Close to 90 percent of marketers believe that email is the best way to generate leads. But does cold email marketing work? I recommend that every business should leverage cold emailing. Why? It presents you with unimaginable untapped conversion potential for your business.
This post will answer the question does cold email marketing work. I will show you how to write cold emails and answer some frequently asked questions about this subject. Grab a seat and let’s dive into the crux of this post.
What is Cold Email Marketing?
Before we go ahead, we should first explain the idea of cold emails. Cold emails are emails that you send without prior permission from the recipient. In some cases, you may never have had any contact or correspondence with the recipient.
Let’s look at it like this, cold emailing and cold calling are the same, except that the former is less intrusive. As a result, cold emailing presents better results and is more suitable for marketing.
Several businesses prefer to use cold emails because it isn’t labor intensive and it covers a lot more ground within a shorter period.
To get your cold email marketing to work, you should invest in growing your email list organically. This is where most businesses have a challenge as they don’t have the patience to wait for this organic growth.
How to do Cold Email Marketing
When you look at it critically, you will realize that cold email marketing isn’t an easy task. One reason for this is that you don’t have any prior communication with the recipients.
Another reason is that you don’t receive non-verbal feedback, which makes modifying your approach a lot more difficult. Because of these reasons, many businesses fail at cold email marketing.
How do you succeed with your cold emails? Here are some important tips to help you out:
Tailor your email to suit the recipient
Most people that send cold emails fail to carry out proper research. They end up concluding that cold emails don’t work because theirs fail. You should carry out sufficient research about your target audience before sending out emails.
Cold emails should be personalized. Let the recipient feel like you are sending the email to them alone. The reason is that people are more likely to respond positively when they feel you chose them uniquely.
Self-validation
Every time you meet someone new or receive an email from an unknown source, something comes to mind. You want to find out who the individual is and why you should give them an audience. It is the same with cold emailing.
You might have done loads of research on the recipient, but they know nothing about you or your brand. As such, you have a responsibility to introduce yourself and show that you are credible and trustworthy.
One of the strongest proofs you can provide is having common connections. Mention such connections in your email and you easily break the ice since you both have a mutual friend.
What if you don’t share a mutual connection? Show off your credibility, social status relevant to the individual or request, or your authority in the industry.
Mention any of these within the first paragraph of your email, the earlier, the better. The idea is to create a path to lead you from “strange” to “familiar” as early as possible in your email.
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Present a solution to the reader’s needs
Validating your brand is great but still doesn’t give the recipient a reason to continue reading your email. They want to know what you are bringing to the table early in your email. What benefit will the reader enjoy?
When presenting your solution, note that people do more to avoid pain than acquire pleasure. Your research should reveal the major pain points of your target audience.
Use your emails to offer relief. Once you can give them the solution they desire, keeping them glued to your email is pretty easy.
Straight to the point
Your cold email helps you solicit help from strangers. After telling them how they’ll benefit from this, they’ll begin to feel good about helping you. But your need to make the process easy for them.
A rule of thumb here is that people are more likely to read shorter emails. As such, you should keep your emails short and straight to the point. A specific call-to-action will attract a higher response rate.
The easiest way to craft short emails is to write how you talk. Imagine if you met the recipient in person, you wouldn’t start pitching them immediately.
The first thing you would do is introduce yourself, compliment them, find a common ground, then place your request. Use this format to write your cold emails to improve the success rate of your campaigns.
Stay away from templates
Using a template is faster and less cumbersome but doesn’t necessarily present the results we desire. There are tons of cold email templates online but most of them are only great for generating mass sales.
The main reason for this is that your cold emails should be personalized, as mentioned earlier. You don’t find scripts for personalized emails, you craft yours.
How to write a Cold Marketing Email
The aim of writing a cold marketing email is for the recipient to read the email. We have already discussed how to do cold email marketing to be successful. This section will show you what your cold marketing email should contain through the steps below:
Step 1: Edit your “from” line
This part of your cold email is as important as the body. Don’t forget that you might have researched the recipient extensively but they don’t know you.
The first thing most recipients look at when they receive cold emails is the sender’s details. Because of this, we suggest that you edit this line properly before sending out your email.
