Sending emails is an excellent way of getting in touch with people. Knowing that there are more than 4 billion email users and more than 7 billion email accounts globally is enough to crown email as the most effective channel of reaching out to people, especially in the business world.
However, cold emailing may not hit the bull’s eye every time. Usually, when you send cold emails, there will be no responses from the prospects, which can be disappointing. That’s why you have to keep a few things in mind while sending cold emails so that you get responses.
In this post, we’ll see how to create cold emails that get results but let’s brush up on the basics before heading to the cold email tips.
Table Of Content
What Is A Cold Email?
When you email a potential client who doesn’t have an idea about your existence, it is called a cold email.
For example, if you email someone you have not met before through an email address that is available publicly, you can term it as a cold email.
A cold email is a one-on-one conversation between two people similar to a cold call but is less intrusive and doesn’t annoy the prospect. It is for business-related activities such as promoting products or services and generating leads from cold emails. It involves carrying out a business conversation with a prospect.
Cold Email vs Spam
One common question is what makes cold emails different from unsolicited emails or spam. Cold email and spam have a vast difference between them. Spam emails don’t have the sender’s contact information and are not personalized. The aim is only to push a sale; the motive is purely commercial. They are most often quite annoying and disliked by recipients. The spam filter filters out such emails.
Cold emails are also falling in the unsolicited category, but they are not marked as spam if they have a suitable header, are personalized, and offer value to the recipient. When an email has all these elements, the spam filter will not withhold it.
Is Sending Cold Emails Still Relevant?
While a group of people thinks that cold email outreach is not alive anymore, there is also a group that can leverage its power. For example, in the recruitment space, cold emails are still very much relevant. Recruiters swear on recruiting email templates to make their daily outreach easier. Email fetches you the highest ROI for marketers, and it is more than other outreach channels.
However, cold email marketing can fetch you results only when you use the right tactics while writing them.
5 Cold Email Formulas
How to get responses from cold emails? Well, there are 5 strategies you can use while crafting cold sales emails that get responses,
1. AIDA (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action)
The AIDA framework is used most of the time for sales outreach emails. It stands for Attention-Interest-Desire-Action.
Attention: Get the prospect’s attention by focussing on what concerns the person the most.
Interest: Try to get the prospect interested by showing how other companies benefited by using your product or service.
Desire: Bring the desire in the prospect to give your product or service a try. You can do so in many ways.
Action: Add a CTA in the email to clarify what you expect the prospect to do next. You can take the prospect where you want to.
2. BAB (Before-After-Bridge)
BAB stands for Before-After-Bridge. As humans are inclined to decide based on pleasure and pain, the BAB formula is one way of arousing pleasure.
Before – Show the existing problem
After – How life would be after the solution
Bridge – Positioning your product as the solution
3. PAS (Problem-Agitate-Solve)
PAS stands for Problem-Agitate-Solve. Though the structure of this framework is quite similar to BAB, the main difference is that it focuses on the pain. You show how you understand the prospect’s challenges, and they would reciprocate by using your product as a solution.
4. MIP
The MIP framework involves the following:
Mention their product
Interest in your product
Push slightly to act
You can use the above framework when the prospect uses a competitor’s product. You have to bring your product’s benefits to the limelight and show why your product is a better alternative to the existing solution they use. Also, your email should have a clear CTA.
5. 3P (Praise-picture-push)
If you compliment the prospect for their achievements in your email, they will read till the last line. Begin with a sincere compliment, and show the prospect what your product can do for them. The final step would be to push the prospect to take action gently.
You can use any of the above frameworks for your cold emails and stick to the one that seems to be giving you desired results.
Tips For Writing Cold Emails That Get Responses
Writing effective cold emails is a crucial part of sales. Here are the sales email writing tips and tactics you have to use to write cold emails that get responses.
These cold email tips are tried and tested.
1. Know your prospects
Before you get started with writing cold emails that get responses, you have to do some research. This is the most important cold email tips. The aim is to find out about their business and understand what their likes and dislikes are. You can create a personalized cold email for the prospect, which will increase the likelihood of grabbing their eyeballs and probably closing the deal.
