Creating effective emails from a cold-call list is one of the most challenging tasks for most product-based businesses. When you don’t know the buyer, the store, their products or know only limited information, how can you write an effective email?
Here are a few tips from Steli Efti with AWeber (Email service provider) that will help you write more effective emails:
The Most Important Lesson of Sending Outreach Emails
1. Use mutual connections
Did you know that 92 percent of people trust referrals and recommendations that come from people they know?
When sending outreach emails, remember that you’re probably not the only one emailing with a similar request. (Let alone the only one pitching them that very same day.) So whenever possible, leverage your personal or professional connections who have a more direct relationship with your intended recipient. Then, ask them to make an introduction…
2. Write the world’s most intriguing subject lines
Surprisingly, 47 percent of people decide whether or not an email is worth reading based on the subject line alone.
At most, you have a little over a second to make them want to open your message. Try to create as much intrigue as possible.
You want your reader to think, “Really? Why?” as soon as they read your subject line. While there are a variety of ways you can do this, in my experience the easiest way to create intrigue is to either challenge a commonly held belief they may have, or simply ask them a question…
3. Personalize your email and get to the point quickly
When sending outreach emails, remember that you’re hoping to speak with one specific person, which means you want to personalize your pitch as much as possible.
In my own inbox, I always see emails with paragraphs of text about the company’s mission and values, and why they’d be so perfect to work with. The reality is that most professionals don’t care about that—and they have no reason to.
The only thing prospects care about is how you can help them…
4. Nurture ALL contacts
One of the most frustrating aspects of email outreach is deciding your best course of action when a recipient doesn’t engage with your messages.
The reasons for a recipient dropping off the map could be numerous — maybe they don’t have the time right now, they just never bothered to reply, or they’re simply not interested and haven’t explicitly told you that.
Whatever the reason, you may be tempted to shrug your shoulders, write them off in order to pursue a new opportunity, and never follow up with them again.
But that’s one of the biggest mistakes you can make…
5. Use other channels beyond email
Despite the fact that 86 percent of business professionals prefer to use email when they communicate for business-related purposes, be wary of relying on email too much in your outreach.
For some people, email might not be their preferred channel of communication and you’ll have a better chance of getting their attention if you speak to them over the phone, in person, or on social networks like LinkedIn or Twitter…
If you plan to email prospects or even call them, I highly recommend you read the entire article. There are many excellent suggestions and tips that may just be the one thing you need to catch your next buyer’s attention and make you stand out from the competition!