Direct mail
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5
 min read

What to Do When Cold Emailing Has Not Been Effective

Have you ever sent out a chain of emails to prospects only to not hear back from them at all? This is the common case for many sales reps when trying to reach out to prospective customers. With the sheer amount of emails being sent every day, it is very easy for cold emails to get lost within inboxes. However, this does not have to continue to be the case. There are many ways to improve cold mail campaigns. If worse comes to worst, there are a multitude of alternatives to secure those prospects.

Have you ever sent out a chain of emails to prospects only to not hear back from them at all? This is the common case for many sales reps when trying to reach out to prospective customers. With the sheer amount of emails being sent every day, it is very easy for cold emails to get lost within inboxes. However, this does not have to continue to be the case. There are many ways to improve cold mail campaigns. If worse comes to worst, there are a multitude of alternatives to secure those prospects.

IMPROVING COLD EMAIL CAMPAIGNS

Have your cold email campaigns been showing promise but  not quite reaching the level of response you originally visualized? Below are some tips to implement and boost your response rate.

1. PERSONALIZE THE MESSAGE

Before sending out a cold email (or any email in general), it is vital to do research on the recipient(s).

You may be thinking:

“Isn’t it okay to focus more on sending out the emails to a larger group of people?”

You may think that higher quantity can lead to a better response rate. However, this is a case in which quality wins the race.

Always make sure to address a prospect by his or her first name. You should include topics that would be of interest to the reader. Remind yourself that the recipient is human and the effort you put in to understand them can do wonders. One can do this by making the email seem like a normal conversation you would have with someone you have known for a while.

Another method to personalize a cold email is by referring to “unique qualifications” that led to you contacting them. For example, you can refer to the recipient’s expertise within a specific field and inquire about his or her thoughts on a related issue.

Want to know the best part of personalizing emails?

It will help jumpstart a conversation that has a higher rate of conversion to sales.

Examples of effective cold emails can be found here.

2. INCREASE YOUR CREDIBILITY

Always make sure to introduce yourself when cold-emailing. Doing so is part of email etiquette and will help reduce some of the unfamiliarity the recipient feels towards you. Examples of personal information to include are:

  • real name
  • job position
  • website
  • social media
  • phone number

Be sure to include several methods of contact so the recipient has options to choose from. It is important to reduce any difficulty relating to the methods in which email recipients can respond. This can indirectly and negatively affect your response rate. For example, some may prefer phone calls relative to emails, and vice versa. Social media can give a better sense of you and your company as a whole to the recipient before the conversation actually takes place.

Also make sure to use mutual friends as leverage if they exist. Recipients are more likely to trust someone with ties to their existing network. This explains why recommendations from friends and family is the most credible way to advertise. According to the 2015 Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Report, 83% of people trust recommendations from those they personally know.

3. OFFER A SOLUTION TO ANY POTENTIAL ISSUES THEY MAY HAVE

Offer a solution before your target client does to stand out.

This is a common but overlooked situation:

Everyone has issues, but not always the solutions.

This is opportunity which you can take advantage of. When it comes to advertising or making a sale, many marketers make the mistake of forcing the product onto customers without checking if it would create any benefit for them. This can often be the case with cold emailing, if the focus is mainly on number of emails sent out.

Offering a solution is essential to sales, because customers want to know what you can do for them before they invest their time and resources into what you have to offer. A preview can be given as reassurance of the quality and effectiveness of the solutions available.

If you are able to provide a potential client with solutions to some of his or her issues, he or she will be more willing and likely persuaded that the product or service offered will be of value.

For example, IgnitePOST was able to offer a solution to Athenahealth’s problem with sales outreach. Feel free to refer to a previous blog post for more details regarding this.  

4. EXPRESS GRATITUDE FOR THEM VIEWING THE EMAIL

An important thing to keep in mind when sending cold emails (or emails in general) is to make the recipient feel like he or she is doing someone a favor. Doing so will create a situation in which email recipients feels like they are good people by voluntarily helping those in need. This situation will allow you to avoid seeming like you are forcing them to help you.

You may ask:

How do you make it so someone is willing to offer assistance out of their own free will?

One key thing to keep in mind is people will help you if your beliefs aligns with yours. We went over the impact of relationships on sales in a previous blog post. Avoid being pushy at all costs or else the only thing you’ll be pushing away is potential customers. Be sure to compliment the recipient, but keep it genuine. It is easy to tell when someone is being dishonest, so avoid exaggeration or saying things you do not actually mean.

person typing.jpg

ALTERNATIVE TO COLD EMAILING

If you have already tried all of the improvements above and your cold emailing campaign has not been working, it may be best to switch to a different marketing approach. Direct mail is a great alternative to cold emailing. It offers opportunities to personalize direct mail that are not possible with just emails.

1. SEND A GIFT

Take advantage of sending physical mail by including a gift that the recipient will both enjoy and use as a method to make your company stand out. For example, you can include useful items, such as magnets and mug coasters, with your company logo on it. The options are unlimited, but make sure to find a product that you believe will provide value to your prospects. The more often the gift is used, the bigger the chance the prospect will think of you, which is one of the first steps of  securing a potential customer. This can be done by integrating your company into their everyday lives.

promo products.jpg

2. SEND HANDWRITTEN NOTES

What is better way to personalize direct mail than to send out a handwritten message? It removes the impersonal feel that typed words can give off and gives the recipient a feel that the message was meant just for them. One of the cons of handwritten messages is that they do take time. However, there are services that offer to send such messages. In fact, IgnitePOST actually provides a service that allows you to send highly personalized handwritten notes at a large scale.

IgnitePOST Team
Verified writer
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