Behind the Scenes w/ David Brown - The art of cold emails, correctly.
Unlock Business Growth: The Art of Cold Emails Done Right
We all know the frustration of a cluttered inbox, bombarded with spam. But what if I told you cold emails, when executed correctly, could be a goldmine for building valuable business relationships? It's true! Just ask David Brown, who has successfully used strategic cold outreach to find great business partners.
But here's the catch: blasting your entire contact list with generic emails? That's a recipe for disaster. In fact, you can almost guarantee that 90% of the time, you'll end up in the spam folder. So, how do you avoid becoming part of the problem and start seeing real results from your cold email efforts? Let's break it down.
Step 1: Clean Up Your Contact List
Think of your contact list as a garden. You can't expect healthy plants to grow if the soil is full of weeds, right? Similarly, sending emails to invalid or outdated addresses will hurt your sender reputation and decrease deliverability.
That's where Kickbox comes in. This tool, or others like it, are designed to scrub your email list and remove any risky contacts.
Here's how it works:
Removes old, inactive email addresses
Filters out emails with high bounce rates
Helps ensure your messages reach valid inboxes
By taking the time to clean your list, you're setting yourself up for success and protecting your email health.
Step 2: Set Up Separate Email Addresses for Outreach
Would you use your personal checking account to fund a risky business venture? Probably not. The same principle applies to cold emailing. Using your primary business email for outreach can be risky, as any deliverability issues can affect your important day-to-day communications.
Instead, create separate email addresses specifically for your marketing campaigns.
For example, if your company is John Doe Investments (johndoeinvestments.com), you could create:
johndoeinvestmentsoutreach.com
johndoeinvestmentsmail.com
johndoeinvestmentsmarketing.com
The benefits? You isolate any potential deliverability problems and keep your main business email squeaky clean. When you sign up for marketing platforms like iContact or Mailchimp, use your alias email. This way, any negative impact on deliverability is contained to the marketing email only.
Step 3: Warm Up Your Email Address
Imagine walking into a crowded room and shouting at the top of your lungs. You're likely to be ignored, right? The same goes for new email addresses that start sending cold emails right away. Email providers flag these as potential spam bots.
So, how do you warm up your email address and build trust with email providers? Instantly.ai is a great tool for this.
You have two options:
Buy a Warmed-Up Email: For around $5, you can purchase an email address that has already been warmed up for 30-90 days. This option offers an almost guaranteed inbox placement.
Use Instantly.ai's Warm-Up Feature: Connect your existing email account to Instantly.ai. The system then sends and receives automated emails with other users, simulating real email activity. The platform provides deliverability reports, showing your inbox and spam placement rates. This warm-up process typically takes about 30 days.
Warming up your email address is like stretching before a workout. It prepares your email for optimal delivery and increases your chances of reaching the inbox.
Step 4: Implement a Drip Campaign
Patience is a virtue, especially in the world of cold emailing. Sending emails to all your contacts at once is a surefire way to get flagged as spam. Instead, implement a drip campaign to gradually reach out to your list.
With Instantly.ai, you can upload your contacts and schedule emails to be sent over time. To simulate real email behavior, aim to send one email every 5-7 minutes during business hours (e.g., 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM Eastern time). This approach mimics natural sending patterns and helps you avoid spam filters.
Step 5: Personalize Your Email Content
Let's face it: generic emails are easy to spot and even easier to ignore. People want to feel like you're talking directly to them, not just sending out a mass message. That's where personalization comes in.
Make sure your contact list includes:
Company name
First name
Last name
Then, use these fields to personalize your email content. In platforms like iContact or Instantly.ai, you can use variables to automatically insert personalized information into your emails.
For example: "Good morning, [First Name], I'd love to talk to you about what you're doing at [Company Name] and how we can collaborate."
This level of personalization makes your email feel more engaging and less like spam, increasing the chances of a positive response.
Step 6: Maintain Your Contact List and Email Health
Your work isn't done after sending your first batch of personalized emails. Maintaining your contact list and monitoring your email health are ongoing tasks.
Regularly check your email deliverability score to ensure your messages are reaching inboxes. Remove old, dead, and inactive email addresses from your list, including:
Vacation responders
Contacts who are no longer at the company
Keeping your list clean and your deliverability score high is crucial for long-term cold email success.
The Bottom Line
Mastering cold emails is an ongoing process that requires patience, attention to detail, and a commitment to best practices. By cleaning your contact list, warming up your email address, implementing a drip campaign, and personalizing your content, you can transform your cold emails from spam to strategic outreach that drives business growth.