If you’re starting a small business, you should know that email marketing is one of the best ways to stay in contact with and acquire new customers. As much as 81% of small businesses rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel and there are many different types of emails that marketers send to draw in their lead’s attention.
However, one type of email that doesn’t get as much attention as it should is a cold email. Even though some people consider cold emails to be spam, if you execute a cold email outreach campaign properly, you will be surprised by how effective this marketing channel really is.
Create a new email address and warm it up
Before you can begin your cold email outreach campaign, you will need email marketing software and a new email address, as it wouldn’t be smart to use your regular email address.
Here are a few things you need to keep in mind:
- Use a separate domain. Firstly, you won’t be sure how your prospects will perceive your emails. If you use an email address from your main domain, you might ruin your company’s reputation. Your safest option is to set up a new domain that will be used specifically for outbound campaigns.
- Gain credibility. To ensure your cold email marketing campaign is well-received, you need to prove to recipients that your email address is trustworthy. Add this new email to your LinkedIn profile under alternative email addresses and if you’re using Gmail, add your personal data and a recent photo of yourself.
- Warm up the email address. Even though you will automate your marketing campaign later on, while the email address is still new, warm it up by manually sending emails for a few weeks. This will help the address seem reputable and it will positively impact deliverability. To warm up your email address, you may want to take advantage of different cold email platforms as they often include email warmup tools.
Collect quality leads and segment your list of prospects
The average ROI for cold email campaigns is $38 for every $1 invested, but that kind of ROI is only possible if you send your emails to the right people. Your campaign will never be able to take off unless you take the time to find high-quality leads.
You can look for leads on LinkedIn or other social media or buy leads from other lead generation websites, target your competitors’ prospects, and include the email addresses of people who visit your website but haven’t converted into customers. Or you can automate the entire process by using Cold Email Software. These software will take care of everything including email deliverability.
The next step is to verify your prospect’s email addresses to make sure they’re valid. To do this, you can use an email verifying software or check to see if your email service provider has a built-in email verifying system.
If you send emails to invalid addresses, they will bounce. And if you have a high bounce rate, your emails will likely stop being delivered or start being marked as spam.
Once you’ve collected enough email addresses, you need to segment your list of prospects. Segmentation is the process of dividing your contact list into smaller groups based on their age, gender, geographical location, and the industry they’re in.
When you have a segmented list, it will be easier to create emails with great copy that your recipients will be more interested in.
Know the most important elements of a cold email
Once you’ve warmed up your new email address and segmented your list of prospects, it’s time to start writing your cold email copy. When it comes to composing these emails, you need to follow some strict rules and include the most important elements that will bring you the desired results.
Always personalize
In cold email marketing campaigns, personalization is always your best friend. Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened, as they show that you truly care about the recipient and know them, and haven’t just randomly chosen their email address.
Additionally, if you send the same email copy to multiple addresses, anti-spam systems will probably block your emails.
Keep the email body short
Since you’re emailing someone who’s probably never even heard of you, they don’t want you to bore them with too much detail. Try to keep your emails at around 4-5 sentences.
Skip the long-winded introduction about your company because ultimately, your recipients only care about what you can do for them.
Avoid sounding too pushy and aim to pique their curiosity. Focus on how your products can help them solve an issue or problem they might have and include social proof in your email.
Choose your words
Spam filters are efficient because most spam emails use the same trigger words that are easy to detect. Since you’re new to cold emails, you might make the mistake of including one of these trigger words, so it’s important to know what you have to avoid at all costs:
- Making exaggerated claims. If you have something of value to offer, you don’t have to sound desperate and needy. Avoid making exaggerated claims and using phrases such as 100%, for free, incredible deal, prize, and promise.
- Being too pushy. Pressuring your email recipients with phrases such as click here, don’t hesitate, order now, and sign up free today will get you a one-way ticket to the spam folder.
- Sounding too good to be true. If your offer sounds too good to be true, nobody will believe it’s real. Never use phrases such as double your income, fantastic deal, free offer, or risk-free.
Include a realistic CTA
No marketing email is complete without a CTA, but you have to be realistic about what you’re asking your recipients to do. Don’t be too forward and ask for a meeting or a purchase in the first email. Instead, the CTA in your first cold email should motivate the recipient to respond.
After the initial response, you will be able to build your relationship with that lead further by following up and sending more valuable content.
Optimize your signature
Before anyone can trust you enough to do business with you, they need to know exactly who you are, so your signature needs to include much more than just your full name. Build credibility and establish trust with your signature by providing links to your website, active social media profiles, and all the recent articles you’ve written or awards you’ve received.
Final thoughts
Many marketers are hesitant to start their own cold email campaign due to fears of those emails being labeled as spam. As long as you follow the correct formula and execute your campaign to perfection, it is much less likely that a person or a spam filter will think your email is untrustworthy.
This is a great marketing campaign that can get you a lot of new customers, as long as you aren’t pushy and have patience.
About the author:
Hazel has more than 10 years of experience as a copywriter and content creator. At the moment she’s a Senior CopyWriter at Shortlist.io. Her specialty includes full-funnel copywriting that helps business convert their leads into sales. Hazel loves stories so she found the perfect way to turn her passion into a career. In her free time, she enjoys good food and long walks in the park that inspire her creativity.
