Write a Cold Email That Sells
Merve Geneş
Publishedat
What is a cold email and why are they important?
Email marketing have been the most popular type of marketing in recent years with its scalability and other benefits. Many companies and businesses in general choose to use cold email outreach to reach out to their potential customers and turn them into trusted leads.
With the advantages of cold emailing and using cold email outreach as the main type of marketing in their sales, many people have reached success and made their product/service known.
It is a powerful way to let the world know about your projects and be a solution to people's pain points. In this blog post, we will talk about the ways for you to reach out to your prospects and the best practices that you can use in your cold emails.
What is a Cold Email
A cold email is the first contact between two people that is not preceded by an introduction or request.
A cold email is a single, one-off message sent to a person or company who you do not know. They are often used in sales and marketing to reach out to potential customers, clients, partners and employers.
Why are cold emails important
Writing a cold email is a good way to up your marketing game. Many cold email examples can give you the impression of being too generic or might feel like they do not reach their purpose because writing a cold email that actually sells can be tricky at first.
However, it is important to know how to write a cold email because when compared to other types of marketing such as cold calls or social media, it is way more successful and more convenient overall.
So let's first focus on benefits of cold emails before we get into how to actually write a cold email.
Benefits of Cold Emails
Cold emails are an effective way for sales and marketing teams to reach out, engage with, and convert potential clients. The success of cold emails largely depends on how they're written, which we will be diving more in the next sections of this blog post.
Cold email campaigns are a great way to increase sales and outreach. They allow you to reach out to potential clients that you might not have been able to find through social media or other means.
A cold email campaign can be used by companies looking to increase their sales or outreach efforts by reaching out to potential clients. The success of these campaigns largely depend on the strategy behind them. Let's focus on benefits of cold emailing in detail.
Scalability
Writing a cold email and sending it to your prospect might seem like it takes more time than making a phone call or using social media for increasing sales. Contrary to popular belief, email marketing is the most cost effective way to connect to their customers or turn them into leads, with a ROI (Return of Investment) of 42/1. This is the perfect social proof for you right here.
Basically, the reason for that is that sending a cold sales email can reach more people with sending a lot at once.
When you make a phone call, you can reach one person at a time. And you are to hire people that can make a number of phone calls a day. To make more phone calls, you have to hire more people. It is not a good way to invest, as we have spoken about it in our cold calls vs cold emails blog post.
Cold email outreach, or cold email campaigns in general, on the other hand, are more scalable with the new tools people come up with every day. Your sales can skyrocket with many new AIs that costs way less than hiring new people. It is way more sustainable and helps you a lot by sending way more emails at once.
You can take a look at our advanced AI for email first lines that can be helpful for you or your sales team when it comes to writing cold emails easily.
Convenience
A cold email is really convenient since it is sent as a mail and not a direct call or a post that requires your attention at that exact given moment. The email sits in your prospects' inboxes for them to check out later, in their own time.
Even if they might not see that specific email you've sent them, as an average person receives about 120 emails a day, they will see it at some point (with the ways we will be soon talking about on how to send cold emails that actually sells).
You get to send the cold email in your own time, your prospect gets to read the cold email in their own time. Everyone is happy, no one's workflow or life in general is cut in with marketing strategies that interrupt or demand immediate attention.
Many people feel a phone call to be easier than a cold email, but honestly? You can easily schedule a call with that email. It is basic politeness when you're reaching out to new people. It is texting, "Hey, can I call you if you're free?" before calling. Which brings us to the next point.
Less annoying
Imagine all the people cutting in and interrupting people's lives to make them listen about this amazing product/service they have.
Firstly, getting someone's phone number and then calling them on that is very personal, because honestly, how did you even reach out to their phone number in the first place?
However, when it comes to email addresses? Way less personal, makes the people feel less intruded, way less annoying, and probably they wrote their email address somewhere, no biggie.
Due to the polite way of reaching out to people, cold emails have a higher response rate than cold emails. If you must, though, you can simply schedule a call through your cold email, in which we always make you make sure that there is a call to action.
Ability to follow up
The best thing about cold emailing in cold email campaigns is the ability to write follow ups. Let's say you wrote a cold email to the right person, it was a perfectly personalized cold email, you've used the right subject line, the body was written immaculately, it was amazing in and out - but they just missed it. It happens to the best of us, we're human, we read things and then completely forget about them a second after it.