There isn’t a rule of thumb regarding “from” lines, however, here are some suggestions to help you:
- First name alone.
- First and last names.
- First and last names with title.
- First name and company name.
- First and last names with company name.
The one you choose is dependent on your message context. Here are a few tips to help you edit your “from” line:
- Consistency
- Take the perspective of the recipient into consideration.
- Choose a line that matches the reader’s expectations.
- Figure out the person your recipients prefer to meet and become that person.
Step 2: Craft a catchy subject line
Subject lines are like keys that unlock the gates to your emails. A recipient can choose to read or delete your emails because of the subject line. Remember that you have only one chance to make a first impression. Make it count.
Here are a few rules to guide you in crafting catchy subject lines:
- Personalization
- Take the prospect’s view into consideration.
- Intrigue the reader.
- Connect the subject line to the email body.
- Sound human.
Step 3: Write a great introduction
Good job so far, you have persuaded the recipient to open your email, but that’s not all. It is time for you to catch their attention and according to experts, you have only three seconds to achieve this.
Starting a cold email can be difficult because you need to first break the ice and introduce yourself and the company you represent.
Here are a few rules to guide you:
- The introduction shouldn’t exceed three sentences.
- Focus on the recipient instead of you or your company. Catch their attention by focusing on their work, achievements, and expertise. While flattery is great, don’t overdo it.
- Talk about their problems and how to plan to solve them.
Step 4: Propose value
This is the part of your email where you tell the recipient what you need from them. As we mentioned earlier, personalize this part, instead of working with a template. Talk about your offer and how they’ll benefit from it. These rules should help you out:
- Don’t be salesy.
- Discuss benefits rather than features.
- Make it personal.
Step 5: Add a call-to-action
Your job is almost complete. All you need now is a call to action to persuade your recipients to do your bidding. Examples of CTAs include replying to your email, hitting a button, calling your business line, hitting you up on Skype, providing feedback, etc.
How do you ensure that your readers take action? Here are a few tips:
- State the purpose of the email.
- Make it easy.
- Go straight to the point.
Step 6: Polish your signature
This is the final step, and frankly, many people ignore this part. Your signature is an essential aspect of your cold email. Here are a few tips to help you polish your signature:
- Ensure that it makes you and your brand look trustworthy.
- Provide the necessary information alone.
- If you are using HTML, ensure that it is clean.
Are cold emails illegal?
People often consider cold emails as spam even though, technically, they aren’t. Around the mid-1990s, cold emailing earned a bad reputation as the introduction of the internet resulted in companies bombarding people with loads of emails.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) does not restrict cold emails. However, it recommends that cold emails meet certain requirements. Violating these rules may result in the sender paying heavy fines.
Ensure that your cold emails stick to the following rules:
- Ensure that there is an appropriate reason for you to reach out.
- State how you got the email of the recipient.
- State any legal interest in your email copy.
- Provide an easy way to unsubscribe.
- Sanitize your database regularly.
- Practice data security.
- Reply to complaints relating to customer data use.
Does Cold Email Marketing Work?-FAQ
This post has provided loads of information about cold email marketing. However, certain questions have popped up frequently among businesses regarding this subject. To this end, we have put together a list of frequently asked questions and their answers to help you out.
What are the 4 strategies for cold email?
Cold email marketing can be highly profitable if you employ the right strategies. While there are no hard-and-fast rules to cold email marketing, these strategies improve your chances of success:
- Show care.
- Research, research, and research.
- Click-worthy, intriguing subject lines.
- Be mobile-friendly.
Is it OK to cold email?
Cold emails are completely legal as long as you follow the rules. They are different from spam emails. Check above for rules to guide your cold emails.
Is cold email marketing effective?
This is a very common question among businesses because no one wants to invest in a venture that is unprofitable and ineffective. Cold email marketing is highly effective as several reports show that it produces amazing results. However, you need to get your cold emails right for them to be effective.
Does Cold Email Marketing Work?-Conclusion
That’s it for cold email marketing. This post has answered the question, “does cold email marketing work?” Do you have any questions? Feel free to drop them in the comments section.