Cold Email Mistakes To Avoid For Higher CTR

‍Introduction

When you talk about building your business by doing cold outreach, the first thing that comes to mind is really making cold emails. The reason is simple. But while doing this, one should keep in mind the fact that while sending cold email campaigns, one must avoid certain mistakes that can ruin their business. 

While doing that, it is always better to keep in mind that one does not want to get into the trap of making mistakes like boring subject line, bad opening line, bad message structure, no call to action, no personalization, no contact details, no follow up, no request for feedback, no email tracking, too many people on your email list, spammy looking application, etc.

Cold email is highly effective. But it isn't easy. Why? There are too many mistakes people make when talking to prospects via email. They also make a few mistakes that they're not even aware of. In this post, you'll learn about all of these mistakes. 

And you'll learn how to avoid them, so you can grow your blog by cold emailing. In fact, if you avoid these mistakes, you'll be able to achieve a lower cost per lead. You'll also experience a high customer-response rate.

Why is cold emailing essential?

Cold emailing is a powerful tool in any marketer's or entrepreneur's arsenal. It is the art of contacting prospects and turning them into customers. With the right cold email strategy and tools, anyone can do it in three simple steps: find a prospect, build the email and send it.

What is email click-through rate?

The click-through rate (CTR) is the number of people who click on the link in your email relative to the number of people who see it. The click-through rate is used to gauge the performance of your email campaign and is used as an indicator of the effectiveness of your cold email outreach.

Why don't most cold emails get a response?

If you fail to get a response to your cold email, it means one of two things: your email is boring, or it isn't customized enough to the person you're sending it to.

How can I get better responses from cold emails?

It is one of the most effective ways of sales and marketing for small businesses. Businesses that send relevant and impressive emails to their top prospects and customers see the best conversion rates and generate more leads at a lower cost.

The Biggest Cold Email Mistakes to Avoid

Cold emailing isn't as simple as it seems. Many cold email techniques are broken and inefficient. To help you boost your email click-through rate, we're going to go over the common cold email mistakes you need to avoid,

Mistakes in your finding your target prospects

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1. Sending your cold email to a wrong prospect

The first mistake you should avoid is sending emails to random people. Sending emails to the wrong person or company will make your email look like spam. It can nullify all your marketing efforts at once and harm your reputation.

What should you do?

Identify the target audience and create a list of prospects to reach out in your cold email outreach campaign. And send the right email to the right prospect at the right time. Choose your potential prospects wisely, and send email messages about the benefits of your product. 

Do your research properly and create the email list for your cold email campaign. Never target everyone; target the people in your niche instead. Target business owners, entrepreneurs, or key decision-makers who influence the decision to purchase your product.

2. Not segmenting and customizing your template

Don't send the same cold message to everyone. Always you should focus on quality than quantity. Though it takes some time to create custom emails for each of your prospects, you will be rewarded at the end. 

So use the person's name, job title, or mention something you know about them, and provide some common ground. Show them that you care and are aware of their needs and that you are here to help them in particular.

What should you do?

Whether you intend to get your client on a cold call or a meeting, your first email is your best chance to do that. Why would they spend 10-20 minutes of their time with you? If you have done your research and understood their persona, you can tell them how your call will bring them closer to achieving the goals you have identified. 

Mistakes in email opening lines

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3. Using spammy subject lines

The subject lines are the first thing the email recipient notices when they open your email. So, make sure to create a subject line that grabs the attention of your prospects.

Do not use non-personalized or sales-y subject lines as they make your email look spammy. According to statistics, 33% of email recipients will open emails only because of the subject line. To avoid spam triggers, create an email subject line that is personalized and catchy. Create a subject line that is short and unique. Give your cold email prospect a reason to read it.

What should you do?

The initial step to conversion is getting your prospect actually to open your cold email. With a crowded inbox, most sales reps do not even make it that far. According to a study, 77% of sales emails are never opened. So, create a super creative email subject line that's really targeted to your prospect's needs and your solution to focus on those needs.

Create subject lines that are personalized for your prospects. This may seem tedious when you have a list of people to reach out to in your email marketing campaign. To make this easy, use an AI email writer that creates personalized subject lines that are eye-grabbing and unique.

Mistakes in the cold email writing

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4. Forgetting to replace template details

No way should you send out a cold email template as they look robotic and sales-y. Email personalization is the secret sauce of the cold email outreach strategy. Create custom emails that talk about the needs of the prospects and the solution you offer them. Always check and proofread your emails for grammar mistakes and spelling errors before sending them.

What should you do?

When you have a bulk email list, sending a personalized email to every prospect may seem tedious. But, this can be made simple and quick. Use an email personalization tool that could automate your entire outreach process.