You can research on Google, social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and also on websites, blogs, and press or media releases. In this age of the Internet, you can quickly get information related to professionals and businesses.
2. Understand the prospect’s psychology
Quite often, sales reps aim at sending a huge number of generic emails, thinking that they would at least get some responses but that somehow is not the right approach. You have to understand the prospects’ minds, or your email will end up in the trash bin.
You have to sell to the human and not to the company for which your email should have a touch of empathy. The recipient is an individual with emotions that plays an essential role in influencing buying decisions. People make 95% of buying decisions subconsciously.
In your email, you have to mention why your product or service personally benefits the recipient. You have to show them how your product or service can solve their problem at work. Also, make sure to give them something of value that will help you outshine the other generic emails that land in the inbox of recipients.
It will help if you try to find out the workflow of the person you are cold emailing. Every professional has their own set of problems, and your email is nowhere on their list. By knowing their schedule, you can make your email sync with it, and there will be higher chances of getting a response.
3. Write a great subject line
Your subject line forms the most crucial part of the email so creating good cold email subject lines is a must. It is the first element of your email that the recipient looks at. Based on the subject line, the recipient decides whether to open the email or not and if they don’t choose to open your email, there is no chance of them doing business with you.
You have to draw the recipient to your email, and it is possible by making your subject line stand out in their cluttered inbox. It has to be striking enough, and you can make that possible by using the following:
Personalization: When you personalize the subject line, the prospect is more likely to get attracted to it, and thereby the open rates will be higher.
Arousing curiosity: This is a tactic that yields excellent results. As humans are curious, you can leverage that and make them click your email open.
Adding humor: People like it when you make them laugh, and it is a tactic that works almost every time.
Sense of urgency: If your email subject line creates a sense of urgency and a fear of missing out (FOMO), the recipients are more likely to click open the email.
4. Focus on the opening line
This is one of those cold email tips you shouldn’t miss. The email’s opening line is essential in capturing the attention of the recipient even before they open the email. This is because the first line often appears as a preview under the subject line in the inbox and the recipient decides whether or not they should open the email right there. Therefore, it requires you to put in more effort.
Though an introduction is essential, starting with a typical “Hi, my name is ” will not hold the prospect’s attention. You can try using something like, ” I found that you offer telecom services in Seattle and thought I should introduce myself. ” Doesn’t it sound much better? You must understand that having a striking opening line can make the reader read the rest of the email.
5. Make sure you add social proof
Upon using social proof in your sales emails, you are trying to prove your credibility by mentioning other individuals or companies you have worked with that brought out results. You can elevate yourself from just another salesperson to an individual the recipient can trust with social proof. Even if you pay attention to every tiny detail of your email but somehow don’t add social proof, your email will likely be less impactful.
You can mention the customers who were able to achieve their goals with the help of your solution. The other things you can use as social proof include the following:
a. Customer testimonials
b. The number of users using your product or service at present
c. Customer reviews
d. Celebrity endorsement
e. Certifications and online courses your company created
You also have to be careful of where exactly you place the social proof in your email. In case people ignore your email right after opening them, try adding the social proof at the beginning to get the prospect’s attention. On the contrary, if you find out that people are reading your emails but do not choose to respond to them, try placing the social proof just before your CTA to give the prospects the boost to answer confidently. You can also add social proof to your email signature. You can place links to your write-ups or speeches to build credibility.
An important point to note is that you can choose to be honest instead of fabricating social proof when you are a startup and don’t have enough social proof with you. You can say – ‘ I have just launched your product and don’t have enough evidence about how well it is working. But my company is putting in its best efforts in resolving prospects’ pain points, and I request 10 minutes of your time. ” Such words can help you out even if you don’t have social proof.
6. Keep email length short
Choose to write shorter emails if you want faster responses and better engagement. This is one of the best cold email tips as it is about valuing other people’s time. Nobody will sit down to read long paragraphs of text from an absolute stranger. They will toss your email into the trash bin, and you wouldn’t want that to happen. If you wish to make a lasting impression, you have to keep your email short. Make it easy to read by using bulleted lists, numbers, and proper spacing to make the reader pay more attention to you. Such efforts will fetch you great results.
