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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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