We started Leadberry's cold email eBook with discussing warm and cold emails and showed you some tested out and actually working cold email templates.
Now we continue with the 10+1 core components of effective emails! Read on!
1. Subject line
The subject line - as you may already know - is the most important part of your emails. Your open rate may depend on it!
“Appropriate person” as a subject line is tested and proven.
Other option: “Hi [First name ], I’d like to help you with [result]
This is the most important element of a cold email. Never try to sell with the subject line. Your first aim is to setup a meeting. Be transparent.
2.First sentence
“I am writing in hopes of talking to the appropriate person who handles (role)
Be vague. Let them define it. “Who handles marketing” works better than “social media management” because you don’t know who exactly you’ll be referred to.
3.Second sentence
“In that pursuit, I also wrote to [your boss], [your boss’s boss].”
Don’t get stuck with doorkeepers. Remember: Bosses delegate -- Employees cover their ass. Use this to your advantage. Many times prospects take your meeting because of the leverage you create in this sentence.
It means your message will be carried by someone within the company. It means much higher response rates for you. Pretty neat, eh?
(Credit: This is the genius idea invented by Bryan Kreuzberg from Breakthroughemail)
Important: never CC anyone. And never try to reach out to the entire company.
“immediate no thanks.” - kind of response is what you get when you pitch a whole company.
4. Third sentence: First Call-to-action
“If it makes sense to talk, how does your calendar look?”
Don’t use “meeting” and “schedule”, be as informal as you can. “Chat” also works.
5. Pitch and Positioning
[our company] helps [SaaS] companies doing [lead generation]. We do this by [turning anonymous website visitors into sales leads].
Answer this question: What’s in it for me?
It should be 1 or 2 sentences. Sell the meeting only, don't try to close the whole deal in the first email.
6. What’s in it for me?
It means [more & better quality leads from the same budget] to you.
Answer this question: What’s the solution you offer (your elevator pitch)
7. Why does it matter
The benefit for clients is [these leads already show some intent or interest and you don’t need to waste time with manual data cleaning and enrichment or manual data entry to your CRM].
Answer this: What does it mean to me? To my company and me personally?
8. Get creditabilty
“Some clients including…”
Provide credibility. If you don’t have past clients, mention relevant accomplishments. If you’re confused, just skip it.
9. Final Call-to-action
“If it makes sense to talk, how does your calendar look like?”
Repeat Call-to-action. People are distracted. Especially in front of a computer.
10. Last sentence
“If it's not you, who is the appropriate person to speak with?”
This sentence does 3 things. It gives the reader the opportunity to delegate immediately. You’re providing them an easy way out. You are also being consistent with your subject line, “Appropriate person”. Being authentic and transparent from the very beginning is the key. You can lose big clients with just 1 wrong email.
+1. Opt out and anti-SPAM
These are required by SPAM-CAM law and also gives an easy opportunity to contact you.
- Full Name
- Title
- Company name
- Phone number
- Physical address
To be continued...