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20 Comments

AskIH: How to write a strong cold mail

I'm developing a marketplace website. To get service providers, I have to write a cold mail. Template email makes them annoyed. So I have to make a cold mail too strong for getting a reply.

How can I write a strong cold mail? Please give me some references and advises here.

  • Why I send the message to you
  • What is the benefit
  • What is the difference from alternatives
  1. 5

    Couple of simple things I've found to be generally true with email:

    • Spend 80% of your effort on the subject line, 20% on the content
    • Keep them short
    • Ask for a simple next step i.e. don't ask for a payment or lots of info in the first email
    • Text only formats get higher response rates

    Good luck with the outreach.

    1. 1

      Thanks a lot, James! I often write too much ...
      Your advice is really meaningful :)

      1. 2

        Offer value right away. Try to appeal to their wallets / their bottom line / their success / their clients etc... Don't ask for anything, but offer to tell more if they are interested. Be respectful of their time and attention.

        1. 1

          Not to explain a lot and get attention. Good advise, thanks @genemachine !

  2. 3

    As others have suggested, the subject line is king.

    You need to treat it like a funnel. First get past the spam filter, then get them to open it (good subject line), then get them to read it (engaging content), then get them to click (great value proposition etc)...

    We got 50%-60% open rates, which is MASSIVE, with our "best cold email ever", as it's been called by a lot of people.

    https://ramptshirts.com/blog/2018/01/12/wrote-sent-best-cold-email-ever/

    1. 1

      Thanks, @NeilC ! I'll read this article. And I totally agree with you because I will pass a mail I have skipped before also. Cold mail is a kind of crack shot.

  3. 2

    Thoroughly research your prospects so that you “know them”.
    Can’t stress enough how this is usually poorly performed, if not omitted.

    If you do your research well, you’ll know from which angle you can break the ice with them. Therefore, personalize better your copy, your subject line, your ask.

    1. 1

      Thanks @mattduo ! I totally agree with you. Currently, I takes so much time to research about the customer I'm trying to send an e-mail.

  4. 2

    My only suggestion is this: make it personal. If you send out a bunch of emails to a list of people, they will inmediately realise that you are not speaking directly to them.

    But this is not random. Making an email personal isn't just about 'Hey Laura, how are you?'. Making an email personal is something like 'Hey Laura, I read your article about Landing Page Conversion using Mailchimp on your site and I loved it. While doing it, I realised....'

    This way, you are showing the person that you made homework. You researched about them.

    1. 1

      @imgermi Thanks for your advice. I have to contain both why I write to them and what I can provide. Which one should I write before? The first sentence is very important.

    1. 1

      @gator70 Thanks for your help :)

  5. 2

    I have been sending cold emails for my b2b saas product. I followed this guide - https://www.ryrob.com/cold-email/

    1. 2

      Please don't say "I've been a fan of what you are doing with x for the last couple of years" haha. Pandering to people for your own gain is distasteful.

    2. 1

      Thanks, IHop! I'll check this article :)

        1. 1

          Genius! I really appreciate for your help.

  6. 1

    Who is the target audience?

    1. 1

      Thanks for your comment. Top advisors & industry experts are our target.

  7. 1

    This comment was deleted 5 years ago.

    1. 1

      Thanks for your comment. Business experts who become mentors are our targets :)

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