7. Personalize sender name
When an email hits the inbox, the first thing that the recipient sees apart from the subject line is the sender name. People won’t open the email if the sender name is too generic like – noreply@xyz.com it looks more like an email from a robot.
Also, such email addresses don’t find their way into people’s address books. It decreases the chance of emails hitting the inbox of recipients. That is why you should use a person’s name as a sender name. Add your name and company to get higher clicks. This is one of the most effective cold email tips.
8. Add Human Touch
Even if you have a CEO from a leading MNC as your prospect, you must remember that he is also human-like most of us. He may be quite professional at the office, but once he reaches home, he would also like to do regular things like watching movies, spending time with family, taking his dog for a walk, or playing video games. So, it is essential to treat your prospects like humans. This is one of the top cold email tips around.
You can build a good bond with prospects when you add some elements of humor to your emails. Please don’t keep them too boring because that would also turn the prospects off. It is a fact that prospects would like to interact with people with whom they can laugh. You can use the Before-After-Bridge, which is a framework that talks about the present problem of the prospect and how the scenario will change for them after they solve it.
Here’s an example,
9. Use CTA Properly
An email should always have a clear CTA or call-to-action. You have to ask relevant questions to the prospect that will make them think how beneficial it would be for them to use the product or service you are offering. Get an answer in a yes or a no from the prospect and tell them what action they have to take. For instance, “Is it possible for you to have a 10-minute video chat this week? Click on this link to book a sales meeting in an instant. “
You have to use CTA properly because a well-written one at the end of an email can make the prospect take the right action. Also, ensure that you use only a single CTA in an email. You have to decide what you want the prospect to do and stick to it. By adding multiple CTAs, you will only confuse the prospect, and they wouldn’t do anything. It is best to stick to one CTA if you want good responses.
10. Send Tailor-Made Emails
When you personalize the content of your email, people pay attention to what you have to offer. A tailor-made email makes them feel special, and they are more likely to show interest. The personalization strategy is quite effective in the B2B space as statistics say there is a 10% increase in conversion rates and 14% click-through rates. It is one among the top cold email tips that always work.
If you pay special attention to personalizing CTAs, the conversion rate becomes 42% higher. Also, when you write tailored content, 31% of consumers make a purchase.
You can personalize emails by using the prospect’s name, have the email built on buyer personas, or have them based on trigger events. The other approaches you can use include complimenting the prospects, mentioning their interests, the technology they presently use, mutual connections. You can also use personalized images and videos to grab the attention of prospects. There are sales engagement and outreach tools that help you with an image or video personalization at scale.
While you have to personalize emails for every prospect you are reaching out to, it can be a tedious task and not feasible when sending emails at scale. When every prospect doesn’t bring the same amount of revenue to the firm, you shouldn’t put the same effort into personalizing each email. The thumb rule is to increase the personalization levels as per the size of the deal. Try to use basic personalization for a small deal and don’t take more than 3 seconds to compose it. Keep medium-sized deals semi-personalized, not taking more than 5 minutes to write them. And for large deals, you can hyper-personalize them by taking 10 minutes for each email.
11. Proofread Before Sending Emails
Proofreading cold emails before sending them is an essential step that you should never overlook. It makes to the list of the top cold email tips. Here’s why:
- First Impressions Matter: A cold email is often your first contact with a potential client, partner, or employer. It’s your opportunity to present yourself and your proposition professionally. Spelling mistakes, typos, or grammatical errors can leave a poor first impression.
- Maintaining Professionalism: Professionalism goes beyond just the content of your message. It includes how you communicate that message. An email with errors can seem unprofessional and may lead recipients to question your competence in your field.
- Clarity: Errors in your email can lead to misunderstandings or confusion. They can alter the meaning of sentences and may cause the recipient to misinterpret your message. Clear, error-free writing ensures your message is understood as intended.
