Five Cold Email Tactics That Repel Your Recipients
In my observation — as a solopreneur who gets many email solicitations on everything from office cleaning to company purchase offers — most cold emailers aren’t even trying anymore.*
This email I received a few days ago shows what I mean:
Here’s what sticks out as wrong insulting:
The laziest subject line possible: just my first name (🤮).
After my name greeting, they only ask one question. That’s their entire email content. There’s no framing it around, “I see what your business is” or “Here’s what we’ve done for clients like you.”
No signature at the bottom. Who is this person??
My theory on why cold emails like this are becoming more common
It’s a combination of:
Cheap (with downward price pressure to become ever cheaper) business contact leads from services both big and small.
AI tools to spin up drafts.
And those same AI tools “review” the draft to finalize and send it. If humans are in the loop, they are tired because of everything on their plate; they just want to get to the next campaign or other marketing task, finish their day, and go home.
Businesses that cut corners to send the highest number of emails to the most contacts, and take little or no time to review your drafts before sending: listen up!
Here are five tactics you’re using that derail what could be a productive relationship before it’s even started:
Using the subject “Quick question”. No question from someone who wants to earn your business is ever quick. Business owners see this so often that your latest campaign with this at the top is not going to get any attention.
Mismatch between the email address and the contact name and/or company name in the signature line. As someone who’s managed many in-house and outsourced email campaigns over the years, it pains me to see this. Not on behalf of the team in charge of sending, but the CEO or client whose budget is squandered!
Starting the email with “Really enjoyed [something you posted on social media that an email automation tool grabbed]”. This tactic has been used so often that most leads immediately see through its ingratiating nature.
Not including a link to the company website in the body or the signature line. While we are taught not to click unfamiliar links, not including a website in an email makes it look like the sender has something to hide. All legit business owners I know include their website link somewhere in their email, usually in the signature line.
Not including (at a minimum) the company name and a contact phone number in the signature line. One email I received recently just ended with “Elsie."
If you use one or more of these tactics in the emails you send, or pay to have a company or specialist send on your behalf, you need to stop what you’re doing and rethink and redo your messaging. If you outsource cold emails that include these tactics, this is your wake up call to fire your agency or contractor responsible for them and shop around for a new provider who isn’t doing what many others (unfortunately) are, in the name of their own maximum ROI.
On a positive note, I’m seeing more professional email marketers on LinkedIn promote the use of no, or very minimal, AI to write cold emails. Many argue that this is most important in the very first email, if a drip series is planned.
Look at it this way: If you meet a promising business lead at an event, do you want your first email to this person to be fully spun up and sent by AI? I don’t, because there are nuances about what they do and who they are (Do they have a spouse? Kids? Something outside of work in common with me?), how I can help them solve a specific pain point or points, and my unique brand voice that make me feel I owe it to them to use my hands and eyes to craft it before I hit Send.
*Regarding my introduction:
I proudly use em dashes in my posts because authors, including some of the most highly regarded scribes out there, have used them for centuries. I prove my humanness through my voice and thoughts, not by funneling my prose through specific techno-societal grammatical expectations. More on this here.
