I've recently done research, asked for feedback from my cold emailing prospects, went through trial and error myself, and have learned a few things along the way about cold emailing.
So, you’re sitting there finding leads on job boards, Twitter, Google searches, etc., and wondering why you still have no clients to show for your marketing efforts.
This blog post outlines a scenario that when followed can increase your return on investment and ultimately revenue with cold emailing.
Generate Leads
The first thing to do in any marketing campaign is to generate quality leads. This can be done with a simple method most websites have — newsletters.
Right Now: Make a list of 10 businesses with newsletters you’d like to freelance for.
Then, sign up to those newsletters and you may have to wait a few days for any real news to come to your inbox.
Now, it’s time to think outside the box. Just received a newsletter from that company on their new Facebook page launch? If you’re a copywriter, social media expert, or graphic designer go and look around that Facebook page.
If you’re thinking to yourself “I can write / design better than this crap!”, it’s time to start cold emailing.
Start A Template
Creating an email template can save you time, but you’ll also want to customize the template to match the needs and personality of each prospect.
Hello (Name)
One of the best things you can do for a cold email campaign is adding names into the greetings. Your potential customers receive dozens of advertising emails a week and to stand out, you must personalize each email.
Saying something as simple as “Hey Marissa, I see that your accounting business has recently set-up a new Facebook page to connect with customers. Congratulations!” can take you a long way in converting emails into sales.
Introduce Yourself
You want your potential clients to feel like they know you and can trust you. Introduce yourself, your services, and why you are contacting them.
“I’m Sabrina, a full-time graphic designer located at yoursite.com. I am contacting you today to determine if your new Facebook page requires any maintenance, writing, or design help.”
The Facebook page is just a way in. If you complete the project successfully, stay within deadline and budget, and treat the customer nice during the Facebook page design, they’ll be asking for a design for their other materials.
Add Benefit
Why should your potential clients hire you over the hundreds of other service provides that are as capable as you are? What benefit could you offer them with your freelancing? Increased sales? Higher Search Engine Rankings?
Whatever benefits you can offer your customers make sure to mention it in your initial cold email.
“A new and improved Facebook page design can attract new customers to your page and present to them that your business is professional and competent.”
Call to Action
A call-to-action is very effective in everything you do — websites, emails, flyers, etc.
“I’d love to discuss further details about this project on Wednesday at 1PM, but I can be available at a different time if this does not work for you.”
Offer Something Free
People, especially business people like your potential clients, love getting stuff free. Offer a small token of the services you are offering for if they decide to work with you. If you help clients with SEO, offer a free keyword research report. If you complete graphic design, offer a free design to their Facebook or Twitter page.
Effective Subject Lines
What good is a perfectly crafted email if it never gets opened? Without a good subject line, your email will get spammed or deleted before it has a chance. For the Facebook page scenario a great subject line would be “Congratulations on the new Facebook page!”. This is highly likely to be open because it’s relevant and shows you care.
- Avoid Spammy words such as free, help, earn money, etc.
- NEVER use all capitalized letters
- Keep the subject line short and relevant
- Add their name to the subject line
- Test your subject lines, change what doesn’t work
- Ask a question — it builds anticipation and interest
Always Follow-Up
Maybe the client was interested in your services but your email got lost and forgotten about in the dozens of others they received. Maybe the client needed an extra push to sign on. Maybe they need your services but not until a later date. Whatever the case they didn’t respond, that doesn’t mean the potential client isn’t interested in you. 80% of sales require 5 follow-up emails or calls.
Hello,
My name is Sabrina and a couple days ago I emailed you about our possible business collaboration. (List benefits again of collaboration.)
I am interested in helping your business take the first steps to success in (your service). I’d love to schedule a quick phone call, say around 1 pm on Wednesday?
Thanks, Sabrina
The Conclusion
Cold emailing can yield great results when you invest time and make the emails personal to the receiver. Always remember to write effective subject lines, start with a template to save time, offer benefit to the prospect, and follow-up.
These tips can take you a long way in getting response rates and converting emails to sales. Set a time a day every week for a few hours to email businesses you think would be a great fit for you.