Instead of personalizing your email based on things that are not relevant to your reason for reaching out, focus on their business needs and how your product is the best fit for their company. A little research on them can go a long way towards getting your prospect to reply or schedule a meeting.

5. Sending generic email messages

No matter how perfect your subject lines are, you will get no reply when your message sounds generic. Remember that you are writing to a real human, so make it look creative and authentic. Write them as if you were talking to your prospect.

Mistakes in the email body

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6. Writing too long emails

Do not write a lengthy cold mail piece. The length of your email message should not exceed 100 - 150 words. Your intention is not to give extensive information about you or your company but to get the attention and spark some interest. You will have a chance to talk once the person responds. So try to keep it precise in 3–5 sentences.

What should you do?

As a B2B sales rep, you should know that your prospects don't have a lot of time regardless of industry. So why waste their limited time with long emails? If you do that, you're already off to a bad start. Avoid the "how are you?" and "hope this email finds you well" language because it doesn't matter to you or your prospect. Keep your emails precise and get to the point. They will appreciate that you are respecting their time. 

7. Writing too long sentences

Also, don't write long sentences. Make your email readable and mobile-friendly. Do not bore your recipients with unnecessary details or fancy words. Be clear and concise.

8. Not talking about them

Do not brag about yourself or your company in your cold emailing sequences. You are here for the customer you are writing to. Find their problem, recognize their needs, and provide a solution. If you know that a prospect's company is dealing with an issue, send them a quick cold email that provides them a solution.

9. Talking about you

Do not talk about yourself a lot. It is another common mistake most email marketers make. You can even skip the introduction. Your prospects usually do not care about you and your company, and chances are they might not even open your message and mark it as a spam email.

10. Overdoing with self-praising

Don't list your advantages or tell how great your brand is in every single email or follow-up. If needed, mention how your recipient can benefit from you, and that's all. 

11. Turning your cold email to "marketing talk"

Do not sales pitch in your cold calling or cold message. Avoid fancy words and sentences like "I only need 5 minutes of your time". You are addressing a real person here, so keep it conversational and valuable.

What should you do?

When creating your cold message, stick to this rule - It is not about you; it is about them. You're trying to solve their problems and appeal to their needs. Most of the above-stated problems can be solved if you use an AI email writer that creates professional emails that are engaging and unique.

Mistakes in email closing lines

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12. Not including CTA

Be clear and concise in your message. Include an attractive call-to-action (CTA) in your email, the action you are expecting your prospect to take. Having multiple CTAs will look spammy, and the prospect will not be sure what to do.

What should you do?

To improve the chances of conversion from a cold message, use only one Call-To-Action. The sales team should use a meeting scheduling software that lets them schedule meetings and streamline things with the prospects if they are interested. Without a scheduling tool, you will risk engaging in the typical "When are you available?" message, which might lead to an unnecessary exchange of emails that annoys them.

Use one strong CTA like "Let's schedule a call to chat more about this" and a meeting scheduler to book meetings. Also, make sure to lock down how far they can schedule by just offering the next five days since any sales rep's goal is to get a meeting scheduled as soon as possible.

13. Not using an email signature

Another thing that adds credibility is your email signature. Write your full name, contact details, and add your email address. Also, include a photo of yourself or your brand’s logo, which you can get using a logo maker to make your B2B emails look more personal and recognizable. No signature usually means no trust in your outreach. Plus, create a logo that reflects your brand identity, as this can further enhance the professionalism and recognition of your communications.

Other common mistakes that most marketers aren’t aware of

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14. Not showing credibility

A strong online presence is crucial for displaying your brand's credibility and worth across clients. Do not connect with your prospects before you establish your online presence. Most prospects do online research about the sender when they receive a sales message. So, make sure your business has a website with good content and social profiles. Also, include a few testimonials from other reputed clients from your niche to add more credibility and trust. 

Including powerful statistics and relevant content shows your expertise in a cold email. It shows you have done your research and have respect for your prospect and their situation. You must position yourself as an expert on their role before they even think about speaking to you.

15. Not including who referred you

If someone referred you, ensure to mention their name in your email body. It's the right thing to do and a great way to gain more trust and credibility. Also, do not forget to specify in the message why you CC that other person.

16. Not following up

When you don't follow up with people, they tend to forget you easily. A polite follow-up email reminds them of you and your product proposal. When a person receives a cold message, they may sometimes disregard it as another piece of digital junk. 

By sending a custom follow-up, chances of getting a positive response or possibly a meeting are high. Reports say 85% of your leads are likely to be generated through follow-ups in case you have cold-emailed previously.

