Best Practices for Cold Emailing
80% of the professionals prefer to be contacted via email.
Your cold email is the first knock on your prospect’s door – it’s your debut, the chance to make an unforgettable impression. In the sales world, a saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
Did you know cold emails can be remarkably effective if you follow simple cold emailing practices? Studies have shown that well-crafted cold emails can boost response rates and lead to more deal closures (sales).
So, let’s understand the cold email best practices that every salesperson should follow.
#1 Choose a Professional Email Address
When you’re sending cold emails, it’s crucial to use a business-like email address. This helps your message look more trustworthy and dependable. If you have a business domain, consider using an address like ‘[email protected].
We do not recommend using any free email service for cold email outreach. I’m sure that your sales outreach is going to generate revenue, so if you are serious about your business, then take a business domain.
#2 Give more than you ask
Capture your readers’ interest by offering something of value in your emails without asking for anything in return. This could be as simple as sharing valuable tips, showcasing your work samples, or directing them to informative videos or infographics.
Ensure that whatever you offer aligns with your business and your services. By demonstrating how your products or expertise can benefit them, you clarify why they should consider becoming your customers.
#3 Support Your Claim with Data
Back up your claims with evidence when you mention some stats, past performance, or achievements in your emails. This practice is crucial for building trust and showing your professionalism.
For instance, if you’ve worked with an important client on a previous project, include a link to that project to highlight your expertise and talents. Offering proof reinforces the credibility of what you say and gives your readers confidence in your abilities.
#4 Stay persistent.
Track your emails closely. Clients often need multiple reminders before they buy, especially in B2B sales, where you could have multiple decision-makers. So, keep following up and resend to those who haven’t opened.
A study by Belkins found that SDRs who make nine or more contact attempts perform 16% better.
Cold email software such as SmartReach.io can help with this. You don’t have to remember and manually send out follow-ups. The persistence part is taken care of by automation. The follow-ups auto-stop when your prospect or someone from the company responds.
#5 Send to the right person
If you want your emails to be opened, read, and acted upon, you must ensure you’re sending them to the right people. Sending out emails to generic company emails like info@ or contact@, etc., can often lead to bad open rates.
Imagine you are selling HR management software, and your cold email list is filled with “VP – Sales” or “VP – Content Marketing”. What do you think they will do once they get your email? Shazzam!! Straight to spam.
As per research by Belkins, C-suite executives are 23% more likely to open and respond to cold emails than other employees. So, identifying and sending cold emails to the right decision-maker would increase the likelihood of receiving a reply.
To get this process right, use a prospecting tool that provides verified business email addresses. You can try ProspectDaddy, a LinkedIn email finder tool that provides the email addresses of all your prospects available on LinkedIn.
#6 Personalize your Cold Email
Personalization can significantly increase your chances of engaging with prospects.
Misconception – Personalisation is using “First_Name” in email and subject line.
Personalization in cold email is to use specific details about the prospect or their company to make your email more relevant and engaging. It shows you’ve researched and not just sent out a generic mass email.
Example
Hi {{Name}},
With {{prospect’s_company_name}}’s remarkable revenue achievement of ${{revenue}} million last year, it’s evident that the targets for this year will be even more ambitious. So, are you looking at alternate ways to hit those sales quotas?
Show prospects that you understand their problems and that your product or service can help them solve them. For example, if you’re selling a marketing automation platform, you could talk about the prospects’s recent challenge with generating qualified leads.
SmartReach.io can help hyper-personalize your emails with the help of merge tags.
#7 Understand your Audience
When plotting out your cold email outreach strategy, consider what your business does best and who could benefit the most. This simple practice can greatly affect your cold email response rates.
For example, you sell mobile app development services. You’d want to target businesses that don’t have a mobile app. Your message will likely resonate more with them than with people who recently updated their apps on Google Playstore.
