Cold emailing: the guide to an effective campaign

At Growth Room, 90% of the companies we support have Cold Emailing as one of their favorite acquisition channels. The Problem Is That In 2020, We Are Receiving 39 emails per day on average. Emails are therefore less open, and it is difficult to find a place in the main box of your prospect. But we can assure you that this channel is, and will remain, of rare effectiveness.

One of our B2B specialists has therefore chosen to write a clear and simple guide:

These stems from the results of my various experiments, iterations of campaigns that I have been able to carry out with our clients.

To be able to “master” and have good cold-emailing rates, it requires time, tests, and always questioning yourself. What works today may not work tomorrow. It is your ability to adapt to your prospect that will be critical.

Martin Galabru, B2B specialist at Growth Room

Here are a few steps to check and follow to maximize your chances of having effective Cold Emailing campaigns.

Set up and configure your domain so as not to end up in spam.

Today, configuration at the domain level is mandatory for better deliverability. The objective is simple: not to fall into spam or unwanted messages, or even the “Promotion” category of your recipients' mailboxes. The aim is to arrive at the “main” level.

To do this, I invite you to take a look at the tutorial written by Julian, Growth Strategist at Growth Room, which details the steps to configure at Level your domain to avoid spam.

Use the right cold-emailing tools

Don't do Cold Emailing with classic tools like Sendinblue, Mailchimp, Sendgrid... They are made only for transactional emailing. Choose tools specialized in cold, our selection at Growth Room: LemList, Klenty, Reply.io.

Good segmentation, be specific

Target and segment as much as possible to be more accurate in your approach and in your message.

There is no point in building volume if the campaigns are not performing well. It is better to have less volume, but to get more response/appointments and clicks on your links.

On average, if you spend 3 hours doing a personalized email campaign on an audience of 70 people only, we can guarantee that the results in terms of conversion will be better than spending only one hour based on 10,000 leads. Why? When you send a prospecting email, you need to identify a problem. Specific What could this particular prospect have, and that he understands that you have the solution.

Personalize your cold emailing as much as possible (on as many variables as possible)

Your leads are generally solicited several dozen times a month, on all available channels (E-mail, Linkedin message, telephone, Ads, Retargeting, postal mail, etc.). It is therefore essential to stand out in the approach, and the content.

How do you catch a person's attention? Once again, Hyper-personalization.

Most people think that hyper-personalization is based on the person's first name and company. “Hi FirstName, I saw you were working at {BusinessName}.”

We Have to Go Even Further. The lead's position, the size of his company, his sector of activity, his geolocation: this data can allow you to adapt your message and thus to detach yourself from overly traditional approach messages. Quick tip: talking about the direct competitors of the prospect's company works in the vast majority of cases.

All the variables at your disposal allow you to stand out.

Cheat and Refine Your Copywriting

You have to test numerous messages, whether in the subject line, or in the body of the email until you find the right one. The goal is to have good rates (opening, clicking), messages that perform and that lead to responses or conversions (making an appointment, recording a demo, registering for a webinar, etc.). Knowing your personas is essential. Know what your needs and problems are in order to adapt your message, and highlight the right elements.

In cold emailing for each metric, an aspect of the email is associated.

For the opening rate: test your email titles, this is what will have the most impact on the opening rate. A Good Opening Rate for a Targeted Base is around 65%
For the click rate: test your content, but also (and especially) on the conversion you expect. Sometimes it is more appropriate to direct your email to get a response, than to wait for the prospect to click on your calendly link in order to make an appointment. Indeed, you will convert better after one or more interactions with the prospect. At Growth Room, we focus the first email in order to get a response from the prospect, and after the first interaction, it's a personalized email to suggest a time slot for the appointment.

For content, copywriting is not an easy exercise. Sometimes long, complicated sentences can be explained very simply.

How?

Assume that the interlocutor you are approaching does not know you, and that in just a few short lines, he understands why you are contacting him and what need (s) you are responding to. Easy to say but not easy to do: your message must be relevant, and must be of interest.

Avoid Spam Words

What are spam words? These are the words identified and monitored by email providers to detect suspicious emails.

As much as possible, avoid using categorized spam words like: "100% “, “free”, “offer”, “free”, “free”, “free”. You will find a Short list here.

Send 3 to 4 emails

Follow-ups are essential to catch the attention of your leads. Thus, you increase your chances of opening your emails, and of responding. The number of follow-ups will depend on your commercial strategy, and your corporate values (purely dirty or softer).

Put different CTAs to each of your emails

Your interlocutor may be reluctant to carry out one of your calls to action.

By diversifying your CTAs, you can therefore catch it on another of your actions.

Some examples of CTAs: visit our website, take a demo, contact us, test our product, etc...
As I was telling you, you can totally aim for an answer, and not put a clickable CTA.

Send your cold email campaign on different days of the week

Even if you know your personas very well, it is essential to contact them over several days. Your interlocutors may be absent, in a meeting, or even busy. Might as well send over several days of the week, at different times.

So choose weekday mornings (between 8 am and 10 am), and busy afternoon days (Tuesday and Thursday around 3 pm).
On the other hand, avoid Monday morning because everyone is in a meeting, the same for Wednesday afternoon: no school, parents can be “off.”
I'll specify it just in case: also avoid the weekend, Nobody wants to get emails on the weekends.

Check your database

It is essential to use the right tools to always have clean databases.

Database obsolescence is particularly important in B2B. Indeed, people are changing jobs more and more. According to several studies, between 20 and 30% of the information contained in customer databases is obsolete after one year. Constantly check the data on which you want to shoot your cold emailing rates. For This You Can Use Neverbounce.

Conclusion

Cold-emailing is a very powerful channel in B2B, it allows you to quickly, and almost free of charge, test the appeal of your service or product.

However, it is essential to take the time in advance to prepare and configure them. What works today may not work tomorrow. Your messages and approaches need to evolve. Instead of trying to pick up your best pen, you can always use a Lead Generation Agency.

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