Everyone has received the obvious copy and paste sales emails - the same one that hundreds of other people have also received. The one that lacks so much personal touch you’re curious if the sender even has an idea of what you do (or worse, what they could even do for you or help you with). With the ease of mobile, on-the-run access to email, and the amount of time prospects already spend reading them, this is not an outlet to give up on.
To avoid the initial eye roll and rapid-delete stay away from these 4 email mistakes:
Related Blog: HubSpot, Inbound Marketing, and Inbound Sales: Sell the Way Prospects Buy
1. Bad Subject Line
35% of email recipients open an email solely based upon the subject line. A subject line should be intriguing to the recipient, but also not completely give away what’s inside of the email. You want to give the recipient enough information in the subject line to want to open the email (and not think it is spam), but not so much that they don’t read the content. As a result, you would lose any chance of them engaging with it.
2. Lack of personal touch
Remember to utilize your personalization tokens such as the recipient’s first name, recent major company moves/motives, and public promotions. Being too personal can have its negative effects as well though, so be careful not to cross the line by using personalization tokens where the user wouldn’t be expecting them. By relating to your recipient, your communication comes across as genuine and the process feels more human (which it should be, we are people after all!) instead of like an impersonal sales pitch.
3. Selling yourself too much
“Hi, my name is Nick Mace and I am the growth strategist at Nextiny Marketing, an inbound marketing agency in….” SNOOZE. The recipient probably won’t care who you are yet, but will be more focused on what problem of theirs you can help them solve. Your communications should be focused on the buyer and the educational value that you add. Do not sell yourself so much that you leave the buyer educated on you, but still completely unsure of what you can offer them.
4. Long, wordy sentences
The language used in your email should be educational and contain mostly substance, not fluff. Make your sentences concise and cut lines out that do not add value to the client. Most readers scan their emails very quickly, often on mobile devices due to their easy-access. Too much content with not enough context is boring and unrelatable.
By avoiding these mistakes and following the 3 Steps to Effective Cold Emails you can watch your response rates soar. In a world so watered down with impersonal outreach led by technology, put in the extra effort to communicate like a human again and build trust.
