5 Tips On Turning Cold Emails Into Hot Leads

Cold emails are the digital version of the old-school printed flyers you would find in your post box, back when the world was young and phones didn’t have screens. In the digital age, just as then, you get good ones and bad ones. Some will catch your reader’s attention and result in a sale. Others will end up on the trash heap. How you design your email and how a cold email is worded determines if it is successful or not. Cold emailing executives have turned this into an art form. Here are five important tips from the best of them on how to send a cold email and get a hot lead.

Getting A Reader’s Attention

There are two critical elements to getting a reader’s attention so that they will open and read your email. Your open rate is directly linked to your lead generation rate. So you need to ensure you do two things to pique your reader’s curiosity:

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The first is to send cold emails individually, like a person, not a machine. Email servers like Gmail can detect a mass email and will automatically send your message into a low-priority inbox. You want it to land in the priority inbox. So, personalize your emails, don’t mass mail.

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The second is to create a compelling cold email subject line. The best cold email subject lines contain a value statement to entice the reader to open the email. A value statement describes in a few words why your product or service is not only of value, but is practically the only way to ensure your client will improve business efficiency. The best subject lines for cold emails present your product or service as the answer your reader has been waiting for. Though, without sounding like a late-night TV sales pitch.

Structure It Well

The body of your email should be structured effectively. This means not going on and on too long but not ending before you have given a well-rounded account of what is on offer. You should treat your email like a news article: explain the most important points in the first few lines, and then fill in the details. Try to anticipate the questions your reader will ask and answer them in the body of the email, allowing a logical flow of readable and interesting ideas.

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Once you have decided on the structure of your message, you can put it into a cold email template that you can edit and tailor to the needs of a particular email campaign.

Call To Arms. I Mean, Action!

Sending cold emails should not be treated as a box-checking exercise because your readers will know it. Instead, treat every opportunity to send a cold email the same way a general would call in reinforcements, and make your readers feel that way, too!

Your Call To Action should be as compelling as your subject line. It should brook no argument. Without directly ordering your reader to take the desired action, you should clarify what is required, when it is required, and how to do it. If a customer has less to think about to do something, if you make it really easy, the chances are more likely they will do it.

Following Up

This is an important step for turning cold emails into red-hot leads. People are busy. They forget things, even important things. Following up on an initial cold email should take this approach and NOT be insistent or demanding. 

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You should create a separate template for this kind of email as well. It should be sent two days after the first email. You can send one more follow-up thereafter, before retiring gracefully. 

Use Software For The Advantage

Tools like Brag, LeadGen, Reply.io, Hunter, Slintel, and Warmup Inbox are all designed to help you to manage your customer interactions and offer the best way to send cold emails. These platforms vary in their pricing and range of features. They can be stacked or integrated. Some include A/B testing to determine which emails work best for you. They offer an advantage that you should make use of, so that your cold emailing campaign is on par with the rest of the digital business world.

When it comes to choosing and using platforms, everyone has their own opinion on what is best. You need to do a fair amount of research on what is available, bearing in mind your system capacity and your budget, to find what is right for you and your business. It’s not a one-size-fits-all-so-pick-your-color kind of decision. If you don’t feel confident in choosing the best tools, you should consult with a specialist who will be able to assess your needs and recommend what to use. 

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