If that ever happens, you can write a follow up cold email, briefly mentioning how you've sent a cold email before and that you were looking forward to hearing from them.
It will give your prospect a sense of missing something, and that if you've written your follow ups as good as the initial cold email, they can then answer your call to action this time.
Though, it is a good idea to know how to write that cold email that sells. There are many ways and methods for it, but let's take a look at how to structure your cold email before we get into the best practices.
The Best Ways to Structure Your Email
To give it a short summary, here are some things that you can do to increase the open rates of your cold emails:
The best way to structure your email is by following a few simple rules. The first one is to make sure that you are giving your recipient a clear idea of what they will get from you if they open the email. The second rule is to make sure that the content of your email is relevant and valuable for the recipient. If it's not, they are likely to delete it without even reading it.
The best way to write an effective cold email is by using a catchy subject line and following up with an introduction that gives them more details about who you are and what you want from them. This will help them decide whether or not they want to continue reading your message.
If you'd like a one by one explanation of everything, let's take a look at what to do.
Your Name
Your name in your email is the first thing your prospect will see, right before the subject line. They will want to know there it was sent from. If your prospect sees a company name they haven't seen before (as it will be a cold email, so it is very likely that they haven't seen that company name before), it is within a high possibility range that they'll think it's one of those advertisements or sales cold emails that they receive every day that not only does not get opened but goes to the trash folder - or worse, spam.
And trust me, you do not want them in the spam folder. For more information on the differences between a cold email or spam, you can check out our blog post.
Thankfully, there is a way to solve this problem, and it is quite easy! Simply write your first name in the name part, not the company name. If the sender is a real person, it is more likely that they'll read it because a company name is more intimdating than a first name.
They'll know that this cold email was written by a real person and is not some generic copy-paste text. Adds up to the trustability.
Subject Line
When it comes to cold emails, the subject line is one of the most important elements. It's the first thing that your recipient sees right after your name and it can make or break the success of your email in your whole cold email campaign.
A good cold email subject line should be short, descriptive and interesting. It should also be tailored to the recipient's needs, should briefly touch the pain points.
For example, if you're emailing a prospect, the subject line should address the prospect's problem in a way that piques their curiosity and encourages them to open the email.
On the other hand, if you're emailing a business partner, the subject line should be more formal and focus on the benefits of working together.
The cold email subject line needs to be carefully crafted to ensure that it stands out in the recipient's inbox and grabs their attention. It should also include some key words that make it clear what you're offering.
With a good cold email subject line, you'll be one step closer to getting your message across. Using the right words and creating interesting subject lines can make all the difference in getting your cold emails opened and read.
Additionally, it helps to personalize the subject lines by referring to the recipient by name or mentioning a common interest. Doing so will make your email stand out from the many generic emails in their inbox.
Finally, it’s important to avoid using phrases like “Free Gift” or “Earn Money Now” in your subject line and in your sales email in general as these are likely to get your email flagged as spam. By following these tips, you can ensure that your cold emails get opened and read.
If you would like to understand how to write amazing cold email subject lines you can check out our post here with many different subject lines to choose from that fits your sales email. If you would like to get more information on the types of different email subject lines and how you can use them to gurantee your success in your cold email you can check out this post.
Greeting
Unless you are writing your cold email to a very formal, very government-like, very serious place, it is okay to greet your prospects with a simple "Hi [first name]". It feels more sincere and less intimdating.
If your prospect feels closer to you, it is more likely for them to want to try your product or service, which means your sales email reaches its purpose.
Don't forget to add their first name after that "hi". The first name only by its own will do, because you do not call people like Greetings Mister Firstname Secondname in your day-to-day life. Why make things uncomforatable in your cold email? The right way to do it is to use their first name.
Some people find it to be unprofessional to use the first name but really it is better to use the first name of your prospects to make them feel more comfortable, like a potential new friend is reaching out to you, rather than making things feel like a very serious message in a meeting. Eventually, it comes down to personal preference but we do recommend the usage of the first name.
If you do not know their first name then you haven't done enough research on your prospect. Take some time to focus on that.
