How to Write a Cold Email That Actually Gets a Response
We take you through some key thoughts and ideas to help you write a cold email that actually gets a positive response form the recipient, and not just find that they have blocked your emails.
Introduction
Your cold outreach should get your attention and pique their curiosity so they’ll want to answer your email. It should also prove that you know what they’re about, and why they should care, and what value you bring. And they should want to talk to you.
So this is where you need to be able to know: What’s in it for them? What problems are they trying to solve? How can you help them? How can you solve their problems? Here are some questions to help you flesh out those answers: Do you know about the problem they’re trying to solve?
Are you pitching a guest blog post? If so, have you come armed with great topics and suggestions? Which of their current processes are bottlenecks? Are their key stakeholders happy with the status quo? Is there a clear, actionable way to improve things? Are you solving their problems, or are you just telling them they should solve their problems?
What is a cold email?
Cold emailing is sending cold outreach emails to new potential prospects in order to determine their interest level and whether they would be interested in working with you. For example, you may be a virtual assistant working in advertising sales. And you want to make sure you are connecting with a company that shares your values and goals.
With that in mind, you should have some research, messaging, and structure already in place for your cold outreach emails. However, what if you do not? What should you do?
The answer is to start by defining a few key things to cover during your outreach efforts: Who is my target audience? What do I want to talk about? What is my deadline? Who is responding to my outreach efforts?
What to do in your cold email
The first thing you should consider before you even start writing your cold outreach email is who the recipient is. As this is the person who actually needs your email, you need to be very careful and patient when creating your subject line. Cold email subject lines are only effective if they relate to the reason they want to receive your email.
Are you offering something that could benefit them? Are you wondering whether they know about this other product or service you offer? Why do they want to receive your email? If they actually want to receive your email, they’ll be intrigued and ready to open it and learn more.
The subject line you choose should be based on the scenario and the questions you want to be answered.
What not to do in your cold email
When it comes to writing a cold outreach email, what you don’t want to do is: Send the same cold outreach email to everyone Have a generic email without a clear and personal reason for contacting the individual Require an immediate response Not make the person feel good
Sending emails that are too generic or spammy. There is a common mistake made when people are sending cold outreach emails to complete strangers. You start with a standard cold outreach email with no real thought and flow. You simply copy and paste the email that you normally send out to everyone, such as:
Hi [Customer Name], I was looking through your site/feed/product. I noticed [Some Feature/Problem]. Here’s an excerpt from what I noticed: I enjoy following and commenting on your website.
Yep, it looks like you gave no effort and your response rates will be terrible as a result. It’s the lazy approach.
How to effectively write a cold email
Cold outreach doesn’t need to be an email with zero structure. It doesn’t need to be a line after line of someone bashing your product or service and justifying why they would not buy it. It doesn’t need to be a 20 page unreadable document with 100 new words for every one.
It doesn’t need to be a typo free spiel in Word you worked on for 3 hours, it doesn’t need to be a 300 word thing you read twice before sending. No, cold outreach needs to be short and to the point.
It’s about a couple of key points that explain why your brand is relevant in a given market, it’s about a couple of key points that will leave the reader engaged, it’s about a couple of key points that show why this person would be a good fit for your product and/or services.
Conclusion
You don’t have to make the hard sell in your cold outreach emails. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t send it. Just don’t expect your email recipient to have bought your product yet, or has already purchased your product. Plan your advertising strategy well first. However, also understand that a great job, your email strategy, and your basic message has to match the situation you’re in.
For example, don’t write a cold email to CEOs of companies that you can’t break into, or even to people you’re a stranger to. Remember that most people reading your email right now have a product you’re interested in selling. And don’t be afraid to simply ask for a quick response, an introduction, a quick chat, and even a casual product test.
