Many wonder why a cold email is essential. Well, for starters, it makes your meeting with a client, less awkward and more relaxed. Others go further to argue that getting someone to respond to a cold image is daunting. While this may be true, cold emails are still the most effective means of reaching clients.
Nonetheless, what even is a cold email? Before defining a cold email, it is imperative to understand the relevance of emails in digital marketing. Emails can help you increase your reach and visibility when used with other digital marketing tools.
Now back to the definition of what a cold email is, it is any mail released to a potential client without any connection to you. Simply put, sending out a cold email means that you pick someone’s address from any public domain and send him or her a mail message – both of you do not know each other. However, there are certain features present in a cold email. Here are some of them:
- Your names.
- Your complete contact information.
- The particular request you have.
- Customized content to please the recipient.
- A conversation starter to begin the talks quickly.
Unlike a cold call, a cold email to potential client is less annoying and intrusive. It can lead to a great conversation, and hopefully, high conversions. Therefore, as an individual looking to capitalize on sending a cold email to ask for a meeting, here are five tips that will help:
Do not send spam
It is quite natural for your email to appear as spam, and vice versa is equally valid. Here are some of the tips that will help you send spam-free emails:
- Use the recipient’s first name – this disqualifies your mail as spam by proving that you did not find a list of email addresses and sent out messages randomly.
- Use the right headers – this helps the recipient understand the origin of the email. To show that you are a real person, you equally need to use your real names and personal email address.
- Make the message relevant – beating around the bush often runs red flags on the recipient’s side. Go straight to the point and tell him or her why you are sending them the email. One of the most significant indicators of spam mail is irrelevance. Most spam emails send out a generalized message for everyone, as opposed to specifics to distinct individuals.
- Avoid praising yourself too much – the sole purpose of sending the message is to woo the prospect and sell yourself as the perfect man or woman. In case you do not have enough to write, keep it short.
Catch their attention
There is always one particular thing someone is looking for in a business or individual. It is imperative to try to understand this before sending out the email. This is because people will quickly identify a cold email, especially if you do not grab their attention. The next thing they will do when they realize that it is a cold email is to delete it and probably, block you.
To avoid ending up this way, you need to be tactical in your approach. Make it as convincing as possible. A great way to achieve this fete is to acknowledge the fact that cold emails rarely see the light of day and show them why yours is unique. Let them know why they should not go ahead to delete your email. This is not easy to achieve, but it is possible. The following tips will make your approach a lot easier:
- Be concise – nothing is more annoying than beating around the bush. Direct communication always wins prospects when compared to coiling stories.
- Personalize your email – make the prospect know that it is not a spam mail.
- Let them know what they have to gain – everyone is interested in what their share is, as opposed to what you will do or how you will work with them.
Show them that you can help them solve a significant problem
However, you need to be careful here as you can easily bombard your recipient or annoy him or her. Some brilliant techniques that may work in your favor include the following:
- Leave the communication open – avoid having the conversation to favor your end only. It should be open-ended so that the decision on whether to meet or call you falls on the prospect’s court. For instance, letting the client know that they can call you if they need more help will even make them more anxious and ready to place the call. This is opposed to coercing them to call you through aggressive messages.
- Share meaningful and helpful content – let them know why you are sending the mail and how you can solve their concern. You will find them getting back to you quickly.
- Address the primary concerns – you need to be straightforward in your approach to the client’s interests. You need to let them know how you intend to solve their problems.
Use robust facts in your presentation
Avoid talking on things you have shallow knowledge in, or sharing half-baked information. This will only jeopardize your chances of making conversions from the prospect. Sit down and analyze your mail first, making sure that it has all the important pieces of information that your prospect will employ. Seeing this will make him or her to seek your services immediately.
Besides, lies are short-lived. No matter how good you package the wrong information, the truth will come out eventually. This might end up tainting your reputation.
Be unique
Nothing sells more than uniqueness. Nobody wants to go over a mail message that is similar to what he or she read a while ago from another email. It makes your own look suspicious and spam-like. Try to employ creativity to come up with messages that are not like any other.
Borrowing ideas from friends and similar emails is not a bad idea per se. However, outright copying is not right.