#8 Eye-catching Subject Line
Whether your email will be opened or not depends on the subject line. A personalized subject line can improve your email open rate by around 30%.
Asking questions in the subject line indicates your email’s purpose and increases the chances of grabbing your prospect’s attention.
Check out our section on the cold email subject lines
#9 Use the Right Tone
Adjusting your tone while getting in touch with the professionals is essential. Try to add a touch of formality while keeping the conversation friendly. You don’t have to use fancy or jazzy words to sound smart; just be respectful and keep it natural.
It is also good to proofread your email before hitting the send button.
#10 Keep it Short
Long, wordy, cold emails are not a great idea.
Your prospects receive tons of emails daily; to grab their attention and avoid the spam folder, keep your emails short and clear. Start by stating your purpose right away. Include only the essential information so they can quickly understand your offer.
#11 Clear Call-to-Action
A single call to action in your email would reduce the ambiguity and make it easier for the prospect to understand your intent.
You can also personalize your call-to-action to make your communication more relevant and engaging. Hubspot says personalized call-to-action can perform 202% better than the basic CTAs.
Some examples of personalized call-to-action are
“Let’s discuss strategies for your industry. Can we schedule a call?”
“Interested in [Topic]? Let’s chat about it.”
“Meet up at [Event/Conference]?”
#12 Include Email Signature
Your email signature is like your business card. It is essential to let your prospects know who you are and what your business is about.
A basic email signature should include your name, job title, company name, website address, and social media profiles. Neglecting your email signature can harm your credibility and make you seem less professional.
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You can get detailed information on email signatures on our blog.
While I have stated that you should have a professional email signature, many industry experts are convinced that a simple text signature that seems like its manually typed gets a much better response rate. Something like
Regards
Chris
@Smartreach
#13 Proofread your Email and make it Sound Professional
While templates can help save time, it is also important not to rely on them entirely. This would make your email sound robotic and generic. Make sure that your email sounds like you have written to your prospects. Adjust the language and tone to match your style and prospect’s needs.
Do not send the email right after finishing it. Mistakes like typos or leaving someone else’s name in the email can cause you a potential prospect. So take a break, return to proofread your email, and make it error-free before sending it.
#14 Avoid Focusing on Your Needs
Prospects are mainly interested in knowing how your product can benefit them. If you make the email all about you and your product, the prospects might not find value.
It is advisable to avoid bragging about your product and instead focus on the solution that your product can offer.
Try drafting an email without the use of “I”, “We”, and “Our”. This will make a big difference in writing emails about the prospect.
#15 Focus on a Single Topic of Discussion
Focusing on a single topic gives clarity to your prospects. They understand why you are reaching out and what is expected from them.
If you are covering multiple topics in a single email, then it can overwhelm your prospects.
#16 Avoid Long Paragraphs
It is always a good idea to make your text easy to read and avoid making it long and bulking.
Having more white space between sentences makes it easy on the eyes of your prospects. You can also use visual content like pictures, gifs, or short videos to help explain your message. Visuals can sometimes convey information, which would be difficult via plain text.
However, using visuals regularly or in your initial cold email is not advisable. It is essential to strike a balance between visual and text content. If your email has too many visuals, it has a higher chance of ending up in the spam folder.
#17 Do not use attachments
An attachment might seem a good way to provide more information, but it might irritate your prospect.
A professional receives around 80 emails daily, so that he might prefer something quick and straightforward. Also, attachments can increase the chances of your email landing in the spam folder.
Instead, include links in your email directing the prospect to specific web pages to find more information about your product and services.
#18 Send an email at the right time
Timing is very crucial when it comes to sending cold emails. It ensures that your messages are relevant and on time for your prospects.
Timing impacts email engagement, response rates, and the avoidance of inbox congestion during peak hours. It’s essential when dealing with a global audience across different time zones.
It’s worth highlighting that, as per HubSpot, 47.9% observed the highest levels of engagement occurring between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.
