Cold emails are very useful for businesses because they help reach out to an audience that is unfamiliar with your brand. They help increase brand exposure and sometimes, they can convince a recipient to buy your services or to accept your proposal. Besides, cold emails are less intrusive than cold calls
However, getting your cold emails read is a challenging task. An average office worker receives as many as 121 emails every day. Your email must attract attention and give your audience a reason to open it. They know nothing about your brand and the things that you offer. Moreover, they may think that it’s just another email from scammers. Therefore, you should know how to communicate your message in the right way and choose the right approach.
Identify your prospects
The most important thing about cold emails is that you should reach out to people who can actually benefit from your products or services. You should clearly understand who your ideal prospects are, what they are interested in, where they live, etc. Obviously, you should also consider the demographic details. Not only will this step help you plan the content of your emails, but it will also help you choose the appropriate tone and style.
Once you’ve determined your audience, decide what person you should contact. When sending your emails to organizations, try to find a person who can make a purchasing decision. If you cannot contact them, at least connect with someone who can introduce you to the decision-maker.
Determine the needs of your prospects
Now that you know who to contact, think of what they care about and how you can help them solve their problem. For example, if your company works in the cybersecurity industry, you should address common security problems that businesses face and explain how you can prevent these threats. Your goal is to determine pain points and to persuade your audience that you offer a good solution.
Write a catchy subject line
According to statistics, 35% of recipients decide whether or not they want to open an email based on the subject line alone. Therefore, you should make sure that your subject lines are concise and clear. Don’t even think about sending an email with no subject because this email will end up straight in the spam folder.
Your subject line should explain exactly what your email is about. Besides, the subject line must talk about the needs of your audience. They should immediately understand why your email is valuable and why they should open it.
Address the needs of your audience in the first line
The very first line of your email is extremely important because it determines your audience’s first impression. A strong first line will make them want to learn more. We recommend that you get straight to the point, talking about the needs of your prospects. Help them better understand their needs and explain how you can help them.
Make an actionable and easy request
The main purpose of your cold email is to generate as many conversions as possible, getting a response or making a sale. Your audience must clearly understand why you’re reaching out to them and what you’re asking. They don’t want to waste their time trying to figure out why you’ve sent an email to them.
For example, if your goal is to discuss a topic with your recipient, make sure to suggest a date and time. Ask them whether they’re available at that time so that all they will need to do is check their calendar instead of looking for a potential time to meet with you.
You only need one call to action
Given that a cold email is your first contact with a person, you shouldn’t overwhelm them with multiple requests and complex instructions. We suggest that you clearly indicate what exactly they should do. Do you want them to sign up for a demo version of your product? Should they visit your website, schedule a phone call, or make a purchase? Even if you want them to go through several steps, you should only mention the first step.
Make your email stand out
Given that people receive and send as many as 269 billion emails every day, it’s especially important to make your email unique. According to statistics, 92% of consumers prefer a storytelling approach in advertisements. Even if you don’t see your cold emails as ads, they actually are ads in many ways, so you will certainly benefit from storytelling.
Tell your audience a story about the origin of your brand or share your vision, explaining your brand’s values. Your story may also highlight things that you and your audience have in common. The main thing is not to make your story too long. A couple of sentences are quite enough.
Follow up
Many people may be interested in your offer but some of them may just forget to respond. Send a reminder in about a week but don’t be intrusive: if you haven’t heard back after the second or third attempt, your recipient is probably not interested.
Wrapping Up
Although cold emails are a very useful means of marketing, making people read them may turn out to be a challenging task. Your prospects receive hundreds of emails all the time so it’s important to make your emails straightforward, unique, and valuable. You should address your prospects’ needs and clearly indicate the purpose of your emails. Write catchy subject lines and don’t overwhelm your recipients with more than one call to action. Follow our tips, use apps from the list above, and the effectiveness of your cold emails will increase in no time.