- Credibility and Trust: If your email is full of mistakes, it can harm your credibility. People will mostly trust and respond to well-written and error-free emails. This is especially important when making a sales pitch or presenting an opportunity.
- Respect for the Recipient’s Time: Taking the time to proofread shows respect for the recipient’s time. It demonstrates that you’ve made an effort to ensure your communication is clear and accurate, making it easier to read and understand.
12. Adding a value proposition
In a cold email, you only have a few moments to capture the reader’s attention. That’s why it is essential to quickly and clearly convey your product or service’s unique benefits. If the recipient doesn’t understand what you’re offering or why it’s important, they’re likely to stop reading.
That’s where your value proposition comes in. It immediately communicates what you’re offering and why it’s worthwhile.
Secondly, your value proposition can make your offer unique and show the recipient why they should consider your product or service over others in the market.
You would agree that a well-crafted value proposition shows the recipient that you understand their needs or challenges and that your product or service can solve them. This makes your email more relevant to the recipient and, thus, more compelling. If your offer aligns with the recipient’s needs, they’re more likely to keep reading.
Next comes engagement. If your value proposition is compelling, it can encourage the recipient to read the rest of your email and respond to your CTA. A strong value proposition can entice the recipient to take the next step and thus deepen their engagement with your offer. Do add this to your list of cold email tips.
13. Send Follow Up Emails
Follow-up is important in cold emailing as it increases the chances of a response. It is therefore one of the most used cold email tips around.
A follow-up email can demonstrate your persistence. It shows that you are willing to take the additional step to make contact. This can appeal to potential clients.
Another aspect to consider is that follow-ups act as reminders for the recipient. A follow-up email serves as a polite reminder, nudging them to respond.
It is worth noting that follow-up emails have been shown to increase conversion rates dramatically. Often, it’s not the first email but the second, third, or even fourth that gets a response and leads to a conversion. Again, this underlines the importance of persistence in the cold emailing process.
While the importance of follow-up emails is clear, avoid sending too many follow-ups quickly and avoid being pushy, as this can backfire.
14. A/B Test
A/B testing officially comes after you finish writing an email but it is worth sharing here in the best cold email tips.
It involves testing two variations of an email to see which one performs better. Here’s how to A/B test cold emails for sales.
- Subject Lines: The first thing your recipient sees is the subject line, which can greatly influence whether they open your email. You can A/B test different types of subject lines. For example, you could test a direct, benefit-focused subject line (“Save 20% on our premium software”) against a more curiosity-invoking subject line (“Discover a new way to improve your workflow”).
- Email Body Content: The next part of your email to test is the body. This can include the tone of your message (formal vs. informal), the length of your message (short vs. long), and the style of your message (storytelling vs. bullet points). Furthermore, the call-to-action (CTA) is a vital part of your email. Test different CTAs to see which ones elicit more responses or clicks.
- Personalization: You could test using the recipient’s first name in the email’s subject line or in the greeting. Alternatively, you could test more detailed personalization, such as mentioning the recipient’s company or referring to a recent event or achievement.
- Send Time: The time you send your emails can affect open and response rates. People often check their emails at certain times of the day, which can vary depending on the industry and the individual. You could test sending your emails at different hours of the day and on different weekdays, to see what gets you higher responses.
- Follow-up Strategy: You can test different follow-up strategies, such as the number of follow-up emails you send, the content of the follow-ups, and the time between each follow-up.
- Images and Visuals: Experiment with using different types of images, infographics, or even GIFs, and see if they make a difference in your response rates.
So that was about how to write a cold email for sales. Hope you like our cold email tips and understand how to write cold emails that get responses!
Reasons Why You Get No Responses To Your Cold Emails
Sometimes, even when you are being cautious and following the top-rated cold email tips, you don’t get the desired results from your email campaign. The reasons can be the following:
1. You are talking more about yourself
Your cold email outreach has to focus on the recipient instead of concentrating on you. If you keep talking about yourself alone in the email, the recipient will not know why you are even getting in touch with them.
The best way is to skip the lengthy introduction and get to what you can provide the recipient. Use more of ‘you’ in the email and less of ‘I’ to maintain a balance.