First Line
After you have chosen a good subject line that fits perfectly to your cold email and greet your prospect, next comes the first line, which will be shown in the inbox of your email. For that reason, we consider the first line to be as valuable and important as the subject line.
The first line of a cold email is one of the most important pieces of any message. It's one of the the first things that your prospect will see, and it's what they'll use to decide whether or not to read the rest of your email. That's why it's so important to write a good first line.
Your subject line should be engaging and direct, and it should give the recipient an idea of what the email is about. Your opening sentence, your first line, should also be clear and to the point, and it should provide a brief explanation of why you're sending the email. By taking a few extra minutes to craft a compelling first line, you can dramatically increase the chances of your recipient taking the time to read your email.
To peak their interest it is a good idea to include some details about your prospect. Usually one sentence is enough for a first line as it increases the open rates. People want to see on their inbox interface what the cold email will be about because they simply do not want to read long paragraphs. Everyone's time is valuable.
Adding Value
Once you have written the first line, then it comes to explaning what your prospect will do with your email. Okay, you've explained why you've emailed them but why should they care? What do they get out of it? What product or service do you have to offer? Basically, why should they care about this email they've recieved?
This is where it becomes really important to mention a pain point. If you can manage to touch the possible pain points of your prospects, then they will be more intereted in your product or service because it becomes a win-win situation.
It is real basis of marketing, trying to solve the problems of your customers, not just sending them advertisements and trying to get them to buy a product/service you sell. This idea of taking care of your potential customers should be the main point of your whole cold email campaign.
Yes, a sales email is there to sell the product but it is more likely for you to make sales if the prospects actually need what you have to offer them. The best cold email your prospects can get is the cold email that actually helps them, it what makes it an effective cold email. This is why it is important to chose the right person as your prospect, which we will be talking more about in the next sections.
Call to action (CTA)
The whole point of your sales email is to make your cold leads complete an action. You want them to respond to you, arrange a meeting, take alook at your product/service. This wish of them responding to your email is called call to action.
This is what makes it into the marketing strategy, cold emailing. So send emails with well-thought call to action sections with one sentence or two that politely call the prospect to fulfil the little task you give them, such as reaching out to you, letting you know about their ideas, or arranging a meeting/call.
Closing
To sign off your email, you can thank your prospects for their time. One sentence or one word is enough really. Add your name, your job title - and that's it! Congrats, you're done with that email.
7 Secrets for Writing Good Cold Emails
Emails are the most popular form of communication with customers. They provide a direct line of communication - without any interference from a salesperson.
Here are the 7 secrets for writing good emails:
1) Be clear about the purpose of your email
Know why you're writing. There are many reasons for writing sales emails. It can vary from wanting to get to know your prospecst to showing them what you have to offer, or simply to let them know about your business/company.
Keep in mind that an email without a clear purpose will feel vague and simply won't be responded to and eventually decrease the response rate. The best cold email is the one that is direct to the point and confident in tone with knowing what it is talking about.
2) Research your prospects
In order to create a perfect sales pitch, you have to know about more than the contact information, the email addresses, of your prospects. The ideal customer is the customer that is willing to buy your product/service and those who have an actual pain point that you have a solution to are more likely to go in the way you'd want them to. Because the right person will reply to your sales pitch.
You should be writing your email after you have gathered enough data about your prospect. And in B2B sales, it is important to gather data about the company as well, even though you will be cold emailing a person.
If, though, you are emailing a company as a person, maybe to get a job, you can read more here about how to email a recruiter.
3) Use informal language
Use your prospects' first names, as we have talked about above. A sales email and cold emailing in general tends to be more succesfull when it is kept casual.
4) Keep it short and concise
Cold emailing is the act of reaching out to your prospects for the first time. You do not want to bug people with paragraphs of text or flashy ads. You want them to see you and increase your open rates. So it is important to keep in mind that you want to be to the point and direct about what you're saying in your message.
If you don't keep it short or add too many extras, your message will get lost in there somewhere - might even make your email look like a spam.
5) Make sure you’re using the right words
Knowing the pain points of your prospects will be really valuable when your writing your sales email as you will be directly talking about the problems they're having.
It is important to show your prospect that you care about them in your email, that way you can turn them into a lead, and then a customer.
