Cold emails, or messages sent to potential customers or business contacts, are often perceived as intrusive and unpleasant. Many people have negative associations with such messages, which are often sent in bulk and can resemble typical spam. However, there are many ways to get your cold email not only noticed, but also appreciated.
1.Tools:
a. You can write a cold email by hand, but this is reasonable when you write regularly to several new recipients, so you have time to do so. You then only need an email to send the message and a web browser to get the knowledge you need to create the content. A definite advantage is the level to which you can personalize your message. The need to “remember” to follow ups, on the other hand, is a disadvantage here, as this requires at least setting up 2-3 tasks in the CRM per each recipient. And then manually, carry them out.
b. However, if you need to fill your calendar with appointments, then consider automating your activities. The moment you decide to go this route, take care:
I. choice of database building tool
II. choice of mailing tool – it is convenient when database building and mailing are done in one tool, however, in practice you need to separately evaluate both the validity of the data in the database and the level of quality of the mailing:
- What is the deliverability?
- What is the rate of “bounce” (undelivered messages)?
- Does a mailing with another tool to the same or comparable base of people have the same deliverability parameters – unfortunately, but of the tools we have tested so far, each had different deliverability and different parameters related to falling into SPAM filters. Currently, we have a separate tool for developing the database and a separate one for sending campaigns
2. Opportunities for using “custom fields.”
a. First, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the recipient’s profile. Check out his professional activities, industry, as well as the information you can find about his business on your website, blog or social media. This will give you a better picture and enable you to tailor the content of your email to his specific needs.
b. Manual personalization – the extent to which your message is tailored to include information about the recipient himself and the entity he/she represents depends on the sender of the message. The effectiveness of using a large amount of personal information has never been captured in precise statistics. Salespeople usually evaluate the effectiveness of such actions based on their own feelings, rarely referring, at least to the statistical records in their own CRM. It is also hard to assess, precisely because of the lack of accurate data available for a sufficiently large group of recipients (at least 300 people), whether such communications are received better by the addressees than automated ones.
c. Automated personalization – it cannot be said that this way is absolutely better than “manual” message writing. There are no such studies (or at least I have never come to one). Nevertheless, the fundamental advantage of this automated approach is access to hard knowledge of effectiveness in the form of statistics. Automation will save you time, but it must not lead to a decline in message quality. A good tool will even allow you to match different examples of value propositions related to your product or service per recipient industry in a single mailing. It all comes down to two issues:
I. whether the automated messaging tool has the ability to personalize by gender and declination
II. if there is no possibility of variety in the above-mentioned way, is it possible to upload an already personalized database
d. AI personalization – is a method available in many tools such as LeedIQ, Apollo, or our native Woodpecker. It can save time to reasearch messages about a specific prospect, but as in life, it doesn’t come lightly. For the time being, no available tool allows mass personalization (as of July 12, 2023), and the generated content, in addition to being saturated with prospect information, still requires verification and ‘manual’ corrections. However, it can be said with certainty that ChatGPT and the development of AI make it possible to take ‘manual’ mailings to the next level, where you save time on prospect data collection. Certainly, massive use of AI in dispatch awaits us soon in emerging tools on the market.
Second, consider personalized headlines, such as using the recipient’s first name. Many people respond positively to messages that address them directly, but just as many, however, read such a practice as SPAM. When I release a campaign myself, I stick to including in the subject line of the message what the message will be about, such as “introduction to AMU”, “contact from AMU”.
Contentful content
Another important aspect is to provide valuable information. It’s not enough to just personalize your message – you also need to provide the recipient with value. Consider how your product or service can solve a specific problem faced by the recipient. Give specific examples, related to the business or situation of your previous customers, as this will show you as a specialist. You won’t do this by writing that you assume the potential lead has a specific problem, few people admit to having a problem with something! Simply describe how working with your company has benefited current clients whose profile is similar to the prospect’s persona. Let the recipient decide for themselves whether the issues you are dealing with are within your potential lead’s business interests. The most important thing in a cold email is not what you write, but what the recipient will understand from it (and often add to it himself)!
Finally, it is important that the cold mail does not sound template-like. Avoid generic and standard wording that may be too pushy or unconvincing. Try to make the content of the message sound authentic, so that the recipient gets the impression that you are really addressing them individually. How to achieve this:
- Use the minimum number of words. If you have built a message of 6 sentences, shorten it to 3 sentences. If the sentence contains 20 words, think about what words you can cross out to keep the meaning using 10 words.
- Don’t use embellishments that are meant to show your service/product in a positive light, i.e., such as “best”, “cheapest”, etc.. The business effect of working with you is zero-sum. It is either there or it is not there. Your customer either saved x amount of time with your product, or not, gained 10 customers, or 5, or didn’t, etc.
An overly salesy approach can also be a problem. Cold emails that sound like a pushy sales attempt usually don’t get a positive response.
Don’t offer anything, don’t give a discount, don’t offer a free consultation, and even if you do, I PROMISE you to use the word “FREE.” (even if de facto it will be a free consultation or demo). Describe what happened in the collaboration between your business and a particular client and ask who you can talk to about it.
Providing valuable information at the initial contact stage can significantly increase the chance of a positive response. Bullshitting the prospect, embellishments, language of benefits instead of language of specifics will arouse distrust and irritation.
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Relationship building
Another important aspect is building a relationship with the recipient. Remember also that cold mail should not be a one-time effort. Many people need time to make a purchase decision. That’s why it’s a good idea to continue contact with the recipient through a series of valuable messages that will build trust and keep them interested in replying to you. Cold mailing is not a way to make an offer, but to explore whether recipients have a problem that you are solving, and if so, whether the results they can count on are interesting enough that people who don’t know you will decide to schedule a call with you. Sending a message doesn’t create a relationship in itself, but regular contact with the recipient with whom you schedule and conduct a call does.
Style
Another aspect is to match the tone of the message to the recipient’s preferences. Tone matters. It is worth investigating what kind of communication is accepted and expected in the recipient’s industry. Is it a more formal style, or is it informal and friendly? Adapting the tone to the recipient’s preferences allows you to better establish contact and build relationships.
For example, using a formal tone in Poland, i.e. “Mr./Ms.” forms, you can always switch to an informal style if the recipient suggests it. If you start with an informal style, recipients, especially those in large companies, will feel offended, and you won’t fix that. Also remember to be consistent in the way you communicate. Avoid mixing different styles or tones in both a single message and in their sequence.
And finally, whether you automate your cold mailing or not: before you send anything, use a preview – don’t press “send” before you read aloud to yourself exactly what you’ve written.
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