Cold emailing is a sales technique that is all too often underestimated or botched, which ultimately earns it a very bad reputation. There's even the possibility a cold email will be categorised as spam. But when used properly, it can really give you good results.
Did you know that 80% of prospects prefer to be contacted by email rather than by telephone? A recent study by HubSpot in partnership with Raingroup confirms that email is a channel you can still rely on. It's time to reconsider good old cold emailing.
It's essential to integrate email into your multi-channel prospecting strategy because it can be a powerful ally when it comes to converting a contact into a prospect.
Let's take a closer look at what exactly cold emailing is and how to write the perfect cold email.
What is cold emailing?
Cold email is an email that serves as a first touchpoint with your target. In other words, it's an email sent without any prior exchange or knowledge on the part of the recipient.
Most of the time, companies' objective with this type of email is to pave the way towards a sale or collaboration opportunity with another company.
An optimised cold email, sent at the right time, can help you establish a relationship with your future customer and bring them into the sales funnel. Still not sure what exactly a cold email is? Take a look at your inbox. You've almost certainly received at least one such e-mail.
Why cold emailing?
There are many arguments in favour of cold email campaigns. Among them, we'll highlight the four most common reasons.
Networking
Every good sales agent knows how important it is to make contacts at the various events they attend, such as conventions and trade shows. After all, these contacts may later become future customers of your company. However, a seasoned salesperson is also aware that it's not always possible to meet a potential buyer in person. That's where cold email comes in.
Cold email helps you to contact more members of your target audience than you could in person. If you're ready to expand your reach, it's time to run a cold email campaign. In these emails, you briefly introduce yourself, your role in your company, and the products or services you can offer. Don't underestimate the power of email networking, and don't get discouraged if you receive no response after a first contact.
Persistence pays off and can go a long way to expanding your network of contacts.
Lead generation
It's been proven that personalising emails helps to improve their open rate. You can't talk about email networking without linking it to the possibility that this first contact will lead to a future sale. Sending cold emails is also the first step in a lead generation strategy.
One of the greatest competitive advantages of the email lead generation strategy is the ability to personalise email content to the extreme. In the B2B field, this enables you to reach potential customers and present your product or service, explaining how it can help them solve any business needs they may have.
Brand awareness
You've probably already heard of "brand awareness." Brand awareness (or brand discovery by contacts) is making people, especially prospects, aware of your brand, what it offers, and what it stands for. Brand awareness can be built through various communication and marketing actions, including cold emails.
As they are cold emails, they are generally addressed to people who have not been in contact with your company before. Therefore, to people who may not yet be familiar with your brand. As a result, the email in question can be used to present the company and the value of the products or services you offer.
Scalability
E-mail is a scalable communication channel. In other words, you can send a considerable number of emails at the same time, and the amount of work you put in won't differ significantly if you only send a few.
What's more, with sales prospecting tools such as Cadence by Ringover, you can also measure the success of these email campaigns. If you're able to understand performance, you'll be able to adapt them as needed. Another great advantage is that you can schedule the sending of these emails, automate the email campaign, and personalise each one, thanks to the integration with your contact database that allows you to create tags.
Cold emailing examples
The success of your email campaign depends on the way you write your email. That's why there are a few important points to bear in mind when drafting your email.
Write an engaging email subject
The email's subject is the decisive factor in attracting the recipient's attention, leading them either to open it or send it straight to the garbage can. It's the first thing the contact reads, so it needs to be strategically written and sufficiently attractive.
A good example of an attractive email subject line is one that includes the recipient's name, like the following: "{First name}, your challenge in {industry}." This personalization prevents the recipient from thinking it's just a promotional email, which arouses their curiosity and encourages them to open it.
Keep email content concise
It's no secret human attention spans are shrinking rapidly because the development of technology has altered our day-to-day life. Some research suggests the human attention span is now shorter than that of a goldfish. So as a result, you should keep the body of your message as short as possible.
The content of an email usually consists of three sections:
- Introduction: Introduce yourself and your company.
- Objective: Explain why you're sending the email. You can introduce your products and explain how they can add value to the company.
- Conclusion: Always say goodbye in such a way the contact can contact you again or easily continue the conversation.
These three sections will make your email an engaging and concise message, preventing the recipient from losing interest halfway through.
Here's an example:
Hello Julian,
My name is Brad and I work at XXX. I know you're looking for a {type of solution you sell} that connects to your systems to better {problem of the prospect}. XXX can offer you that.
I'd like to offer you a free, no-obligation demonstration. How about a quick update this week?
Best regards and see you soon,
Brad
Personalise your emails
As we've already mentioned, it's very important to personalise your emails in order to establish a closer link with the prospect. After all, when, in this case, "Julian" receives an e-mail, he'll appreciate seeing his name in the subject line. And if the email body contains more personalization with specific information to his profile and work, even better!
Follow-up
Let's face it. It's rarely possible to close a sale with just one email. Each of your prospects consumes a considerable volume of information in a single day, whether by email, phone or, now, social media. Generally speaking, they're overstimulated.
That's why it's important to follow up so the prospect has a higher chance to retain the information, or at least the name of your company. Thanks to the sales tools on the market, it's possible to automate cold emailing campaigns that include a first cold email and follow-up messages.
But when you launch your cold email campaign, be sure there is an option to unsubscribe to your email list. If you omit it, you would be in violation of guidelines established by the FTC and could face consequences.
Choose the right timing
That old saying “timing is everything” holds true when it comes to your cold emailing campaign. Countless studies show sending an email on a Sunday morning can result in discomfort or even dissatisfaction. Many people consider this personal time which shouldn't be interrupted by professional emails.
Other studies confirm the best time to send e-mails is around 10 a.m., after people have had their coffee and are ready to begin reading their emails. So sending an email on a weekday at this time could increase the likelihood of it being opened.
As for the best days to send an email, there's an emerging trend. Tuesdays and Thursdays are generally the days when you get the most responses.
If you really want to start creating sales opportunities with cold email campaigns and optimise your prospecting emails, start your free trial with Ringover now or try out the new sales prospecting tool Cadence by Ringover.
Cold Emailing FAQ
What is cold email marketing?
Cold emailing is a marketing or sales strategy that uses email as a communication channel between business and prospects. Through a series of automated emails, the marketing or sales teams can build brand awareness and capture the attention of the desired target audience, leading to the prospect entering the sales funnel.
How do I cold email?
There are a number of guidelines to follow for successful cold emailing:
- A short, attractive subject line.
- Structure email content correctly.
- Content should be clear and not too long.
- Personalise the content.
- Include a call to action.
The tone should be friendly and dynamic. Formalities are fine, but in some cases they're boring.
How to write a catchy cold email?
Here are a few more recommendations to help you write the perfect cold email:
- Use a "clean" email address that doesn't result in the messages landing in the spam folder. Avoid addresses that include the words "contact,” “info,” or “no-reply."
- Be consistent with your brand image and humanise the content. It's important to avoid "functional" emails.
- Seek conversion without being intrusive. Remain concise and only include one call to action to optimise the chances the prospect will convert.
