When it comes to cold email outreach, there is a right way to do it, and a wrong way. Unfortunately, doing it the wrong way will take a whole lot of your time, with very little to show for it.
Now, before you get too down on yourself, it’s actually fairly normal to have a low response rate from your cold outreach emails. On average, most people only see an 8.5% response rate. That being said, if you’re not happy with your cold outreach ROI, there are a few easy ways to improve.
In this post, I’ll give you ten cold outreach email ideas that you can make your own. And if you don’t have one already, make sure you have a solid email marketing tool.
Let’s get started.
In this article
When is Cold Email Outreach Used?
Regardless of the industry you’re in, cold outreach is a useful tool. If you’re in marketing, cold outreach can be used as a networking technique, or a way to reach a wider audience.
This strategy is also used to improve sales, recruit team members and raise funds for a cause. Cold outreach can even be used to improve your social selling strategy.
Whatever the case is, there are a few very important tips you should follow to ensure that your cold outreach is actually effective.
Expert Tips for Cold Email Outreach
The biggest mistake you can make with cold outreach is being too generic.
Remember, your recipients are likely receiving hundreds of emails every week, and most of them go straight to the spam folder.
If you want your cold outreach emails to make it to the primary inbox, and actually get opened, keep these tips in mind:
- Understand the target audience: Your audience demographic should shape the tone of your email. For example, if your target audience mainly consists of younger adults between 18-24, you might use a more familiar tone, and even throw in a meme or two.
- Personalize your emails: The majority of companies believe that increased personalization is key to better email interaction. You should always use the recipient’s name in the email. It’s also a good idea to throw in their company name when relevant. On top of that, you should understand what this person is looking for and what is useful to them.
- Write a good subject line: A good subject line can make the difference between an email that gets opened, and one that ends up in the trash. Craft a subject line that grabs attention without sounding spammy.
- Demonstrate your expertise: In most cold outreach emails, you’re going to want to include a brief explanation of who you are and why you’re qualified.
- Tell them what you can do for them: In order to capture the reader’s attention, you should make it clear why your offer is beneficial. In this area, it’s best to be straightforward.
- Make sure your emails are mobile-optimized: It’s important that your emails look great on both desktop and mobile. Many of your users are going to be checking their emails on mobile devices, so this step is crucial.
- Be sincere: This last tip may sound pretty general, but it’s actually the key to your success. Your email should sound like it came from a real person with a genuine interest in the recipient.
Cold Email Outreach Examples
There are several approaches you can take with cold outreach email. In many cases, you’ll want to combine several of the ideas below to craft a super-strong cold outreach email.
Now, these templates can be applied to just about any business, but you’ll want to tweak them to make sure it fits your brand. Remember, the most successful cold outreach emails are highly personalized and sincere.
In fact, adding personal touches to your outreach emails can help to increase your open rates by up to 26 percent. That’s a pretty significant jump.
So, with that said, you can take these examples as a jumping-off point and customize them to fit your particular brand and audience.
Cold Email Outreach Example 1: The No-Nonsense Email
This style of cold outreach email works because it’s straightforward and to the point. Most business owners are super busy and appreciate a short email.
Make sure to be clear about what you’re offering and how they can contact you. I used digital marketing in this example, but you’ll want to adjust this so that it describes your particular business.
Hi [insert name],
I know you’re busy running [insert company name], so I’ll keep this short.
I am the founder of a digital marketing firm specializing in SEO and social media marketing. My team of experts has a diverse skillset that we use to create airtight digital marketing strategies for a variety of online businesses.
I would like to chat with you about what we can do for your business. If you’re available, shoot me an email back and we can set up a date.
Thanks,
[Sign-off]
Cold Email Outreach Example 2: “We Can Improve Your Business”
This cold outreach email shows that you’ve done your research and know what the company is all about. That being said, you actually do have to provide a useful consultation should they respond positively to your email.
Hi [insert name],
I work for [insert company], a company that provides content marketing solutions. My team recently reviewed a huge selection of sites and yours really stood out.
We absolutely love what you’re doing with [insert company name] and it looks like it’s growing fairly quickly. That being said, there are a couple of areas where I think we can help you improve on. It’s nothing major, but I do think it could take your business to the next level.
If you’re interested, we can arrange a call next week at a time that works for you!
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
[Sign-off]
Cold Email Outreach Example 3: For The Mystery Recipient
Sometimes it’s unclear who it is you should be emailing. If you have an idea of who the right person is, but you’re not one hundred percent sure, this is the email template for you.
Hello [insert name],
My name is [insert name] and I am the founder of [insert business]. I specialize in email marketing solutions and recently developed a new tool for online business.
I found your contact through your online profile [insert link] and I believe you’re the right person to talk to about the email marketing campaign at [insert company]. I am familiar with your work and I think our tool would be a great addition to your marketing strategy.
Let me know if you would like to set up a meeting to discuss my tool and what it can do for [insert company]. If I’ve got the wrong person, perhaps you can point me in the right direction!
Talk soon!
[Sign-off]
Cold Email Outreach Example 4: Compliments Will Take You Far
In this cold outreach, you’ll be using one of the oldest tricks in the book– unabashed praise. If you want someone to pay attention to your email, the quickest way to the inbox is through compliments. Take a look at their work, do a little research on their achievements, and implement it into your cold outreach email. Here’s how it’s done.
Dear [insert name],
I recently came across your feature in [insert publication/website]. I have to say, I was seriously impressed! I wanted to reach out to say congratulations on that.
