From time to time, team members will share their views stimulated by content from an industry thought leader. Here, our Project Manager of Web Development, Irina Boudreau, discusses an article by Rimma Sytnik at ConversionXL, “Cold Emails: Can They Work, Or Are They Just Spam?”.
Happy New Year, friends! 2020 is upon us and we’re taking a look at one oldie-but-goodie marketing tool that is still as effective today as it was in 1978. We are talking about email marketing. Can you believe that the first marketing email was sent in 1978?!
40+ years later it’s been tried and perfected (or attempted to be) by many. In this article, we’ll focus on using emails as part of an outbound lead generation strategy.
The COLD EMAIL! Ugh..right?! But before you stop reading just take a look at these stats.
General Email Statistics
- In 2019, there were 2.9 billion email users worldwide.
- U.S. workers spend nearly 3.2 hours a week engaging with emails.
- 8 out of 10 prospects want to talk to sales reps via email over any other method.
- For every $4 spent on email marketing, an extraordinary $44 is made in return – 4,300% ROI.
- Email is nearly 40x more effective at new customer acquisition than social media
Sources: Copper.com
The Potential Advantages of Cold Emails
Even if in the past you didn’t ‘t have any or small success with cold emails trying to generate leads for your business, don’t give up on this strategy yet. When done right, cold emails can absolutely work for any business offering serious advantages over other outbound communication methods.
- Cold emails reach users where they spend the most time – their inbox.
See the stats above. 8% of working hours is spent checking emails. - Cold emails are persistent.
They wait on the user to read and open them unlike tweets or Facebook posts that get buried in a timeline never to be seen. - Cold emails are scalable.
You can reach thousands of potential leads with a single email every single day. Not so much with door-to-door sales or cold calling.
8 Steps to Successful Cold Emails
Implement the tips and guidelines below to optimize your cold email campaign and see your prospect list grow.
- RESEARCH. Define your ideal client and create content that’s relevant to them. Get down into the smallest details and learn to speak their language. Make sure to know answers to these questions: Can these people become long-term successful clients? Can they benefit from our products or services? Why would they buy from us?
- RECIPIENTS. Based on #1 above, determine how you’re going to get your list of prospects: buy a list or build a list. A purchased list may be dirty and unverified, although there are some reliable sources out there. Building your own list is the best solution. There are many ways and tools that can help you make the process fast (relatively) and painless.
- SUBJECT LINES. Resorting to misleading subject lines is a sure way to end up in someone’s SPAM folder. Deliver value with clarity, not cleverness. Ask questions that everyone is seeking answers to. Be short and concise, show people you respect their time.
- CONTENT. Make it worth people’s time to read your content. Offer value or reduce a pain point and make it personal. Make LinkedIn your best friend for finding names and titles. Timing is also critical. (We’re not talking about the time of day.) Learn what’s going on in the industry and with your competition. It may be the perfect time to lure in someone else’s clients.
- LENGTH. Keep your copy short and to the point (under 100 words) and skip the formalities. Many times 1-2 sentences will work wonders. Consider making a short personalized video.
- CALL-TO-ACTION. Do not attempt to make a sale or even ask for a meeting in the first email. However, have a goal for every email and tell your prospects exactly what you want them to do next (download an infographic, check out a case study, ask for permission to send more info, etc.).
- FOLLOW-UP. Follow-up. Follow-up. Most responses come from subsequent emails. Keep content fresh and relevant. Try different CTAs.
- REVIEW AND OPTIMIZE. Three key indicators to look at when optimizing cold emails are 1. delivery rate; 2. open rate; 3. click-through rate. Measuring CTR as a percentage of your open rate gives you a better indicator of the strength of the copy.
I hope you found this helpful and encouraging. Keep at it! A 4,300% ROI is up for grabs.
For details on each point and tips from industry leaders, check out the full article at CXL.com. Bonus: find out what pitfalls to avoid.
