Getting your prospects to engage with your cold email can be tough. And considering the fact that a normal office worker receives an average of more than 121 emails per day, it’s no wonder that it is a tough task to get your prospects responds to your cold emails.
What is a cold email?
Basically, a cold email is the type of email that is sent to prospects that did not have any prior relationship with you.
So, whenever you send an email to someone you already don’t know for a specific reason is cold emailing. Successful cold emails use personalized emails to connect with prospects, with whom you had no prior relationship.
Whenever you send a cold email to your prospects the best way to consider and respect your prospect’s point of view is by thinking of it as when you go to someone else house that you don’t know. So, how you will knock on the door or ring a bell then introduce yourself and then telling the reason for your arrival. That’s pretty much, as after that the host will decide how to respond to you. They could just kick you out of their house (like deleting your email), or politely ask you to leave their house (like when they unsubscribe), or the worst if they call the authorities and report you (like marking an email as spam).
And always remember A/B testing works. So, never go with gut instincts or any wild guesses. Whenever you have to decide between any two aspects of your email, just do an A/B test. Either you want to choose from two subject lines, or any personalization technique, or the position of your call-to-action (CTA), or even just the color of your CTA button, always test them before you actually decide which one to chose.
Now, go through each step to learn how to write cold emails the right way;
Change the “from” line:
It still comes as a surprise to many marketers that changing the “from” line affects the success of email campaigns. And as a result, many marketers just leave their “from” line after they have created it for the first time using a new email address.
The “from” line is an important part of your cold email as your email body or your email signature as it plays a very critical role. It informs the email recipients who exactly sent the email. Your “from” line don’t just affect your first impression but it also affects the decision of email recipients whether to open the email or not.
Remember that your prospects don’t know you just yet. A cold email is “cold” because you send it to the people who don’t know you or your company. Most likely they have never heard you or your company before and don’t expect to receive an email from you.
As you are just another stranger to them, there is a very high chance that they are going to be suspicious of your email. One of the first few things that an email recipient notices in your email is your “from” line, you could either earn their trust or scare them away. Failing to build a good first
impression could also result in your email recipients to delete your email without even opening it first. That’s why you should review your “from” line before you create your cold email campaign.
A “from” line is something that can be easily changed. You can edit it whenever you want. You can also implement A/B testing to check which “from” line performs better and then use it in your next cold email campaign.
There are many types of “from” line. Choose the one that suits you better;
- First name (Jennifer)
- First name and Last name (Jennifer Reith)
- First name and Last name, Job Title (Jennifer Reith, Director of Sales)
- First name and Company name (Jennifer at Example.com)
- First name + Last name + Company name (Jennifer Reith at Example.com)
The correct “from” line of your cold email campaign depends highly on the context of your email, your prospects, and the goal you want to achieve from your campaign. The goal of your cold email campaign could be influencer outreach, sales outreach, etc.
There are few rules when for writing the best “from” line that could help you to achieve your goal and matches to the context of your cold email, and at the same time, it fits with your prospects.
Ensure you follow the following rules while writing or changing the “from” line of your email;
(H3)Always be consistent
Do not diverge your tone and style of your email signature from the rest of your cold email. Whenever you are using an informal tone in your cold email, a shorter email signature could be better. Adding just your first name and your company name will do the job.
Always consider your prospect’s perspective
What do you want to see in your inbox if you were one of your prospects? What’s your prospect’s average standard and style of communication? You can also use Emoji in your “from” line.
Write your own “from” line
Write your own unique “from” line that resonates with your prospects expectation. Just think about it. You are the only one who understands and knows about your prospects and at the same time truly understand what your prospects aspect to see in your cold email.
With whom your prospects would like to talk to
Figure out with whom your prospects will be excited to talk to. Use this information to construct the perfect “from” line of your cold email campaign.
The perfect subject line
A subject line acts as a key that opens the door to your email. And since, your first impression as a sender is built in the eyes of your prospects based on your subject line. And if you want your prospects to open your email, you have to write a good subject line that is intriguing and informative.
On the other hand, a bad subject line could turn your prospects to just ignore your email, delete your email without opening, or even worse, mark your email as spam that will cause a serious problem with your email deliverability. You don’t want that, right?
Before we go any further, you should ask yourself a few questions and then answer them to ensure you get it right. Who are your prospects? What kind of solution they currently want? Whom would they be encouraged to talk to? How can you help them once they open your email?
The best way to answer all these questions and any other questions you may have is by putting yourself in your prospect shoes. Change the entire perspective, and be them.
Now, you can avoid any pitfalls by ensuring the following in your subject line;
Personalize it
The subject line is no place to promote yourself, instead, it is the place to promote the content and value inside the email. The subject line is also a great place to prove to your prospects that you have carefully planned to reach them and that you care about their responses and at the same time distant yourself from the practices of a spammer.
Respect your prospect’s point of view
The best way to consider your prospect’s point of view is by putting your self in their shoes. And then think about the benefit your subject line promises to your prospects. What’s inside your email for them when they open your email? Does your subject line meets their needs or appeal to their curiosity. Basically, make the entire subject line about your prospects and not you.
Act like a human
Since you are writing your email to be read by living and breathing human being, so you should never write your subject lines like a bot. Your subject line should be casual, informative, and friendly. And you should never try to be salesy on your subject line.
