Master the Art of Outreach with Our Ultimate Cold Email Guide

Email marketing is very significant in today’s digital marketing world. The difference between winning & losing email outreach campaigns is the use of cold email. Curious to know what cold email is? Our cold email guide is a collection of valuable resources to help sales reps send better email outreach campaigns.

• What Is a Cold Email?
• Why Does Cold Email Matter? 
• What Are Some of the Benefits of Cold Emailing?
• How to Write Successful Cold Emails? [A Five-Step Approach] 
• Cold Emailing Tips & Tricks [Do’s and Don’ts]
• What Is The Best Time To Send A Cold Email? 
• Cold Email Guide-To Recap
• FAQs

In this article, we’ll cover the ultimate guide to writing a powerful and killer cold email, as well as everything you want to know about cold emailing so you can get the most expert tips for running email campaigns.   

Let’s get right into it! 🏃

What Is a Cold Email?

In the digital era, cold emailing is an effective and ideal way for businesses of all sizes and types to start and maintain their relationships. 

How effective can a cold email campaign be in the offline digital world? First, you must fully understand the nature of cold emails. 

Let’s start with the basics. What is the exact meaning of a cold email? 👇

A cold email is an unsolicited email that is sent to a receiver without prior contact and, based on its proponents, isn’t spam.

Cold emails are the first emails sales & marketing teams send to individuals or companies they haven’t interacted with. In simple terms, recipients of cold emails have never heard of them or their company before.

In a way, cold emailing is similar to cold calling. In cold calling, sales reps contact potential customers to see if they are interested in their brand’s products or services. The difference between the two is that, unlike cold calling, cold emailing is less disruptive to potential customers and more cost-effective.

Why Does Cold Email Matter? 

It’s no exaggeration to say that a smartly and well-targeted written cold email outreach process can generate millions of dollars in revenue for your business. You won’t believe it! Here, we explain the importance of cold email. 👇

✔ According to a HubSpot report, 23% of sales professionals say cold email is the best way to connect with prospects, and 21% of salespersons believe cold emailing results in the most targeted leads.

✔ Since nearly 24% of sales emails are opened, investing in a cold email strategy is definitely worth it.

What Are Some of the Benefits of Cold Emailing?

Regarding the importance of cold email for marketing campaigns, here are the benefits of cold email for businesses:

1. Targeted Lead Generation

Cold emailing is an efficient way to generate leads and discover customers who are interested in your products or services.

The cold emailing process begins with establishing relationships and slowly turns them into the most ideal and targeted prospects.

Reaching out to the clients who know about your products or services helps you focus on your high-ideal audiences and accelerate your sales pipeline.

2. Networking

Do you have any connections with your prospects? To have a closer connection with one of the potential clients, you need to use a powerful cold emailing strategy.

In today’s digital marketing world, cold emailing is a great tool for networking, communicating, and increasing your audience circle.

All marketers and sales professionals know the importance of using cold email in growing their prospective customer base.

For this reason, sometimes it’s impossible to meet face-to-face for various causes like the Covid-19 pandemic in recent years. Consequently, individuals and companies are bound to utilize cold emailing to expand their audience and customer network.

On top of that, business owners can invite their consumers to special events such as webinars and boost their attendance by cold emailing.

As a whole, cold emailing gives rise to customer engagement.

3. Brand Awareness

Did you know that cold emails are a great way to build brand awareness? Cold emailing campaigns go a long way in raising your brand awareness due to the nature of email.

As we read in this article, cold emails basically identify your ideal leads and target your prospects who haven’t previously engaged with your brand.

As such, using a cold email strategy, you can introduce your products and services to a wider set of customers and thus develop your brand awareness.

4. Scalability

Cold emails offer high scalability. Cold email scalability refers to the fact that you’ll be able to send cold emails to a huge number of your target audience without limits. Besides, you can measure their success.

Owing to this success, you’ll be able to make plans for your next cold emailing campaigns strategically.

With the help of a cold email outreach tool, you’ll have access to a far-reaching database of new leads in no time.

How to Write Successful Cold Emails? [A Five-Step Approach] 

With a compelling and attractive cold introduction email, you can get the most engagement and the best results. However, starting a cold email often seems tricky. 

Its challenges result from the fact that most of us always want to sell our products or services and promote our brand in the first email, and that’s exactly where we don’t know how to start our cold email text!

Now, I bet you’re wondering how to write a cold introduction email in a way that gets the most feedback.

To ensure you receive positive responses from your cold email recipients, implement the following steps for writing your cold email. 👇

Step 1. Start By Personalizing Emails

Personalization means injecting specific information about your prospects into emails so that each email you send in a campaign is different.

