Do you think that writing a cold email is the most difficult part? Think again!
The hard part is getting an immediate response.
Unlike social media marketing, email marketing cannot be about sending a casual message and getting a response sooner rather than later. There are so many wrong practices that can hurt your email marketing campaign.
Conversely, there are many good practices that you can implement to start getting more immediate responses after you introduce yourself over email.
Check out this step-by-step guide below for six parts of your email to focus on when maximizing response rates.
1. Ask For Permission Before Entering Their Inbox
I know most of us to have a habit of sliding into people’s DMs spontaneously.
But emails don’t work like that.
When your email enters your potential customer’s inbox, in a sense, you are invading their professional and personal space because unlike social media platforms, people expect to see only the content that is useful and has some value.
Plus, asking for permission is the best way to ensure that you get an immediate response. Sometimes it might not be possible, especially when you are sending out cold emails while assembling your list for sales and marketing purposes but you should try your best.
So how do you know when to send an email? What are the signs that tell you whether the permission has been granted or not?
- If the person has given you their business card with their email address, then your path is clear. This generally means that the person would like to hear from you. If not that, they wouldn’t mind you emailing them.
- Give them an option to “unsubscribe”. This amounts to permission of sorts because while you have sent the email without asking beforehand, however, you are giving them a choice to opt out of your email list.
- If your lead has himself/herself subscribed to become a part of your email list.
Make sure you follow these simple guidelines to ensure that you get an immediate response from the prospect.
2. Start By Writing A Compelling Subject Line
Before we get into more discussion, have a look at this statistic.
Emails with personalized subject lines have 26% higher unique open rates than emails with generic subjects, yet 70% of marketers are still not sending personalized emails.
Email clients scan for large batches of incoming messages with the same subject line. Thus writing a personalized subject line definitely will make you stand out and get you a little closer to getting an immediate response.
Here’s the deal: You have to do your best to pique your prospects’ interest, otherwise, no one would even want to open your email, let alone giving an immediate response.
Have a look at some of these subject lines that you can consider using in your introductory email:
- “55% growth in 4 months”
- “Hello from [your company name]”
- “Have you considered this wonderful marketing strategy”
3. Pick An Appropriate Salutation
Salutation consists of one single word, however, it can actually make a whole lot of difference.
Say, for example, if you are sending an email to someone in an industry like finance, it is smart to go with the conservative and traditional “Dear”.
If you are emailing someone in a more casual setting, say, in the Fashion Industry, you can go with “Hi,” “Hello,” or even “Hey.”
Now, what comes after the salutation?
Duh! Of course, now you will write down the receiver’s name. But steer clear of writing the full name, that is “[First name] [last name]” or something like “Mr./Mrs./Ms. [last name]”. The former seems robotic and forces, while the latter makes you look like a novice.
So you should simply go with the first name after the salutation.
4. Pick A Wonderful Opening Line
How you start your email is of utmost importance, especially when it is an introduction email. This is the line that will decide whether your prospect will read further or take a swift exit.
First and foremost, there is a rule when it comes to the opening line: Always make it about the prospect, not you.
If you start your introduction email with something like “My name is X, sales manager for XYZ firm, and I am reaching out because …” — it may seem fitting but this is not the way to start your introductory email.
Have a look at some other bad opening lines that you must NEVER use:
- “We’ve never met, but …”
- “I know, you don’t know me, but…”
- “I wanted to talk about my product…”
- “I am a complete stranger, but I have this product…”
Okay, so is there any need for you to remind your prospect again and again that you are a STRANGER.
Isn’t that a taboo word? No one wants to talk to a stranger especially when they want to talk about their product.
It is the first sign that tells the receiver about the “irrelevance” of the email.
You will have a better response rate if you start your introductory email with something that is relevant to your prospects. So what is more relevant to them than their problems?
Most people want to talk about themselves, so go ahead and do it. Talk about your prospect and then proceed with their problem and then finally, after you are done with this, now you can talk a bit about your product.
Prospects generally love these type opening lines:
- “Just saw your tweet where you talk about ….”
- “I noticed your recent blog which by the way is amazing, even shared with my followers on Twitter. I have some tips that can help you increase your conversion rate”
- “Have you ever thought about turning your ebook into an online course?”
5. The Main Body Of Your Email
You have come to the main part now. After following through the above points, your prospect is likely to stay long enough to read your main purpose, the main body of your email.
After you have stimulated their interest, now you have to write something more engaging and of some value to the prospect.
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Explain your reason for reaching out
You must have a purpose which led you to send an email, right?
Thus, be succinct and clear with your reason. Don’t beat around the bush, state your reason in an engaging manner.
For example, let’s say you are hoping to set up a meeting with the client so that you can talk a bit more about your services.
You might start with something like…
“You are doing an impressive job with your company. We also cater to companies like you including Facebook and LinkedIn.”
And then proceed with something like…
“Would love to meet over a cup of coffee and discuss how you can increase your ROI by 40%”
The main motto here is to make your product make as relevant as possible. Drop some big names you might have worked with which can work in your favor and act as social proof or testimonial.
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Make your content easy to read
Have you ever noticed the newsletters that Medium sends?
If not, then have a look at the newsletter below:
I hope, you get the gist of it now.
Did you notice something?
There is a lot of whitespaces. Both the left and the right side of the content has a big open space. Plus, there’s an appropriate amount of space in between the newsletter stories as well.
Apart from this, the font is clean and simple as well, it is neither too small nor too large. All this makes the email uncluttered and easy to read, not to say quite pleasing to the eyes.
In this form of setting, the viewer doesn’t get confused about where to look and what to read in which order.
Let’s take the example of a store. What if you walk into a dingy store with cluttered aisles and everything badly organized? Wouldn’t you be confused about what to try out first?
Have a look at these guidelines that will come in handy to reduce email bounce rate:
Make some of these quick changes and you will be able to reduce email bounce rate.
- Make sure your font size is at least 16 pixels (some browsers default to this display size but not all).
- Use an easily readable font, for example, something like Open Sans or Frank Ruhl Libre.
Why do I suggest these two the most?
These were ranked as one of the most popular fonts by Awwwards magazine, in part because they are simple and easy to read online. - Leave out an ample amount of whitespace for better navigation and to make your email easy on the eyes.
- Declutter the email.
If your emails do not include these elements, then all you need to do is to make a few changes and tweaks so that you follow them from this time ahead.
6. Add A CTA That Aligns With Your Request
You have joined all the dots, now is the time to make the final call.
State your final request, but make sure that you add a call-to-action (CTA) redirecting your prospect to the page where they can go through with the request.
For example, if you want your prospect to give a review on your website then add a link so that they can be redirected to the review page.
Or if you want to set up a meeting, then provide a link to your meetings tool so that they can see your schedule and assign a date accordingly.
So this is it!
We have touched upon some necessary and easy steps that will help you get an immediate response after you introduce yourself over an email.
Are you struggling to get immediate responses after you send an introductory email? What steps would you suggest to increase the response rate?
Hands presenting finance marketing concept
