange for a backlink. For example, you could offer to write a guest post on the recipient's website or share their content on social media in exchange for a link back to your own site.
To maximize the chances of success, you should focus on building relationships with the recipients and offering relevant and meaningful value to them. This might involve demonstrating your expertise in a particular area, offering insights and information, or providing resources they can use.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a type of digital marketing that involves collaborating with people with a strong reputation in a particular industry or a large following on social media. The goal is to leverage their reach and influence to promote a brand or product.
When reaching out to influencers, you first need to understand their niche, their audience, and what content they typically produce. Show how your product or brand aligns with their values and interests. Emphasize the benefits of working together.
Once you've established a relationship with an influencer, you can work together to create a mutually beneficial campaign. For example, you can offer exclusive content, products, or compensation for their efforts. The key is to build a relationship based on trust, communication, and mutual benefit.
Seeking Investors
Not a lot of cold emails get a reply from potential investors. But there have also been some impressive success stories. So, it is still worth giving it a shot. Choose investors who align with your goals and values and have a history of investing in businesses like yours.
When reaching out, introduce yourself and your business. Show the value you offer, highlighting your unique selling points, market potential, and why your business is a good investment opportunity. Make your email short, to the point, and easy to understand.
Public Relations
Cold emailing can be an effective tool for generating publicity for individuals and businesses. Reaching out to journalists, bloggers, and other media members can help you share your story and promote your products or services. This type of outreach can be especially effective for promoting new products, announcing major milestones, or highlighting industry trends and insights.
Additionally, cold emailing can also help establish media relationships, which can be a valuable asset for future publicity efforts. When crafting cold emails for publicity purposes, it is vital to ensure the message is clear, concise, and tailored to the recipient's interests.
This includes providing relevant and compelling information, such as news hooks, data, or expert quotes, and highlighting the story's unique angle or value proposition. It can also be helpful to include social proof, such as media coverage from other outlets, to demonstrate the story's credibility and importance.
Market Research
Cold emailing can also be used for market research, as it allows businesses to gather data and insights from potential customers and industry experts. This type of outreach can be used to gauge interest in a new product or service, assess the competitive landscape, or identify trends and challenges within the industry.
When conducting market research through cold emailing, it is important to craft a clear and compelling message that outlines the purpose of the research and the benefits of participating. This may include offering incentives, such as discounts, early access, or entry into a raffle to encourage people to join. It is also important to make the survey or questionnaire as concise and user-friendly as possible to maximize response rates. This also ensures that the data collected is accurate and useful.
Conclusion
Effective cold emailing requires a well-thought-out strategy and adherence to best practices. By following the ten guidelines outlined in this article, you can make the most out of every cold email you send and take your outreach efforts to the next level. Whether it's generating leads, seeking partnerships, or conducting market research, a well-executed cold email campaign can significantly impact your success.
