Email marketing is one of the most used tools in B2B business to generate engagement and attract new leads. In this article we will talk about cold mailing, those emails that are sent to users that do not know us yet, but whom we would like to make a deal with.
To gauge the effectiveness of an email marketing campaign there are various important metrics that you should take into consideration. In this case we will focus on one of the most important metrics: the open rate.
According to studies conducted by MailChimp, the open rate is just over 20’8 %, and from these, only 2’4 % is the percentage of cases in which an engagement is reached. While these numbers seem to be low the truth is that they are exceptional.
This is because, after all, if your clients are opening your mails you are reaching the first step in the process, you are building a relationship with them, and sooner or later you will achieve your ultimate goal: closing the deal.
What is open rate?
Open rate is the Key Performance Indicator that is used in email marketing campaigns to gauge the amount of emails that were opened by the contacts to whom the mail was sent.
The best way to keep in constant growth and optimize a marketing strategy is constantly checking the statistics. Doing this will allow you to evaluate your procedures, so you can correct them, adjust them or improve them.
In order to know the open rate of your email all you need to do is to divide the number of opened mails by the total number of emails sent. The goal of your email marketing campaign should focus on reaching a high open rate, this will help as an indicator of how much attention you reached from your contacts and how close you are when it comes to turning them into leads.
What is the conversion rate?
The main goal of the open rate is engaging your potential customers when they read your emails. That is why it is important to choose the email subject line very carefully. The subject line is going to help you to get clicks on your emails.
The next step is turning your contacts into leads, to achieve this, your contacts need to engage with you. This is the only way you can convert your contacts into leads.
There are many ways to achieve conversion via email, the most common are listed below:
- Receive a response from your contact.
- Arrange a meeting for a product demonstration.
- Downloading docs, videos or images of your product.
- Accept a sample of your product or service.
- Subscribing to your newsletter, mailing service or any other service like web seminaries.
Remember that the goal of a cold mailing campaign is not selling your product or service right away or claiming the benefits of working with you. The first thing you want to do is break the ice and start a conversation with your potential customer.
HelloMrLead open rate
Here in HelloMrLead we have the key and want to share it with you, obviously with results. As you know, we know how to attract leads. Throughout the years we have created different email marketing campaigns adapting each one to the SMART objectives of our clients.
Down below weshow you the statistics that prove the success of our strategies and copies:
Thanks to the data obtained by Woodpecker, we can observe that the obtained results exceeded the expected results. Having proposed to improve the open rate and, consequently, our conversion rate, we have broken the record by obtaining open rates of up to 100 % and we have achieved more engagement from our customers, results that show that we offer guaranteed conversions.
Having a look at our numbers, you name it. It is not necessary to give too many explanations to know that we have not only achieved our goals, but we have surpassed them. Although there is no precise formula, thanks to our experience we have selected the most important key points that will help you to improve the open ratio of your emails.
How did we achieve it?
Down below we provide you with our 5 tips that have helped us to achieve our goals:
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Write short emails
No one wants to read long advertising emails. Keep it short, simple and accurate. Remember that many of the emails you send will be read on mobile devices, so brevity will be your best weapon of conviction.
Your first line should be short, but understandable enough to send the message you want. There is no need to overly decorate your copy or use too many words to say what you need and induce them to think that you are ready to solve their problems, help them reach their goals or boost their results.
Get straight to the point. You do not need to get lost in technicalities or draft a complex proposal that gets your prospect thinking about what you mean. Cold Mail is not the platform to prove that you are an expert, you can express this later, just get your prospect’s attention. The goal is simple: to give an easy and convincing message that will help the customer decide quickly to take the next step.
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Do not use online templates, make it original
Customize your emails. Using copies from others will only take you straight to the spam folder and will end up affecting your reputation.
Adapt your message to be enjoyable to read, because it does not matter how serious the topic is, you will always send a cold email to someone who does not know you. These are the advantages of customizing your emails:
- You show real interest in your client.
- Better bonding with your prospects.
- You will give a different impression as it is possible to distinguish yourself.
- It encourages the prospect to keep the conversation, especially if you ask questions.
- You will get a positive reaction from your prospects, which will lead them to read what you have to say.
People who receive your emails want to feel that you are speaking to them. They want a deal that makes them feel as special as candidates, it excites them to see that you have understood who they are and that you can speak to them in their own language.
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Keep the subject short and do not include your company name
Your email subject is one of the main sources of attraction when your customers decide to open your email. This is the main key to the success of open rate. A short subject line makes it easy and fast to read, as well as being the first impression your customers have of your proposal.
According to the article The Art of Crafting a Perfect Cold Email Subject Line, the best way to get the attention of potential customers is to create an attractive subject line that is concise, direct, as well as thoughtful. It is useless to choose a long subject line, it will only mislead and overwhelm your leads.
Keep in mind that if you include your company name you will be focusing all the attention of your prospects on the fact that you have something to sell or that you want to ask for something. Your leads want to know that you care about them.
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Talk about your prospect, not about you
Not including your company name in the subject line is not enough, do not rush in talking about who you are or what you sell or how wonderful your product or service is. The main character of your email is your prospect, not you. Focus all the attention on them.
So what can you talk about in the first lines of your email? In the article Cold Email Copywriting: How To Write The Perfect Cold Email you may find some ideas, down below we include the most important ones:
- Mention a post, podcast, or content they have recently posted.
- Compliment him on some recent good news about the company.
- Mention something both have in common, such as the location, type of industry or company history.
Customizing your emails will let your potential customer know that you know him, that you understand what he is looking for and what he needs and, consequently, you know how to solve his problems or improve his results. You will no longer be one more business that only seeks for their own benefit, this starts by showing concern for your prospect.
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Help your prospect make a decision with a CTA
A CTA or call to action is the last ingredient you need to achieve your goal. An effective CTA leads to a fast response from your prospect.
The first step you need to take is designing a CTA that allows your prospect to engage with you. Even if your potential prospect is not ready to invest or partner with you at the moment, it is important to keep the conversation going, this will increase the probability of reaching an agreement in the future.
At first you can try out with CTA of different levels of commitment. For example, a CTA of high commitment consists of asking your potential customer to arrange a call or a meeting. On the other hand, with a CTA of low commitment you can ask your potential customer if there is any interest on the subject or if they are struggling with anything at the moment. The most important thing is that you need to avoid asking closed questions that could be answered with a yes or no.
Conclusion
Reaching high open rate percentages is possible. Practice makes perfect, we have achieved the goals of our email marketing campaign by using the techniques we revealed to you earlier, but also by trial and error.
In addition to the formulas we have shared with you, HelloMrLead has also improved the selection process of our database, optimized our proposals to offer more value to our prospects and made sure to provide personalized strategies to our customers.
As you can see, Cold Mail is an indispensable tool for attracting prospects, especially for B2B companies, so increasing the open rate is a necessary action for the success of your goals. Now that you know, there are no excuses. What do you expect to improve? Click here to get more tips
