Email outreach is a critical component of many businesses’ daily operations. However, with over 333 billion emails exchanged every single day, according to Statista, standing out from the crowd and getting your message in front of the right eyes is becoming an increasingly difficult endeavor. Thus, having a strong outreach strategy is crucial, whether the goal is to close a sales deal, acquire a guest post on another site, or simply create deeper ties with their consumer base. On that note, here are some ideas you may use to improve the effectiveness of your email outreach and, ideally, boost your results.
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Always do your research
First things first, it’s time to do your research. Since most of our inboxes are constantly flooded with sales approaches, spam, and a bunch of other random notifications, we have become pretty adept at spotting generic emails just from the subject line. With this in mind, try and carry out a few minutes of research before you send an outbound email so you can get familiar with the recipient. Depending on the purpose of the email, you could include their name in the subject line or something that may stand more of a chance to pique their interest, so they open it. Furthermore, if your research shows that they are active on another platform such as LinkedIn, don’t be afraid to reach out to them there as well.
Work on your copy
Writing compelling copy is what gives your email campaigns substance. Without it, your emails are likely to be filtered to the trash, or worse, blocked and sent to the spam folder. In fact, according to one survey, 69 percent of people report email as spam based solely on the subject line. For the most part, good email copy provides a comprehensive piece of content that delivers value to your readers. Write with personality, make it unique, and try to hook the readers from the first sentence if possible. After all, people’s attention spans are pretty short these days.
Make sure you come across as professional
Sending professional emails is crucial for building brand loyalty and trust with your audience. Simply put, people are not going to open your emails if they look suspicious or shady in any way. That’s because email is one of the primary vehicles for the delivery of viruses, malware, and phishing attacks, and people have become extremely cautious when opening items from unverified sources. Therefore, you need to do everything you can to stack the odds in your favor and increase the chance of them opening your message.
So, how can you make your emails appear more professional? Here are a few simple tips to follow:
- Check your email address has a business domain
- Edit to perfection (no spelling or grammar mistakes!)
- Do not use emojis
- Craft a professional email signature
If you are the head of an organization, make sure that all employees utilize a unified company-wide email signature. Fortunately, you don’t have to do this manually since there are services available that make adding a signature in Outlook or G Suite straightforward, allowing you to instantly turn every employee email interaction into brand promotion opportunities while appearing more professional.
Get personal
As we have touched upon a couple of times, personalization is an important weapon in email outreach. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to call it an absolute necessity. Taking the time to include personal details, such as the receiver’s name in the subject line or the opening paragraph, can help to drastically improve open rates. On top of this, if you can quickly acknowledge the reader’s wants and needs and how you plan to meet them, you will already be halfway to nurturing a successful relationship.
For example, if you are attempting to land a guest post on a popular website in your industry, try to demonstrate to the editor that you are a fan of their website and understand the type of content they like to deliver. Name a handful of your favorite blogs, and perhaps mention some viewpoints that you hold in common to the themes covered on their site. While this may seem time-consuming, it will significantly improve your response rate and allow you to develop more honest relationships in the process.
Make it simple to reply
Replying to an email takes time, and most people are often too busy to even read an email in its entirety. Therefore, you need to make it as simple as possible for them to reply or get back in touch with you. This could mean including links to all of your socials in your signature, offering a list of premade responses that can be clicked to express interest in what you are offering, or linking to an online scheduler that will automatically set up a follow-up appointment. The more ways you give the receiver to reply, the more likely they will oblige.
Finally – Don’t forget to chase up
Sometimes, people need a little nudge before they reply or commit to a purchase. That’s okay. With this in mind, make sure you send a follow-up email to remind the reader of what you are offering. However, make sure you switch things up. If you simply send the same email twice, it’s unlikely that the result will be different. According to Outreach, sales reps have a 14-day window after they make first contact to engage a buyer before it becomes too late. Every day that goes by reduces the probability of that prospect converting. While there is a fine line between pestering and persisting, it’s up to you to find the right balance that works for you.