Personalization is very beneficial for your email campaigns because you can get more replies and boost your email deliverability. 

According to a recent study, customizing emails can greatly impact email engagement and reply rates by up to 250% (Lavender).

You can personalize your cold emails using Robert Cialdani’s six principles of persuasion: 

1. Reciprocity 
2. Scarcity
3. Authority
4. Liking
5. Commitment or consistency
6. Social proof

By understanding these principles, you can utilize them to persuade & influence your email recipients.

For example, to evoke your recipients’ reciprocity feelings and build a friendly relationship, show that you understand their specific pain points, interests, business, and more by researching them. 

Important Points to Keep in Mind

1. To make up a personalized email, gather enough data about your subscribers.
2. To avoid spam filters, add the recipient’s name and company name to the email.
3. To add a human touch to your cold email message, personalize the sender’s name using a real person’s name.
4. To start your cold email personalization strategy, offer relevant and dynamic content based on the recipient’s data. 

In a nutshell, personalization is more important from a strategic point of view. As such, take the time to personalize your email message with the help of Cialdani’s rules and embed them into your cold email strategy.

Step 2. Catchy & Compelling Email Subject Lines

An email subject line is a short preview or half or one-line summary of email content that appears in recipients’ inboxes.

It’s interesting to know that over 47% of email recipients open emails based on their subject lines, while at the same time, over 69% report emails as spam based solely on their subject lines (Optinmonster).

Accordingly, keep your subject line brief, useful, attractive, and persuasive. It should include exactly the main issue and target the needs of your prospects.

The best email subject lines capture the reader’s attention in the first moment and encourage them to open the email because it is worth opening to the recipient.

Meanwhile, never send an email without a personalized subject line, as it usually won’t get opened.

Use the psychological principles of FOMO (fear of missing out) to grab your audience’s attention. The reader cannot resist it. You can make the most of this technique by adding an element of scarcity, such as a limited time, to your email subject lines. This technique can increase the open rate of the email, as in “Oh wow, TODAY only, a denim lover’s dream.”

The bottom line is that the subject line determines whether the recipient will open or ignore your email.

5 Common Mistakes to Avoid in Your Cold Emails Subject Lines

Here are 5 of the most common email subject line mistakes that should be  avoided, along with the best examples: 

Step 3. Pay Enough Attention to the Opening Lines

The opening line of your email is the first line of internal text, which is considered the most important part of the email content. 

Some email marketers use this part of the email message as preheader text (or vice versa).

If you want to write a great opening line, you need to know the different types of them:

1. Formal email opening lines: Adhere to perfect grammar, spelling, punctuation, email format, and etiquette in such emails. Examples of formal email opening lines include “Good morning/good afternoon [Recipient name],” “I am excited to share this news with you,” “Esteemed [Recipient’s Title], I am contacting you concerning…,” etc.
2. Polite email opening lines: Politeness is crucial in email communication. Try to be respectful and considerate in your cold email opening lines and focus on using good manners. Examples of this kind of email opening lines include “Hello/Hi/Dear [Recipient’s Name],” “I hope this email finds you well,” “Thank you for getting in touch with…”, etc.
3. Professional email opening lines: Use the “mirroring” technique in professional email opening lines. This refers to adapting the opening lines, language, or other conventions the receiver used in previous conversations. Use a more formal tone for a positive first impression & a strong relationship. Some examples of professional email opening lines include: “Allow me to introduce myself,” “Thank you for reaching out to us,” “I apologize for any confusion caused and appreciate your patience,” etc.

Expert Tips for Opening Lines that Hook Readers

1. Write a sentence or two at maximum.
2. Introduce yourself, your company, and your brand. 
3. Clarify the reason for your reaching out immediately.
4. Take time to customize opening lines for specific recipients.
5. Avoid generic and pleasant introductions.

The bottom line is that you only have a few golden seconds after the email is opened to draw your readers’ attention to your cold email and make them read on.

Step 4. Include a Clear Call-To-Action (CTA)

A CTA is a link or button in your cold email that encourages the readers to take a specific action, such as “Download” or “Sign Up.”

CTAs help email marketers motivate their audience to push an action, such as signing up for a website, reading a blog post, downloading an ebook, making a purchase, or joining a newsletter.

To know where to place your CTA buttons in your email, there are a few standard rules to follow:

1. Place your primary CTA button at the end of the email content so the audience can read the entire text.
2. Place secondary CTA buttons by linking to related content or any product in the body of the email.
3. Put CTA buttons in places that can be paused, such as the header, the end of sections, or the description of images.

