What Is Cold Email & How to Write an Effective Cold Email

Email isn’t exactly a neglected marketing medium, but it’s often misused. Since it’s so easy to send a mass email to dozens, hundreds, or thousands of subscribers, we often forget that email can also be intensely personal.

Cold emails are the perfect example of an underused art. When done poorly, a cold email can reflect badly on your business and lose a potential sale. However, when done well, it’s a fantastic way to convert prospects into customers.

Those are the questions we’ll dig into today. We’ve also come up with an 11-step strategy for writing your own cold emails — ones that not only convert, but might also turn customers into brand ambassadors.

What Is Cold Email?

Cold email is a communication strategy that involves reaching out via email to someone who is not aware of your brand or business. It’s similar to cold calling — you’re getting in touch with someone without first hearing from them.

When you send a cold email, you’re inviting someone to check out your brand and your digital products so they might become a customer. However, you choose prospects based on data or information you’ve collected about them.

You’re not picking numbers out of a phone book. You’re curating a list of people who fall into your target market.

Is Cold Email Spam?

I visited your site and it looks like you need [service]. We can help! Give us a call or visit our website to learn more. It’s impersonal, addressed to a vague recipient, and often devoid of personality and valuable information. That’s not what you want.

Spam gets your email address blacklisted and results in lost sales. Cold emails, on the other hand, help you win sales and improve your brand reputation.

How To Write a Cold Email in 11 Easy Steps

1. Create a List of Potential Customers 

Start with the people you want to email. While you’ll send individual messages to each person, it helps to start with a list. You can then prepare a template that you tweak for each individual person.

The same goes for messages via Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms. Just keep in mind that people don’t appreciate receiving private messages the second you connect with them.

If you’re going to send cold emails via social, wait until you’ve interacted with the person in some way, such as by retweeting, commenting on a Facebook post, or liking an Instagram photo.

2. Craft an Intriguing Subject Line

The challenge with cold email subject lines is to avoid sounding like a marketer. That’s always tough when your goal is to market something.

There are several ways to make a subject line more clickable:

·         Mention a shared acquaintance

·         Describe how a competitor achieved something amazing

·         Ask the recipient to reserve a time for a call

·         Invite the recipient to guide you to the decision-maker

·         Ask for a favor

Keep your subject lines short and sweet — somewhere between three and five words. If you can mention something personal, such as when you met the recipient at a convention, do so in the subject line. The same thing goes for a shared acquaintance.

3. Add Each Recipient’s First Name

In some ways, email personalization has been played out a little too much. It’s overused because it’s become easier than ever to insert personal details into an email automatically.

Start with the person’s first name. Insert it in the subject line if you can, then add it to your email’s greeting.

You can add other personalization features, too. For instance, you could mention the recipient’s job title, company name, or geographic location. Show that person you’ve done your research.

4. Explain why you’re Contacting Each Recipient Individually

Continuing with the personalization track, let’s make sure that you’re tweaking your cold emails to suit the recipient. Remember that you don’t want a cold email to sound like marketing speak.

Let’s go back to our example about a Knowledge Commerce professional who sells online courses on public speaking.

Maybe you know that the recipient is a member of Toastmaster’s or that he or she is preparing to speak at an event in the near future. You can mention that fact in your email.

5. Avoid Over-Selling Yourself

The best way to approach a cold email is as a friend. You might not know this person, but you want to help him or her out.

Maybe you don’t even mention your online course yet. You just invite the person to get in touch for a chat. Perhaps you mention your online course by explaining that a shared acquaintance has taken it in the last month and enjoyed it.

Focus on what he or she can gain from your message instead of what you’re trying to sell. That way, your recipients feel like they can trust you moving forward.

6. Capitalize on Social Proof and Compelling Data Points

Social proof is huge in cold emails. People like to buy products that other people have enjoyed — it’s human nature.

That’s how social proof works. It alleviates the stress of being “the first.” People don’t like to become guinea pigs. They want to know that other people have enjoyed a product before they invest their own cash.

It’s kind of like peer pressure — but in a good way. You’re not trying to convince someone to meet you behind the school for a cigarette; instead, you’re sharing a product that he or she might enjoy.

Social proof can come in the form of a testimonial, compelling data points, the recommendation of a shared acquaintance, or the seal of approval from a recognized industry expert.

7. Don’t Waste Your Recipients’ Time

If you waste someone’s time, they’ll never give you a second thought. In fact, they’ll actively avoid you in the future.

Think about it. We can always make more money, find other friends, cook more food, and find more water. Time is the one thing that can actually run out.

The important thing is to make sure that every word conveys something useful and intriguing. If it doesn’t, cut it out. Be ruthless.

8. Provide Multiple Ways to Get in Touch

Everyone has a preferred method of communication. Some people like to send emails. Others like to call. Still more would prefer to talk via social media first.

Provide multiple ways for the recipient to get in touch with you at the end of your email. Make sure to add your email address even though it’s in the sender’s information at the top. Add your phone number and social media handles.

9. Offer Multiple Times to Talk

As we mentioned, some people want to talk to a live human being. It might sound crazy, but it’s actually beneficial for you to hop on the phone or Skype for a quick chat.

10. Offer Something of Value

Generosity is one of the most powerful motivators in your arsenal. When you show someone that you’re generous, you invite that person to reciprocate.

You could provide a link to your most recent blog post, for example, based on the person’s interests. Even better, provide a free download (or link to a download) that might help the recipient solve a specific, painful problem.

Link to a YouTube video, a webinar registration form, or anything else that serves up true value. Your goal is to demonstrate that you’re free with sharing your knowledge, which suggests that your paid products are even more valuable by extension.

11. Track Your Emails 

This is why it’s essential to send every cold email individually. You can provide a special link for each person so you can track that person’s activity after opening the email.

You can also create email sequences for cold prospects. The first email might be an introduction, for example. The second asks whether the recipient received the first email. You can then ask if the person wants you to remove them from your list.

Track subscriptions, open rates, bounce rates, CTR, and more through Kajabi. The more data you have, the better.

And if you’re more comfortable with old-school tactics, keep a spreadsheet, too. You can use it to track email addresses, names, emails sent, and emails received. It’s a great way to build data on your cold email campaign.

Best Cold Email Formulas for Knowledge Commerce Professionals

Use Storytelling With the Before-After-Bridge (BAB) Formula 

Storytelling is a powerful way to connect with prospects. Our brains instinctively understand stories, so you’re already ahead of the game.

The before-after-bridge (BAB) formula relies on storytelling:

1.     Before: Paint a picture of your prospect’s current situation regarding your product. What does it look like? What are the pain points?

2.     After: Describe the “after” picture. What would life be like without the problem, pain point, or lack of knowledge?

3.     Bridge: Tell the prospect how to get from before to after via your product. You’ve created conflict with the before picture and provided an intriguing climax with the after. Now you just have to get the prospect there.

The BAB formula works well when you want to explain how a product successfully solves a specific problem.

Capitalize on Pain Points With the Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS) Formula

There’s also an element of storytelling in the problem-agitate-solve (PAS) formula. It’s a tried-and-true copywriting tactic that has worked for decades.

·         Problem: Describe the prospect’s specific problem or pain point. What goal is he or she trying to achieve?

·         Agitate: Explain the outcomes or collateral damage of the pain point. Why is this such a pressing issue?

·         Solve: Relieve that pain by presenting your product. Tired of suffering? Here’s the solution.