Cold Call Email: 5 Reasons You Should Be Sending Them

— November 22, 2017

Learning how to cold email (sometimes referred to as “cold call email”), effectively can be a huge boost to your sales process.

Mention the words cold call email to most people and they’ll immediately think you’re a salesperson. And while that is the primary reason to send messages to people who don’t know who you are, it’s not the only reason to do it.

Here are LeadFuze, we obviously think that cold email is one of the quickest ways for startups to experience growth. It’s also a fantastic way for established small and medium businesses to add revenue to their current marketing system.

But what about all the other uses? Have you ever thought about emailing “leads” for other reasons?

If you’re not sure what other reasons there are, that’s exactly what this post will be showing you. We’ll go over seven different uses for cold emails in your business as well as a sample email template for each use.

Let’s get into it.

Cold Call Email for Networking/Follow-up

If you’re in B2B sales, networking is a necessary part of your life. Going to events, getting involved in social media, and other forms of public interaction help you to develop relationships that build the business and get more customers.

You can be networking for a number of reasons, too. Joint ventures, leads, integrations, advice, mentorship, you name it.

Cold email can help you network for all of these reasons in at least two ways.

1. Introduce Yourself: You don’t always need an event to say hello. If there are others in your industry that seem to be advantageous (for you and them)—it’s ok to reach out. Especially, if you do it the right way.
2. Follow-Up: Ok, so this isn’t exactly “cold”. That said, it’s not something that is commonly done. If you go to a conference or networking luncheon; it’s totally cool to follow up with the people you spoke with. If you met someone cool and beneficial to your efforts—why not reach out via email?

Example and Sample Email

Again, there are a ton of reasons to want to break the ice. This sample is literally just that. The key here is simple. Find something nice to say. Which requires a bit of personalization.

For instance, let’s say a local agency may compliment another marketing company’s social profile. The other company has a complimentary set of services and cross promotion could be in the future.

Subject Line: Your amazing Instagram account

Hi, [First Name]

Me and the entire [your company name] team have been really enjoying the [company name] Instagram.

You really do an amazing job of capturing the beauty of [local city/town].

We haven’t met anyone from your team at [company name] and wanted to break the ice and connect. Not to mention tell you that we love your social game.

Best,
[Email Signature]

P.S. If you’d be interested in taking over our Instagram for a day, just let me know.

Cold Call Email for Hiring

Recruiting is big business. Dow Jones is skyrocketing and hiring signs are everywhere.

If you’re not actively seeking out the best candidates, you’re likely not going to get the best talent at your company. The best people for the jobs you need to fill probably are already working for someone else, but looking for the next opportunity (most of the time passively).

(Source)

The two best ways to get in touch are email and LinkedIn.

Further Reading: If you’re really interested in recruiting, here’s a fantastic guide from Recruitee.

Sample Email

Subject Line: I’ll be direct

Hi, [first name].

From the looks of it, you’re a talented and hardworking individual who happens to have a ton of experience with [coding language].

[company name/recruiting company name] has taken a look at some of the projects you’ve done and really want to speak with you about potential employment.

I’d love to speak with you and answer any questions you may have. You can reply to this email, give me a call, or schedule a time for coffee.

Best,
[Email Signature]

P.S. If you’d rather I not contact you again, just let me know. Or, if you’re happy with your current position but know someone as qualified as you are that may be looking—feel free to forward them my info.

Cold Call Email for Influencer Marketing

One of the best ways of getting your products and services in front of a large, targeted audience is via influencer marketing.

If you can manage to woo the ear of someone with a platform, you can reap the benefits through promotional mentions on some of the biggest blogs, podcasts, and social media accounts. It’s been going on since before the internet.

Small companies would send their merch to stars in Hollywood in hopes that they’d be caught out in public with it on them. Or even that the famous person would mention it during an interview.

Now we see internet sensations getting similar treatment for one reason. It’s incredibly effective.

If you follow Casey Neistat or Tim Ferris, you’ll notice that they love small businesses and will often “review” or mention the products that they like.

BTW: If you’re interested in Influencer Outreach or building up your own platform, Tomoson is a fantastic resource.

Just like lead generation, it’s easier to get an email address than a phone number. And, if your email stands out—you may just get a shot. You don’t have to reach out to those with millions of subscribers, but you will have to put some thought into who would be the best choice.