Best Practices for Creating CTAs that Work

1. Avoid using long sentences 
2. Use approachable action verbs
3. Keep it clear, simple, and clickable
4. Create a sense of urgency 
5. Use a different color and font
6. Make the CTA buttons big enough
7. Emphasize that it is safe and free
8. Highlight the perks of CTAs
9. Use A/B testing

Step 5. Set up a Follow-up Email

Sometimes, the recipient reads the cold email but forgets to reply. 

If you’ve sent emails to your prospects, you’ve noticed that people don’t respond to the first email they receive but do to subsequent emails.

So, it’s necessary to follow up on cold emails. That’s why following up is not only harmless but also very effective. In addition, to follow up on a cold email, you must master the art of following up.

How to Follow up on Cold Emails?

These are some of the hot tips you should mind when following up on your cold emails:

1. Be polite: Try to use polite messages for cold email follow-ups. As a matter of fact, most people don’t mind a polite reminder.
2. Don’t disturb: Remember not to disturb the recipients when following up on your cold emails. If you haven’t received a response from them after two or three attempts, they’re probably not interested in answering your email.
3. Write differently: Since cold emails are notorious for getting lost in spam, try sending a different message than the previous ones. You’re strongly advised to write something unique and don’t send the same messages, as well as the same style.
4. Don’t forget to space your timing: For cold email follow-ups, stick to proper timing. Leave a few days between the cold emails sent and then follow up. You can wait up to a week.

Cold Emailing Tips & Tricks [Do’s and Don’ts]

Since most people hate having their inboxes filled with cold emails, let’s face it.

Unfortunately, due to the commercial nature of cold emails, sometimes, marketers perform cold email campaigns poorly; that is, they don’t receive the right result for the process of their cold emailing campaign. 

What do you think are the solutions to this problem?

You should put a great deal of effort into writing cold emails so that your cold emails don’t go straight to spam recipients. 

As such, if you want your cold emails to instantly grab the customer’s attention, generate potential leads, and increase your conversion rate, you can run a successful cold email marketing campaign. How?

It’s no matter of concern! In this section of our cold email guide, we’ll provide you with the do’s and don’ts of cold emailing, as well as some tried-and-tested cold email templates so you can start using them without delay.

1. Build a Database of Relevant Email Lists

Cold email outreach campaigns are powerful as long as you collect a comprehensive database of email address lists of your target audience. 

It’s important to know that identifying and uncovering the right target audience for cold email outreach campaigns can considerably impact getting the best results.

As such, you need a widespread, reliable, relevant database of your potential customer email lists to run cold email campaigns successfully.

We recommend using the best email finder tool, such as CUFinder or Hunter, to find the email addresses of the targeted audience. 

Now, let’s take a look at it. 👇

With CUFinder’s Prospect Engine, you can quickly & easily grab complete and accurate information from your target leads, including email addresses, phone numbers, company names, LinkedIn profiles & other social media profiles, and more data by entering filters such as location, industry, company size, etc. 

Not convinced yet? Try signing up for a free trial right now!

2. Make Sure Your Cold Email Isn’t Spam

To prevent your cold emails from ending up in the spam folder, you can use email checker tools to test your email’s spamming and see how likely your cold emails are to be spammy. With the email tester websites, you’ll be able to check an email address that’s entirely unique to you. 

Pro tip: Try CUFinder’s Free Email Verifier

CUFinder provides a free email verification tool that allows users to test the validity of an email address and check its deliverability in seconds.

After checking that your email address is active, you can start slowly sending cold emails and increasing the number of emails sent daily. 

You can use a good ramp-up plan for sending cold email outreach: for example, on the first day, ten cold emails are sent; on the second day, 20 cold emails are sent, and so on.

3. Keep It Concise and Understandable

No one wants to read long emails. The longer and more wordy your cold emails are, the less likely they are to reach their intended target.

Write your cold email in a short and sweet way so that it’s easy to read and the recipient can instantly review it.

Please don’t write your text one after the other, but divide it into parts to make it easier to read.

Ideally, your cold email should have this standard structure:

1. First line: Introductory sentence or a few words that introduce your brand.
2. Second line: Make an offer or request, including the special sale, state the reason for sending the email, include your website link, etc.
3. Last line: The closing line or buttons tell your readers the next step.

Another great trick for making your cold email more understandable is to start with a question.

4. Use High-Converting Cold Email Templates 

Utilizing appropriate and standard cold email templates is suggested to save time and energy.