I run a business that specializes in [insert niche]. I think my team has a lot to offer you in future projects involving [insert project type]. We recently worked with a client in a similar niche and got stunning results – [insert results].
If you’re interested, I would love to walk you through what I have in mind.
Let me know your thoughts!
Best,
[Sign-off]
Cold Email Outreach Example 5: The Lead Magnet Email
Lead magnets are a staple in any great email marketing campaign. Lead magnets are just free products/services that are given in exchange for contact information (usually an email address.)
Most people use them to get people to sign up for an email list, but there’s also a great way to get someone to open an email. Remember, you don’t want to end up in the spam folder!
Hi [insert name],
I am a big fan of [insert website], and I always look forward to checking out your latest [blog post/product/service].
In light of your last update, I thought you might appreciate this guide I recently wrote on [insert topic]. I included some tips in there that I think you and your team may find useful.
You can check out the guide here – [insert link].
I hope it’s helpful. Let me know what you think!
All the best,
[Sign-off]
Cold Email Outreach Example 6: “Let’s Collaborate”
If your goal is to land a guest post, collaborate on a project, or partner with another company, you’ll want to send a collaboration email. This cold outreach email should briefly outline your qualifications, and what you’d like to collaborate on.
Now, in this case, it’s very important that your business aligns with the business you’re reaching out to. Take a look at what they do, and show them how a partnership would be beneficial.
Hi [insert name],
I am the founder of [insert your company] where we provide expert advice on [topic]. Our mission is to help people by [insert company mission/goals].
I’m reaching out to you today because I know [insert recipient company] focuses on providing [insert service/product]. With my expertise, I think I may be able to provide your company with some useful tools in this area.
Are you open to discussing a potential collaboration? I think it could be beneficial for both of us.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks,
[Sign-off]
Cold Email Outreach Example 7: Use Testimonials and Reviews to Your Advantage
If the company you’re reaching out to has user reviews available to the public, you can use them to your advantage.
For this strategy, you’ll want to read through some of the reviews to see what customers are saying. Then, you can tie this information into your outreach email to grab their attention. You may even consider inserting a screenshot of a particularly good review to show that you’ve done your research.
Hello [insert name],
I recently discovered [insert recipient company] and I couldn’t help but notice the glowing reviews from your customers. Great work! It looks like your customers are especially happy with how quickly you bring about results.
Needless to say, I’m impressed with what you’ve been able to accomplish. I run a company called [insert your company] where I provide services to help people with [insert your services]. Have you thought about implementing this type of strategy for your own company? I think it could help you hit your next benchmark.
I would love to chat with you more about this. If you’re interested, send over an email and we can set up a time to talk.
Cheers!
[Sign-off]
Cold Email Outreach Example 8: Ask for an Expert Quote
If you run a blog, one of the best networking techniques you can use is to write an expert round-up post. This post entails asking experts in a niche to answer one or two questions relating to a relevant topic.
This type of outreach email works because it’s mutually beneficial. The recipient is more likely to open and respond to this email because it gives them an opportunity to highlight their work on another blog. You can offer to include a backlink to their website to really seal the deal.
Hi [insert name],
I’ve been following your work at [insert company] for a long time, and I’m a big fan.
I wanted to reach out to you because I am currently working on an article for my website, [insert website], that highlights experts in [insert industry]. I want to give my readers some guidance from the best in the business, and of course, you came to mind. I’d love to include a direct quote from you if you’re interested.
If you up for it, you can choose between the following questions to answer:
[insert question #1]
[insert question #2]
I would be happy to include a link to your website in the article as well.
I hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks,
[Sign-off]
Cold Email Outreach Example 9: The Link Builder Email
If you’ve been in the SEO game for any time at all, you’re probably aware of the importance of backlinks. Now, admittedly, backlinks may not hold quite as much power as they once did, but they’re still considered an important part of SEO. For this reason, proposing a link swap is a great way to catch someone’s attention in a cold email.
Hi [insert name],
My name is [insert name] and I am head of the [insert department] at [insert your company]. I’m writing to you because I read your recent post about Digital Marketing Tools for 2021 [insert article link] on [insert recipient website]. To be very straight-forward– I want to know if you would be interested in adding a link to our article [insert link] to the section covering SEO techniques.
To make it easy for you, you could add something along these lines:
“[Insert your company] is a digital marketing company with a great, beginner-friendly SEO tool.”
In exchange, I can add a link from your site to any of the articles on my site. Win-win!
Let me know if you’re interested.
Thanks,
[insert name]
Cold Email Outreach Example 10 Sign-up for Their Email List and Reply
Now, this is one of the more clever techniques for cold outreach. You can sign up for a newsletter from the recipient’s website and respond back to their email as a reader.
Now, in this case, you should be especially careful not to come across as spam. Keep it super simple and only offer relevant useful information.
Hey [insert name],
Thanks for that last update, I found the information on [insert topic] super helpful.
I actually put together this project on a similar topic.
Here’s a link if you want to check it out- [insert link].
Let me know what you think!
Fond regards,
[Sign-off]
Cold Outreach Email – Key Points
Now that you’ve got this selection of cold email examples, you can begin to improve your outreach strategy. That being said, it’s still extremely important that you customize these examples to fit your brand and audience.
The best thing you can do for your cold outreach emails is to research your recipient. Include highly relevant information in the body of the email, so that you don’t come across as spam. Make sure you’re offering something genuinely useful to that person.
With these tips, you should be able to create a solid cold email outreach campaign that gets real results. Check this link for more cold email outreach examples.