Influencer Fact: On average, businesses generate $ 6.50 in revenue for each $ 1 invested in influencer marketing. (source)

Sample Email

Subject Line: I read your blog post and took action

Hi, [First Name]

Your recent post, [insert post here], really struck a cord with me. I used it as a spring board to [insert your action here].

The results have been awesome. [insert results here].

I know you’re busy and won’t take up much of your time. I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know that your advice works and I love your content.

Best,
[Email Signature]

P.S. If you’d like to use any of this email as a testimonial or get more from me, just let me know. I can provide a longer version, write a guest post about it, or even hop on a call. Thanks again!

Disclaimer: Obviously, you’ll have to try the tips put forth in the blog post, or whatever resource you decide. The point is, don’t just say, “You have cool stuff.” Show them why you love them and what you’ve done about it.

Cold Call Email for Invitation (podcast/webinar/event/etc)

If you’ve followed the LeadFuze blog for any amount of time, you know we rarely suggest sending a straight sales email. Instead, you should send an offer or resource of some sort.

An invitation to something is one of the easiest intros to get.

If you’re having a webinar, do a podcast that needs fresh guests, or are holding a networking event in your city—cold email can build a relationship and get people to whatever you’re putting on.

Sample Email Sequence

For this one, I actually wrote an entire post on the subject. In it, there is a 4-email sequence to help you squeeze the most webinar attendees out of a list. It is written specifically for webinars, but you could easily augment it for just about any event you’re holding.

If you don’t want to click over, I’ll copy and paste the first email below.
Subject Line: See What Your Competitors Are Doing

Hi [First Name],

I’d love to have you attend one of our upcoming webinars where we show what some of your competitors like [Competitor] are doing to grow.

I thought you’d be a great fit since you’re in the industry we’ll be reviewing.

It’s free, but we only have so many slots. You can register for it here.

Best,
[Email Signature]

P.S. Not the person to talk to? Let me know! Don’t want me to follow-up with you? You can let me know that too!

Cold Call Email for SEO

Inbound marketing is still alive and well. But can be neglected by startups. You’re trying to get your product established and get to the first funding round, testing growth channels, and tweaking funnels. Makes sense.

But setting yourself up for steady organic traffic and the ability to rank relevant keywords isn’t a bad idea. The biggest problem is the amount of work. There are portions of this process that can be automated, but it’s still fairly hands-on.

In fact, most companies have a team of two or more link builders according to one survey (screenshot and source link below).

(Source)

Perhaps the most involved reason for cold email, but also the one with the most long-term benefits. There are a couple of methods.

Method One: Write and Ask

1. Write an amazing piece of content. Like a go-to resource that your target audience would love to have in their Evernote or Pocket.
2. Search for relevant blogs and who are always looking for good content to share with their audiences via links in their posts.
3. Put their info in a spreadsheet or use a tool like LeadFuze to find them.
4. Find content on the blogs that could easily link to your post.
5. Send email complimenting the blog, and humbly ask for the link.

Method Two: Find, Write, and Ask

1. Search for relevant blogs and who are always looking for good content to share with their audiences via links in their posts.
2. Read through their posts, finding any bad links (404 errors and such).
3. Write a quality post (or find one you already have) similar to the subject and context of the broken link.
4. Email the blog to humbly let them know they have a broken link and that you have a post that they may want to link to for their audience.

Sample Email

Subject Line: Broken link in a [blog name] blog post

Hi [First Name],

I was reading your post [insert post title here], and found that a link wasn’t working. It was [insert location or screenshot of broken link].

If you’re interested, I have a [resource/blog/etc.], that I created for [insert your company/blog] that could work. Here’s a link to it for your review. We put a lot of work into our resources and would love for it to benefit your audience.

Best,
[Email Signature]

Cold Call Email for Lead Generation (obviously)

We mentioned that lead gen is the most common form of email outreach. And four of the five methods we just went over could help you generate or nurture more leads.

You can:

• Network with leads via email.
• An influencer could also be a customer.
• Get podcast guests and webinar attendees that can also be customers.
• Link swap and start a conversation that could lead to a sale.

Ready to Send Cold Call Emails?

Maybe you’ve haven’t heard of some of these methods. Or you have, but didn’t put it with the thought of “Cold Email”. Either way, I hope that you have found an idea or two that can help your business grow via sending emails to people in other organizations.

Any cold call email reasons we missed? Let me know in the comments!

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