2. You’re asking too much
Recipients will ignore your email if you are expecting them to go out of the way for you. They have a lot of other important things to do other than reading your email, and if the CTA is too far-fetched, like asking them to review their book, they will abandon your email.
3. You’re not backing up your claims
If you use a statement like ‘I love our blog’ without any backing, it would be of no use. You have to specify what you like the most in their blog and which of the prospect’s posts catch your attention. Try to mention why the piece of writing is relevant to the email.
4. Your email has typos
You have to check your email for typos before sending them no matter how busy you are. An email with too many errors in it will give a poor impression about your company and make you seem unprofessional.
5. You purchased a mailing list
This is the biggest mistake you can ever commit. Though it saves a lot of time, you end up reaching out to those not interested in your offer and don’t wish to receive emails from you. The recipients may not even be relevant to your business. Plus, you will be in danger of sending emails to invalid addresses.
That is why you have to find your contacts yourself so that you know that they have potential. One easy way is to use automated cold outreach tools. There are many cold email marketing software that can help make your job easier.
6. Your offer is not relevant to them
Even if you are taking care of all the email elements, there can be chances of failing to get a response from prospects. And that would happen if you are knocking on the wrong door, i.e., reaching out to the wrong audience, and your email may not mean anything to them.
7. You don’t test your emails
Failing to test your emails is another reason why your emails are not getting replied to. There may be the repetition of the same mistake, and you won’t even come to know unless you test your emails. Testing helps in finding out which is working better and what will help you improve. So, carrying out A/B tests is essential.
Keep the above in mind while writing cold emails that get responses.
Cold Email Templates To Improve Response Rate
Now that you know the top cold email tips, here are some templates that you can use to write cold emails that get responses. But do make sure that they are relevant to your situation. Sending cold emails will become easier if you keep a few things in mind.
Template 1. Email template asking for the right point of contact
Hello {{prospect’s_name}},
I am {{your_name}}, and I am representing {{company_name}}. Could you please direct me to the person handling the decisions in the sales department and how I can reach out to them?
Thanks,
{{Your_email_signature}}
This cold email template is the best when you don’t know about the right point of contact, especially in large enterprises. You must try to keep this email as to the point as possible because if you take too much of the reader’s time, it will reduce the chances of getting a reply. So come to the point as soon as possible. However, don’t forget to introduce yourself.
The response rate of this template is high as you are trying to sell your product or service here. You are only requesting the recipient to give you the contact details of the decision-maker. There is the need for minimal effort from their end, and they would help you.
Template 2. Third-party email template
Hello {{prospect’s name}},
I found your name on {{source}} and wondered whether you could help me out. My company has a solution that would alleviate {{pain_point}}, and I feel that {{prospect’s_company_name}} can benefit from it. As I cannot connect to the concerned person in your company, can you please guide me? I would be very grateful to you.
Thanks,
{{Your_email_signature}}
This third-party email template would work when you cannot reach out to the decision-makers, so you search for lower-level employees to access the concerned person. It is quite easy to search for people because of social networking platforms like LinkedIn. It will help you reach out to the right person.
One reason why this template has high response rates is that employees at lower levels would want to help their company gain benefit in the hope of getting promoted. That is why they would actively participate and help you out. This email template is ideal for situations when it is difficult to reach out to prospects directly.
Template 3. The ‘PAS’ cold email template
There are 3 parts of a PAS email template – Problem, agitate, solve
Problem – Identify the problem of the person you are reaching out to. You can use the help of social media and networking sites for this purpose.
Agitate – After identifying the problem, you have to evoke the prospect’s emotions by emphasizing how troublesome their problem is.
Solve – Provide a solution to the problem and convince the recipient that your product or service is perfect for resolving the problem. You have to ensure that you use a clear CTA (call-to-action) here that won’t require the recipient to go out of the way.
Hello {{prospect’s_name}},
I learned that your company has been getting negative reviews due to unsatisfactory customer support. It is quite disappointing to lose customers due to poor customer service.
