6 Pro Tips to Write a Cold Email That Works

How would you feel talking to someone you have never seen or met before? That’s a strange feeling which often ends up in an awkward situation. Now imagine if you receive hundreds of emails every month from strangers asking for deals and work. What would you do in that situation?

Sure, you would reply to each of them even with a yes or no, but that wouldn’t last for more than a few months until it turns into a frustrating task. That’s when you think about filtering out the ones worth sending a reply to. That’s exactly what most managers, marketing heads, and everyone you are reaching out to would do.

Sending cold emails to someone is a very frustrating task. Not because you would have to come up with words to persuade the person at the receiving end but also because you may or may not get a reply. That’s why all you can do is develop outstanding strategies to make your cold emails worth a click and a thorough read.

By the way,

What is a cold email?

Answer this. Have you ever received a call from an unknown number, and the person on the other end starts explaining how their product or service is helpful for you? We all have been there, but the strange part is why are they contacting you, someone, they have no prior contact with? That’s one example of cold calling. Now when we email someone we have never talked to before, we are cold emailing them.

Here’s what cold emailing is all about. It’s an unsolicited email we send to someone we have no prior contact with. You must be wondering what should be the purpose behind such cold emailing. Well, just like cold calling, it is often done for marketing, to find opportunities, to encourage sales, or to contact a potential professional.

Cold emailing generally looks like a simple task, but the problem is making it just right so that the person receiving it would read it and reply to it. So, how to create a reply-worthy cold email?

Down there are some pro tips that will surely help you out. Have a look at them.

1.  Begin with a perfect subject line

Imagine you are interested in learning copywriting. Would you click on the email that says, ‘Important Email: Here is a copywriting guide for the beginner with useful strategies.‘ To be honest, you may not even notice it sitting silently in your updates or promotions box. There is a reason why 47% of email recipients open the email based on the subject line they notice.

Souce: wordstream

So, instead of that boring cold emailing subject line, you can go for something like – ‘Is copywriting for you? Anna – here’s your guide.‘

Wait, what was so special about this one? Let’s look at it deeply. This subject line is more personalized, tells a straightforward message, creates excitement, and, not to mention, is short and easy to read. Did you get it?

2.  Have a clear message and be specific

Let’s face it. Nobody wants to be just a random person in someone’s contact list, especially when they are reaching out to you with a purpose. We would all love to be someone special for sure, and that’s what we expect from our advertising emails. Personalization is not just about the subject line but also about the email body as well.

The best way to make your email amazing is to make it super transparent with the message, like whom you are reaching out to and why. Some personal information and research about the recipient go a long way.

Here’s an example to help you understand better what we are talking about. Let’s say you are reaching out to a brand content manager and asking them to give you a chance to publish your work on their website. It is best to tell them why THEY and not just some random company. Besides, let them know why your writing style and skills would be an asset to their website, content, and audience. You can do all this by simply researching the company.

So, before hitting that ‘send’ button on the email, prepare your research and personalized email body that says a clear message.

3.  Use social proof and personalize your email.

Now that we are on research, you don’t just stop knowing about the company and the person you are reaching out to. As we said before, research goes a long way, and so are definitive results about the receiver.

Source: newoldstamp

Let’s look at an example. Taking on that content manager example, it would be best to include some recent achievements of the company and how its strategy resulted in its overall success. Try if you can include some statistics in your email as well. Moreover, you can find all this information on social media, the company website, and even their newsletters.

4.  Be human

How often do you cut and paste your emails and the only change you make is about the person or company name you are contacting? That’s the biggest mistake one can make while writing a cold email. Not just that, if you just focus on listing down your skills, features, and product qualities, nobody will give a damn. Nothing strange but people will know if it’s robotic, AI-generated, or simply cut-paste words.

What to do, then? It’s very simple, and it’s actually about keeping it simple. What we mean by that is if you go for some simple, factual, and personalized conversational vibes in your email, it is very likely to work out for the best. Nobody likes to read technical, extremely professional, or robotic language. Instead, if you write a conversational tone and talk in your email as if you are talking to someone personally, there will be a high chance of getting a response.

So, no more ‘Hello Sir, this is to inform you…’. Get your hands on something like ‘Hey Paul, did you hear about…’. We know you got that.

5.  Make sure your email is written with clear intention.

Here’s the truth. Cold emailing can be an absolute success or a total disaster. Sure, it depends on what words you pick to write your emails but coming up with a clear goal plays an important role. For instance, how would you define your next step if you wrote the email? Not just that, if you don’t mention the purpose behind that email, it will end up confusing the recipient, hence, no reaction from him/her.

58% of people check out their emails every day before opening any social media app. Checking emails first thing in the morning is what most people do these days. Now imagine if they see something with a strong subject line but a vague body. That would be a total mood spoiler.

Therefore, always make sure you have the right and clear message, purpose, goal, and intention behind the email you are writing. It should be just about your message but also the why-are-you-writing-to-that-person part.

6.  Pay attention to the pain point.

Let’s say you are visiting the mall to buy shoes, but the salesman shows you different types of socks. Wouldn’t that be annoying? You definitely wouldn’t want to stay in the store for another minute. That may sound stupid, but this usually happens while people try out cold emailing.

Again, everything boils down to the research or, what we would say, ‘homework’ before you start planning and curating your cold email. Learn about the business your prospects are into and list down their strategies, structure, goals, situations, and needs. Furthermore, understand their problem and give them a reason to learn how your solution is exactly what they are looking for.

Source: chattermill