What is a cold email? A cold email is an email that’s sent to a potential client without prior contact, all designed to prompt a conversation around new business. If you’re finding it difficult to reach out to new clients, aren’t getting replies or are simply too afraid to start, check out our tips below.
So why is sending a cold email a daunting prospect?
Emails just aren’t the same as they used to be. Believe it or not, email was exciting a few years ago. Open rates were much higher and you could almost guarantee that your recipient was going to read (or least open) it. Today is very different, according to a leading email marketing platform, the average email open rate is just 21.3%, with an average click rate of only 2.6%!
So how do I put together a decent email?
Start at the beginning. Who are you and why is your prospect going to want to hear from you? The ‘from’ line is possibly one of the most important aspects of an email, especially if you want to get it opened. When it comes to cold emails, the recipient doesn’t know who you are yet, or at least they won’t at all if you haven’t done a little bit of groundwork.
Although this shifts the concept of a cold email somewhat, we’d recommend building an element of indirect familiarity with your target contact first. It doesn’t take much to start following your prospective client on social media – liking, commenting or even sharing their posts. It’ll slowly work your name into their orbit, so when you do come knocking, you’re not a complete stranger.
Now you’ve built a little familiarity, write a good opener!
People often get confused with the difference between personalisation and customisation when it comes to email. Personalising an email doesn’t mean just using someone’s name through an email autofill. This is actually customisation – changing prefilled boxes such as First Name, Location or Business Name.
Personal means it’s only going to be received by that one person, so ensure your email makes sense and ultimately speaks to that person. Introduce yourself and explain why you’re reaching out to them, only them. Don’t be vague in your details and get to the point. If you obtained contact information from a third party or a mutual connection, tell them, it’s an easy way to add credibility to your message.
Get to know them, their service, their website and most importantly identify their pain points. Don’t go on about your company or service too much, focus on your contact’s needs and highlight how your product or service is a solution to their problem, this is far more likely to pique their interest.
Is there a point to your email?
There’s no point in almost any marketing related activity if you don’t follow it up with a call to action (CTA). So make sure you’ve thought about what your objectives are. More traffic to your website? More enquiries? More phone calls? More followers on social media? Make sure you’ve got a clear goal in mind, and drive all elements of your email to that key CTA.
Make sure you’ve got a good signature to finish it all off
Add more credibility by adding a decent email signature to the end of your email. Ultimately, your signature needs to emphasise your business and who you are as a brand, so this is a great opportunity as a first impression to show off who you are.
To make your initial email more effective, follow it up with another; or even a phone call or voicemail. If you do the latter, don’t ask them to call you back, they probably won’t, but get them to check out your most recent email, tell them the subject line and who it’s from so they can find it in their inbox much faster. Reaffirm why your email should be read and how it’s going to help them.
The take-home
Sending a cold email can seem quite daunting at first, but with lots of research, practice, A/B testing and good old fashioned trial and error, your efforts will pay off.
If you’re stuck generating leads and need marketing support for your business, IR Global’s marketing team is here to help.
Contact Rachel if you’d like to find out more.
