Writing effective cold emails is a challenge because you have no prior relationship to your target audience. Marketers get frustrated with this tactic, because feedback is nearly non-existent and the messages are often lost in the spam folder. On average, you can expect about 20 to 25% of your prospects to open your message — if they’re personalized, relevant and timely. However, without human touch, Mailchimp has found that open rates dwindle down to 1 to 5%. By ditching the concept of a one-size-fits-all template and taking a more genuine approach to email writing, you’re far more likely to see better results.
Before you start writing to prospective customers, let’s discuss how cold emails are unique and what separates the good from the bad.
What Is a Cold Email?
Here’s a quick definition: A cold email is an initial form of contact sent to someone for a particular purpose. If that definition seems broad to you, it is. Cold emails aren’t just for salespeople. They’re used by anyone who needs something from someone they don’t know very well or at all. For instance, job seekers use cold emails to HR managers to ask about potential opportunities. Generally, cold emails propose an agreement that will be mutually beneficial to the sender and receiver.
There is always an element of uncertainty when sending cold emails. Many recipients are unwilling to open messages from people they don’t know. At other times, you may not have all the information you need about potential recipients to keep them engaged. In other words, there’s always a risk of failure. Personalization, professionalism and a dash of human psychology help reduce that risk.
Types of Cold Emails
Every salesperson has his or her own style when approaching prospects, and the same goes for cold emails. You may want to help prospects warm up to your sales pitch by giving them free content. Alternatively, you may decide to get straight to the point and deliver your sales pitch immediately. Although every salesperson and marketer will have their own unique technique, there are some fairly standardized ways to set up your cold email. Some examples include:
– Solution-based: Using this format, you begin with a description of the prospect’s current problem. After leading with a challenge that’s relevant to the reader, you’ll go on to explain how they can overcome it with none other than your solution.
– Narrative-driven: Rather than opting for your traditional sales pitch, this cold email opens with a relatable story. Whether it’s social proof in the form of a real-life customer or a fictional character, it’s something the reader can grab on to. The climax of this story? How your brand saved the day.
– Complimentary: When was the last time you opened your email and received a compliment? If you can’t remember, the same can likely be said about your prospects. Identify a differentiator about their business and open your email with it. As you structure your message, explain how your solution can help take what makes their brand special a step further.
These are just some examples of how you can structure your cold emails, but don’t worry, we have plenty more where that came from. As we mentioned, the exact type of cold emails you send will depend on your sales cycle, buyer’s journey and personal style. Whether you prefer the slow approach or go straight for the hard pitch, we’ve got four cold email templates to help you get started.
Before you hit the send button, make sure your email subject line is highly engaging. Without a great headline, it doesn’t matter how good your email copy is, because no one will see it.
How To Ensure Your Cold Emails Avoid Spam Filters
If you write great, personalized copy, your messages won’t get blocked by spam filters … right?
Maybe. Modern spam filters are sophisticated, but they’re not intelligent. A spam filter doesn’t understand what your emails say or what they’re trying to convey. Rather, filters use a series of signals to determine how likely your message is to be spam.
Email providers don’t publish their spam signals for obvious reasons, but here are a few signals that we can assume have a significant impact on spam folder algorithms:
– Open rates: If many people open your emails, it signals that your messages are not spam.
– Replies: People don’t generally respond to spam, so replies to your messages are a good signal.
– Junk folders: If people move your messages to the junk folder, it’s bad news. However, if people move your emails out of the junk folder to the inbox, they’ll be less likely to be labeled spam in the future.
– Deletions: If your messages get deleted without getting opened first, it signals they aren’t worth reading.
– Address books: When people add your business email to their address book, it’s a clear signal they want to see your messages.
Many of these signals are out of your hands. Here are few important elements you can control:
– Segment your email list: Sending out one email to thousands of recipients isn’t just bad marketing, it could get your messages flagged as spam. Instead, segment your list by customer type, interests or some other criteria to lower the number of people who receive each unique email.
– Use an active reply-to address: A rookie mistake is sending messages from an email address like “noreply@example.com.” All that does is tell the recipient that your communication is one-way only and you’re not interested in hearing from them. Make sure that someone is actively checking the account for replies.
– Send emails from a business domain: You should never send mass emails from a personal email account. Set up your emails to come from your business domain. For example, “hello@brafton.com.”
Finally, one of the best ways to avoid spam filters – and legal trouble – is to only send marketing messages to people who have agreed to receive them. The CAN-SPAM Act is a law requiring marketers to:
– Accurately identify the person or business who initiated the message.
– Use subject lines that reflect the content of the message.
– Disclose messages as advertising.
– Give recipients a clear and conspicuous explanation of how to opt out of future emails.
Complying with these regulations is an absolute must for all email marketers.
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