The challenges are somewhat immense when you’re cold emailing. You’ve had no contact with someone you’re sending a cold email to. You also don’t have the chance to read their body language and cues or even hear their verbal feedback as you would in a face-to-face situation.
So what can you do to improve the processes surrounding how you send cold emails, as well as the results you achieve from this type of outreach?
The following are some tools and some specific strategies to keep in mind, addressing the challenges of cold emailing.
GMass
First, sending out countless cold emails can be time-consuming and inefficient if you’re not using the right tools. One of the best and simplest email tools is the Chrome extension GMass. With GMass you can work directly within your Gmail account.
There are quite a few really helpful features. You can compose your message just like you would any other Gmail message. Then, you can put your emails in test mode if you choose, and schedule mass emails to send later. You can choose to turn the open tracking on or off, and Gmass integrates with Google Sheets. You can also use the click-tracking feature.
There’s an unsubscribe link, campaign-level reports, and a handy tool to extract email addresses by searching for previous messages.
Also, the use of GMass makes it incredibly easy to tailor the message to the specific recipient, and the deep personalization tools are excellent as well as being easy to use.
Give Yourself Credibility
You may know all about the person you’re cold-emailing, but you have to work off the assumption they know nothing about you. You need to show them that you are credible and that you’re someone worth spending time on.
If you have shared connections, you should mention those. If you have anything about yourself or what you do that would be especially relevant to the person you’re emailing, you should plan to share it.
Know Why People Don’t Usually Respond To Your Emails
While cold emailing can seem like a bit of an art or a science, it doesn’t have to be overly complex. Simpler is better in most cases.
You should try to have an understanding of why your audience isn’t just ignoring your emails, but in general why someone might ignore emails.
It can often be the simplest reason that you’re overlooking. For example, the subject line tends to be a big turnoff for a lot of recipients. Keep it short and to the point. When you are writing emails, make sure you have a system in place for gathering data and analytics so that you’ll know what works in terms of your subject lines and what doesn’t.
Also, check your first sentence. If it’s terrible, you’ve got a problem.
Finally, think about your template. It is personalized and relevant or is it canned and boring?
Learn the Formulas
There are different formulas for writing emails, and Yesware put together a blog that’s great in terms of highlighting these formulas. You’ll have to go through, learn the details of each and then figure out which is going to work in your particular situation.
One example of a formula they highlight is called the Before-After-Bridge or BAB. With this formula, you’re laying out the current situation of the person you’re writing to. Then, after refers to them envisioning the outcome if their problem was solved. The bridge then shows what they need to do to get to that point.
Another example of a formula is what they refer to as Attention-Interest-Desire-Action or AIDA. With this one, the attention refers to quite obviously, grabbing the reader’s attention. Then, you want to engage their personal interests. Build desire for what it is you have to offer, and then action means you’re asking them to respond.
Pay Attention to Email Preview Text
Finally, email preview text is basically like taking your subject line and expanding on it, and it is important like the subject line. A lot of people aren’t sure if they should actually open emails, and if you have a strong email preview text chunk, it’s going to show them that it’s a good idea for them to open it.
You have a limited amount of space with your preview text, but it can be much more effective than you think in terms of drawing your audience in.
There are a few specific tips to keep in mind when crafting preview text. First, don’t add your unsubscribe copy here. Also, avoid using this as a place to dive directly into the sale.