6) Make it personal
Email perosnalization is of utmost importance as it has been proven that more prospects respond to the sales emails that have been personalized for them.
In this post we have talked about to ways to personalize your emails and the best practices for writing them. Personalized emails have a greater number of response rates and therefore, it is a social proof that they actually work.
7) Send follow ups
We have talked about the ways to write a cold email that sells but, how about you write cold emails (plural) to your chosen prospect?
If they haven't replied to you then it is a good idea to send some follow ups. Keep in mind that knowing how to send follow ups and when to send follow ups are two very important topics for the success of your email campaigns.
The 3 Ways to Write an Email That Sells
Sales emails are the most important form of communication for your business. They stand out among all other forms of digital communication because they are the only ones that directly ask for a sale.
1) Use AI generators
Pros
Scalable: will write more in a shorter time
Cheaper: it may cost to hire people to make calls or create social media posts
Personalization: easy to personalize with every each new email
Cons
Might feel like a robot: if the AI is not trained well enough the sentences might feel odd
2) Learn the basics yourself
Pros
Personal: written by you fully will feel more personal to your prospects
Cons
Time consuming: writing a new email to every single person after you have made research for every each of them is really time consuming
3) Teach your sales team
Pros
Valuable to employees: you are adding a new skill to your employees lives, educating them
Cons
Expensive: a whole sales team working on writing emails is really expensive as when you want to send more emails, you will want to hire more people
6 Mistakes when Writing Your First Cold Email
There are many mistakes that people make when they first start sending cold emails. This is because they do not know what to expect and often forget the basic rules of writing a good email.
Below are some things you should avoid doing in your first cold email:
1) Don't send too many emails at once
Knowing when to send follow ups is really important because you do not want to bug your lead with asking too much at once. Don't send a follow up email right after the day you've sent your initial email. Yes, you want that outreach to be succesfull but is important to not blast their inbox with emails - you don't wanna feel too pushy. Saying you want to hear from them every few days is okay to ask.
2) Don't use too many exclamation points or emoticons
A few is okay, you know, in moderation. It is really hard to read an email with too many exclamation marks. Basically find an excited tone that feels more natural.
3) Don't include personal information in your email, such as your phone number or address
The main reason you are sending an email and not making a call to your lead is probably because you know that knowing someone's number can be too personal. So you have chosen this outreach method that does not include too personal details - neither of you or your lead. Let's not get started on how even more personal an address is.
4) Avoid asking for a response in the first few lines of your email
As we have talked earlier in this post, the first line(s) are really important. Telling your potentail customer to just buy buy buy your stuff as the first thing is too much to ask in your cold email outreach - it is the first time you are sending an email to them.
Let them know who you are, what you do, what you have to offer them before you ask them for some action. Let your sales email go smoothly, don't be too pushy.
5) Don't include too many links
To not make your email feel like a spam one, you shouldn't add too many links. Not only that but it will confuse your lead about where to click, what to do. It is okay to add one but usually more than that is too musch for the first email outreach. You do not want your sales email to feel to crowded to start with.
6) Don't use templates
Many people offer cold email templates but we find them to be too limiting and makes things to generic. It is okay to check out some cold email examples to get an idea about what to write in your cold email or how to structure it but to use templates altogether can be a huge downside.
You want to stand out in your sales emails and templates make you stand with the rest of the crowd. Many cold email examples sound like the rest and it is for that reason they are never read. It is a good idea to avoid the templates altogether and maybe use generators.
Conclusion
In conclusion, to write an email that sells, you need to make sure your email stands out from the crowd. Make sure to personalize your message and connect with the recipient on a human level. You should also make sure to be concise and to the point in your message, and avoid making any unrealistic promises. Finally, make sure to include a clear call to action that encourages the recipient to take the next step. With these tips, you can increase your chances of success when sending out cold emails.
Writing an email to sell a product/service requires a great deal of thought and preparation. You need to be clear and concise in your message, and you need to make sure you understand the needs of your target audience. You also need to provide enough information to convince your lead that your product or service is the right solution for them. With careful planning and an eye on the details, you can craft a persuasive and effective email that will lead to more sales.
To know more about the easiest way to write your emails you can check out our blog and to start writing sign up today.