SmartWriter - The best AI cold email automation tool 

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SmartWriter is an email marketing software that helps create personalized emails that are detailed and hyper-personalized. You can personalize your emails based on the prospect's LinkedIn data to create a highly prospecting message entirely based on their LinkedIn profile details such as prospect's bio, job role, recent activity, awards/promotions, piece of content, or others. This tool will help you get 8x more replies with just one click.

If you're an email marketer looking for a cold email outreach tool, then SmartWriter is the perfect tool that will cater to all your needs. It is best suited for busy people like a business owner, entrepreneur, or large marketing team.

How to use SmartWriter to generate personalized cold emails?

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Step 1- First, sign in or sign up with SmartWriter.

Step 2 - Choose a current project or create a new project using the option "Create Project."

Step 3 - Select "Create Copy" and look for "Cold Email Outreach" under the category "Personalized Outreach."

Step 4 - Then, choose the required intention, and upload your email clients list via Google Sheets, CSV file, or enter the details manually.

Step 5 - Now, click on "Generate Copy" to get your personalized emails in just a few seconds.

Step 6 - You can regenerate these emails or use the generated emails for your cold email strategy.

Note - SmartWriter offers a 7-day free trial in all their premium plans. So make sure to check out the tool for improving your sales outreach. Also, you can download the chrome extension from Google for quick use.

Why should you use an email marketing tool?

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Some of the advantages of using cold email automation tools,

• It automates your entire cold outreach emails and thereby saves time.
• It helps you identify high-quality prospects and provides hyper-personalized emails that could get a high response rate.
• It helps speed up your cold emailing strategy.
• Creates personalized B2B email marketing messages for your entire email list at just one click
• It also serves as an email verification tool where email marketers can gather the prospect’s email addresses, verify and validate the email.
• Helps you identify invalid email addresses as you upload your list to the tool.

Additional Cold Email Hacks to get higher CTR

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• Warm up your email domain using a warm-up tool like Lemwarm to increase your email deliverability and the sender reputation. 
• Make use of an email marketing platform like Campaign Monitor to monitor and track the key email metrics that affect the performance of the email marketing campaign.
• Create mobile-friendly emails so they appear good when viewed through different devices.
• Use the A/B testing feature to test multiple variations of the same email before sending it to the B2B audience.
• Send a minimum of 5 follow-up emails after your initial email to keep them engaged and interested in what you have to offer.

Conclusion

The largest opportunity for growth for most businesses lies in their sales pipeline. Once a sales pipeline is in place, sales reps just need to follow sales best practices to close more deals. The sales rep usually sends a cold email trying to get a meeting with their prospect. 

Even though most companies have a sales funnel, many sales reps fail to optimize their cold emails for a higher number of responses, more meetings booked, and ultimately a higher close rate.

In this article, we discussed how to write effective cold emails. We covered some important points, which include writing subject lines, body copy, and ending sentences.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the benefits of a single CTA?

Whirlpool was able to increase its click-through rate by 42% in one email just by using a single, focused CTA.

What is email marketing automation?

Effective email personalization depends on a few things: knowing your audience and their needs in each stage of the buyer's journey and a system that helps you track their behavior.

What's the best way to get your email marketing message out?

When you send emails, your subscribers want to open. You'll see better deliverability, email performance, and overall marketing performance.

What's the biggest mistake you see in cold-outreach emails?

Another big mistake I see in cold-outreach emails is a lack of personalization. It sounds cliché and 'marketing speak-esque' (yes, I just made that up), but it's true.

What is the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)?

The Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is a categorical description of accounts expected to become the company's most valuable customers.

What is A/B Testing?

Split Testing or A/B Testing is a simple principle of testing the original version of an email compared to another version.

What is cold email outreach?

Last updated on September 29, 2021. If done right, having a good cold email strategy is a great way to generate new leads.

What is a buyer persona?

The buyer persona represents your ideal prospect – one who's likely to spend big bucks with you!

How do I create a buyer persona?

There are various guides on how to create a buyer persona online, but to get you started, here are the things you can do - Analyze your closed deals in your CRM.

What Are Buying Signals?

These are timing-related signals, such as business events, news, and anything that you can use to determine which potential prospects will be receptive to your cold email campaign.

How do I use cold emailing?

However, for that, you must use it the right way.

What is a Cold Email?

A cold email refers to an email that you send to a prospect you don't already know.

What is the best way to write a cold email?

You must keep it short and interesting so that the prospect doesn't get bored.

How do you get in touch with strangers?

That is why you have to understand the importance of cold email outreach.

What is the main aim of cold email?

It can also be used to build relationships with potential customers, investors, and new partners.