Pin it to your entire email
Irrespective to the goal of your email, whatever you write as your subject line, ensure it connects with your entire email.
It will not just increase your engagement rates but also help you to build trust and meaningful relationship with your prospects.
Trigger their curiosity
Don’t spill your bean in the subject line. Trigger their curiosity or just Pique them. Whatever helps you to catch their attention, and then engage them using a problem they may have or some topic they strongly care about. Using a little bit of flattery in your subject line is also a good idea.
Introduce yourself
A company or even a person can be perceived differently by different people. So, don’t just write a general introduction as you have mentioned on your website or social channels. Write a smart introduction that is intended just for these prospects.
According to a study by Microsoft, the average attention span of a normal human is eight seconds.
So, when a prospect reads your subject line and actually opens your email, you have a very small window to introduce yourself and then get your prospect to read the body of your email and then move them towards your call-to-action (CTA).
Many marketers tend to introduce their company and what does it do. It seems like a rational thing to do. But is it? The answer is No!
These kinds of introduction work better on your website or social channels as the people reading your introduction here are coming to you, then decided to read your introduction and the important part is that they may have more time. Basically, it’s their choice.
A smart introduction should not be longer than a few sentences (2 or 3). You are not supposed to introduce your company on every aspect. Instead, include the only aspects of your company that are relevant to these prospects. So, it’s easier for your recipients to decide in a short time whether your email or your company is of any use to them. And when they find relevancy form your introduction they could go on to read the body of your email. Even slight flattery could get the job done. Just don’t push it too much.
You can also use the introduction part to show your prospects that you actually care. You can ask about their problems (that you can solve) to make your introduction even more relevant and useful. And if you already know the problems that your prospects are facing then just include them in your introduction.
You can also leverage from this opportunity to show your prospects that you decided to reach out to them exactly.
Provide value to your prospects
This is the part where you actually tell your prospects what you want them to do, commonly known as the sales pitch.
Your company generic sales pitch won’t get you far. Including the benefits, so your prospects can have a clear idea about what you are selling and how it can benefit them. Well, this is not the best approach when you are writing a cold email.
You have to be subtle with you pitch, whenever you are writing a B2B sales email. Remember, you are not writing your cold email to close more sales. Instead, you are writing your cold emails to start a meaningful dialogue with your potential buyer. And that’s what works in B2B cold emails.
When you include a standard sales pitch in your cold email, the most common responses you will receive is “good for you” or something similar. Basically, they won’t care, as you are leaving them cold, just as you found them. They won’t care about you or your company as they still don’t know you.
The best course of action, when writing cold emails is to put your prospects in the center of your pitch. Try to add as much value as you can. Figure out the problems they may be facing and then tell them how you can resolve them. To make your pitch more appealing, use storytelling to engage them while telling them how you can resolve them. Make them believe that you are here to help them.
Talk about the benefits and not about the features. You can talk about the features on your product page or your landing page. In your cold email, highlight the benefits your prospects may get from it. Be specific; don’t use vague benefits as it may leave them confused failing take any action.
Another important part is to seamlessly link to the previous aspect of your cold email. And when you write your next cold emails to these prospects then resume the conversation from where you left off in your last cold email.
Finish with a call-to-action
Now is the time to finish your cold email with a CTA that could persuade your prospects in taking the desired action that you want from your cold email.
It could be scheduling a quick demo, or asking for feedback, or to check out your product page, etc. Basically, your CTA should describe the desired action that you actually want your prospects to take. Keep your CTA clear, simple, and to the point.
To ensure your prospect take the desired action, your CTA should be;
Express your purpose: Your CTA should clearly describe the goal of your cold email in as short as possible. To see it from a different angle, your CTA should clearly tell your prospects what you actually want them to do.
Short and to the point: Your CTA should not use more than a sentence. Be very clear and avoid any vague language.
Never ask for too much. Requesting your prospects for a simple action or a quick response works well instead of asking your prospects for a 30-minute call.
Asking your prospects for 30 minutes of their time in your first cold email is just too much. If you want your prospects to have a long meeting with you or talk to you over the phone for hours then you should not make these requests in your first cold email. You can make these requests to your prospects when they have engaged with your first cold email.
Make your signature shine
Your email signature is an integral part of your email and hence should never be ignored. Your email signature should tell your prospects about you and your company and most importantly where they can find more information about you and your company.
Your email signature can help you to keep your email body short and easily understandable. Use the following tips to create or modify your email signature;
Make it trustworthy
Writing just your name or job title just won’t cut it. Giving very little or no information about where to find more information about you and your company will definitely decrease the chance of response from your prospects.
Add only important information
Remove any information that does not add any value and is just taking space. Any information that does not help you to make your case is not relevant and should be removed from your cold email. In some case adding a phone number to your email signature is critical while in other cases it may be totally irrelevant and hence unnecessary. So, just remove everything that is not useful for your cold email.
Whenever you use HTML, ensure its clean
Complex HTML signatures may affect your email deliverability. When your email signature has a lot of HTML, your text-to-HTML ratio will be affected. And when text-to-HTML ratio decreases, it may reduce your email deliverability rate.
If you don’t know how to check your email signature for HTML elements, then you should use a simple email signature instead.
Short, simple, and personalized cold email campaigns created for a specific group of prospects is a great way to start a dialogue with someone you already don’t know to build new relationships and acquire new sales leads.