If you want to send cold emails to a large number of your target audiences and make them personalized, you’ll figure out that rewriting cold email information will be very time-consuming and tedious. Hence, depending on the topic of your email campaigns, you’ll have to use the right cold email template to send.

However, you need to consider the overall structure of the email when writing a text. Consequently, by means of an email template, you no longer need to write all parts of your email, such as your name, title, company, CTA, etc.

The good news is that many websites offer ready-made & eye-catching cold email templates, as well as allow you to design and use your templates.

Although cold email templates are recommended to save time, some email marketing specialists believe marketers shouldn’t employ them because they are repetitive.

Here are some high-converting cold email templates you can check out. 👇

#1. Special Offer Cold Email Template

#2. Quick Question Cold Email Template

#3. A Problem-Solving Approach Cold Email Template

Bonus tip: If you want more examples and templates for cold sales emails, read our article.

5. Don’t Write Duplicate Cold Emails

Keep in mind that you should refrain from copying your email messages exactly. Sending cold emails with the same content is not effective. Try to write several cold email examples to avoid sending duplicate cold email templates and similar content to every email address in your email list. 

Different cold email samples will also help you determine which type of cold email works best for specific recipients.

It’s worth knowing that duplicate emails are sometimes considered spam, so try not to send the same messages to your intended customers.

6. Don’t Overdo the Use of Spam Trigger Words

Although using sensational language to grab your audience’s attention in a cold email is tempting, it can backfire if abused or overused. 

As a result,  try to eliminate such words that are related to spam or at least use them less.

Here are some spam trigger words that you should avoid:

1. % off
2. Buy now
3. Call free
4. Last chance
5. Clearance
6. Guaranteed
7. Urgent
8. Limited time
9. Lose weight

What Is The Best Time To Send A Cold Email? 

Why are your cold email campaigns failing? Keep in mind that cold emailing is a continuous process. This means that you need to plan your cold emailing to improve its performance properly. The further you go, the better your cold emailing will be.

Some issues can cause your email marketing campaigns to fail. One of the most effective factors for killer cold emails is choosing the best time to send them.

So, it’s necessary to research the best time to launch your cold emailing campaign.

That’s why the timing of your cold email will affect the open rate of your email marketing campaigns.

Accordingly, you should find the best time to send cold emails to your recipients to ensure the best conversion rates.

Planning correctly for the best time to start cold email campaigns can save time and energy and achieve a high Return on Investment (ROI).

So, what’s the best time to do cold emailing? ⏱

To choose the right time to send a cold email with a good open rate, you need to consider two important factors: 

1. The time of day 
2. The day of the week

According to the research conducted in this regard, with a statistical population of billions of email addresses, the ideal times to send a cold email are between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM PST.

For example, Yesware’s study shows that the best times to send cold emails are at 11 AM and 1 PM on weekdays.

This is when most emails are opened, and your chances of getting a response increase significantly. Based on these reports, cold emails worked best at this time.

Pro tip: It’s worth noting that if you don’t have a compelling reason, never send a cold email around 3 or 4 AM, as it will look very strange in the recipient’s inbox.

Furthermore, as for the best day to send cold emails, it’s better to do cold emailing on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. That’s why marketers believe these are usually the best days of the week to send emails and receive considerable responses from company managers.

In general, sending cold emails is not a waste; It should only be done thoughtfully, suitable for the audience, and at the best time to achieve the desired result.

Cold Email Guide-To Recap

Cold email is a powerful tool for promoting your brand and prospecting potential customers. It can greatly facilitate and make your marketing campaigns more effective. Generally speaking, cold emails aim to connect with prospective clients and move them forward to the sales funnel.

Undoubtedly, you can make the most of the high potential of cold emails by following the key points of the cold email outreach strategy mentioned in this comprehensive cold email guide.

FAQs

1. Is it legal to send cold emails?

Yes, cold emails are perfectly legal to send if they comply with anti-spam and data privacy laws, such as the CAN-SPAM Act and GDPR.

2. What is the difference between a cold email and a warm email?

A cold email is an initial email in which the sender and recipient don’t know each other, but a warm email occurs when the recipient has already been identified as a prospect.

3. How can I make my cold email stand out? 

By observing the key tips for a cold email strategy, such as catchy and actionable subject lines, personalization, a clear CTA, and using the cold email outreach tools like CUFinder, you can make your cold email stand out.

4. What are the best cold email tools?

To successfully implement a cold email strategy, you need the best and most useful tools, such as email marketing automation software like MailChimp or HubSpot, email verification & email finder tools like CUFinder, email campaign analytics tools, CRMs, etc.