As a small business, you are likely always on the hunt for great, affordable, and effective ways to market your products and services. What if we told you that one of the best strategies continues to be sending cold emails to your prospects?
Cold email marketing, while all too often under-valued, can in fact be your best source of leads. Let’s find out more about it in our guide right here.
What Is a “Cold Email”?
When we talk about “cold email” we refer to an email message that you send to someone you have never had any prior interactions with. In a way, a cold email is similar to a cold call, but it comes across as a softer, more respectful way to pitch yourself to a potential customer and generate leads.
Why Cold Emails Are NOT Spam!
Some people still confuse cold emails with spam messages. It’s important, though, to clarify that the two are NOT the same. While spam emails are indiscriminately sent to a large group of people and often contain malicious information, cold emails are carefully crafted and tailored exactly to the qualified lead they address to provide valuable, high-quality, and informative content.
Nonetheless, the fact that you might have not interacted with that person previously might trigger a spam alert in some particularly sensitive providers, which automatically forward your cold email to the spam folder. Don’t worry, though. If your domain reputation is safe, verifiable, and positive, and you adhere to best practices, this shouldn’t happen to you.
Cold Email Marketing: The Top Five Benefits
1. It Helps with Lead Generation
Arguably the biggest benefit of cold email marketing is that it helps with generating new, qualified leads. This happens because cold emails, when executed effectively, are highly targeted, which enables you to focus exclusively on the right audience.
2. It Maximizes Your Networking Efforts
Networking continues to be an excellent way to boost your brand, even in our digital age, and cold email marketing can support your networking efforts. By reaching out to your network of potential leads via email, you can optimize your time and resources and expand your reach literally at the touch of a button.
3. It Boosts Your Brand Awareness
Another great thing about cold email is that it helps potential customers become aware of your brand and get acquainted with your products or services. While your leads have likely never interacted with you before, cold emails are so targeted that they will only be sent to people who have a genuine interest in what you do and sell.
4. It Increases Your Scalability
Because cold emails allow you to reach such a large audience in a very short time, they also help your company scale up rapidly and effectively. And within such a huge audience, the chances of finding interested leads who become paying customers rise exponentially.
5. It Saves You Money
We mentioned earlier that cold email marketing is an affordable strategy for budget-savvy businesses – but how affordable is it, exactly? Well, according to research from HubSpot, every $1 spent in cold email marketing outreach may generate up to $42, potentially boosting your ROI by a jaw-dropping 4,200%!
Top Tips to Craft a Great Cold Email
Now that you know why you should be using cold email marketing, let’s learn how to craft the perfect cold email.
Nail That Subject Line
Just like with any email that you send to all your well-established customers, your cold email should include a strong subject line. Make it snappy (aim at no more than 45 characters), catchy, and intriguing, and you will hugely increase the chances of your lead opening the message and reading the content in full.
Pay Attention to the Timing
If you thought that you can send emails anytime of the day and night and always get the same results, then you might need to think again. Timing is (almost) everything when it comes to email, and this applies to cold emails, too.
According to statistics and surveys, there are two optimal times of the day in which your leads are more inclined to open, read, and respond to a cold email. These times include very early in the day – think 6 AM, for example – and late in the evening. Why?
Well, first thing in the morning is normally when your prospects are getting ready for the day. They might be checking their phones over a cup of coffee, and might be more open to hearing about new opportunities.
Sending your cold email after dinner (let’s say, between 7 PM and 9 PM) is another good option. By this day, your leads should be back home and might be winding down for the night – but not before one, last look at their inbox!
Make It Hyper-Personalized
Another great idea to apply to your cold email creation is hyper-personalization. This is also one of the main factors that differentiate a cold email from a spam email, so you really need to focus on it.
If you open your email by addressing your prospect by their first name, for example, they will instantly feel more interested in hearing what you have to say. Next, introduce some tangible value that your prospects might be interested in, whether it be a specific product that you know they need, or a service that will make their lives easier.
Finally, it won’t hurt to grab their attention by using their first name once more, thanking them for their time, and inviting them to get in touch with you for more information.
The Takeaway
Cold email marketing can be a fantastic way to attract more customers, convert more leads, and generate more sales.
Fancy trying this out for your business? Get in touch with our team today, and we’ll show you how we can help.
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