{{name_of_your_product}} is quite helpful in integrating your customer data in a single place and making you manage all the interactions your support team has with customers across all the channels.
Will you be interested in hearing more about how our product can help you win more loyal customers?
Regards,
{{Your_email_signature}}
This email template fetches a lot of responses because of the personalized opening line. It makes the recipient understand that you have made an effort to do some research before reaching out to them. Also, when you point out the problem the prospect’s company faces, they would want to take action immediately and are more likely to do business with you.
Template 4. The AIDA cold email template
Using the AIDA formula works most of the time for cold outreach. AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire, and action.
Here’s a template that uses the AIDA framework.
Hello {{prospect’s_first_name}},
What would happen if {{product/service name}} can help you with {{pain_point}}?
Last year, we helped {{company1, company 2, company 3}} to achieve a 10% increase in revenue after using our solution.
Apart from the increase in revenue, there was also an improvement in the productivity of the employees and a boost in customer satisfaction.
I would be happy to talk to you about how {{product/service_name}} can help improve your company’s performance. Are you available for a quick call this week?
Regards,
{{Your_email_signature}}
Here in this template, there is social proof that the prospect will find relevant. The beginning of the email is attention-drawing, followed by the second line that has social proof and statistics to evoke interest. There is an attempt to bring out the desire of the lead followed by action in the end (the request for a call).
Template 5. Straightforward kind of an email template
At times, there is nothing better than keeping the conversation to the point and stating your reason for reaching out clearly. You can choose to be straightforward and show the prospect that your product or service is the practical solution for alleviating their pain points.
Hello {{prospect’s_name}},
Are you spending a lot on customer support?
We have been helping several large businesses reduce their expenditure in support and boost their sales in less than a year. Our solution – {{name_product/service}} made it possible
Also, you don’t have to put too much effort into learning how to use it.
Are you interested in a quick phone call to discuss how {{product/service}} can boost your sales?
Regards,
{{Your_email_signature}}
This email is ideal for busy recipients who don’t have time to waste. Though it is short, it does grab the attention of the reader. You get to the point, offer proof, and give the prospect an easy CTA. It is basically for those prospects who are always pressed for time.
Template 6. Template offering something useful
Most often, cold emailing is for building a relationship with prospects, and you can do it best when you give them something of value without any expectation from them. You can start with some research and find out what prospects share on their social media handles and what they are interested in. You can make use of that to grab the attention of the reader.
Hello {{prospect’s_name}},
I came across your post on {{social_media}} about {{topic}} and found it very insightful.
I liked a lot of points you discussed mentioning the ones you noticed and what you learned from them
Did you ever see {{blog_post}} by {{writer’s_name}} on a related topic?
Regards,
{{Your_email_signature}}
In the above, you compliment the prospect’s work and the way they write, which leaves a lasting impression on the recipient’s mind. Also, you are not selling your product or service here. There is only a request for beginning a professional relationship that would help both parties, which is why this template gets more responses. It is quite effective in helping you build a bond with the prospect.
The above templates would be helpful for crafting cold emails that get responses but do follow our cold email tips.
Make Cold Email Outreach Effective!
Cold email marketing is an effective strategy that businesses often use to reach out to potential customers. If your emails are not getting enough responses, you have to find out where you are lacking.
As you have already seen above, a lot goes into writing cold emails that bring results. It is more of a skill that salespeople must possess to write emails that get responses & make the outreach campaign stand out. When using the right approach in your cold email campaigns, you can find great outcomes. As the bottom line of every company is to close more deals and earn more revenue, it would help if you send cold emails that get responses.
We hope you now know how to get prospects to respond to your cold emails.
FAQs
When you email a potential client who doesn’t have an idea about your existence, it is called a cold email. A cold email is a one-on-one conversation between two people
Spam emails don’t have the sender’s contact information and are not personalized. The aim is only to push a sale; the motive is purely commercial. Recipients most often find them quite annoying.
While some people think that cold email outreach is not alive anymore, there is also a group that can leverage its power. Email fetches you the highest ROI for marketers, and it is more than other outreach channels.
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