Cold email outreach is one of the most powerful marketing tools for your business, if you use it properly…
But the problem is that most marketers get it wrong:
And this can ruin all your hard work on the campaign.
So in this guide, I’ll show you 5 cold email outreach mistakes you need to avoid and how to avoid them.
If you’re running a cold email campaign and you want better results, this tutorial will help you!
Table of Contents
5 Cold Email Mistakes You Need to Avoid
Mistake #1: Boring Copywriting
Let me be blunt:
If your copywriting is dull, no one will respond to your email.
The aim of cold email is to grow your network, build rapport and convince your audience to take action.
But you’re not writing to the Queen of England here!
So you don’t need to be overly formal…
If the first line of your email reads”Dear Sir” or ends with “yours sincerely” – delete it and start again.
So what’s the solution?
Imagine you’re writing to a friend:
Keep your copy informal.
Some of my most successful cold email campaigns were the also the most unprofessional.
And here’s something you MUST avoid:
Email Templates.
Don’t steal email templates online.
99% of them are dull, boring and have been rinsed by other marketers.
Instead, be more original and focus on making an impact.
Here’s an example of how I use email copywriting to boost my results with link building:
TLDR?
- Avoid making your cold email outreach dull
- Create fun, light-hearted, entertaining emails that are easy to read
- Include jokes/even puns.
Mistake #2: Not Following Up
If you don’t follow up on your emails, I can guarantee you’re destroying your reply rates:
Most people I email won’t respond until the second or third email I send them.
It doesn’t matter how emails you send, you must follow up on them.
How many follow ups should you send?
2-3 is more than enough.
Persistency and patience is the key with cold email:
That doesn’t mean you should stalk someone!
But send a chase up once a week.
Because here’s the truth:
If someone ignores your first email, you can’t take it personally.
We’re bombarded with emails – and everyone struggles for time.
Therefore, you have to keep following up with them.
Keep chasing and be persistent – this will pay off.
And eventually, the replies will start flying in.
For my own cold email campaigns, I usually don’t get a reply until the third follow-up.
So you have to chase, follow up, and be persistent with cold email.
Mistake #3: Not Sending Enough Emails
Another HUGE cold email mistake is simply not scaling up:
If you only send 5-10 cold emails and you don’t get a reply, you have to realize this isn’t enough.
…You’re barely getting warmed up!
Instead, scale up your campaign.
For example, if I’m link building for a client, I usually send around 100 emails a day.
With cold emails, it is a number’s game.
You should never spam – but you do have to scale up if you really want to see results.
However, the beauty of cold email today is that you have so many great tools to help you:
With software like Hunter.io and Lemlist, scaling up is easy.
You can quickly automate your cold emails, saving you hundreds of hours.
Check out this video to learn more about the cold email tools I use:
Mistake #4: Wasting Time Managing Your Emails
When you’re sending a lot of emails, you have to be so careful with your time.
The last thing you want is to be sitting behind your laptop all day, playing email ping-pong.
Instead, you have to be productive with how you manage your time.
If you’re sending 100 emails a day, the responses will be flying in.
And if you’re not careful, these responses can swamp all of your time.
So how can you be productive? Check out my email productivity tips here.
What’s the best way to manage your emails and save time? I recommend the following:
- ONLY check your inbox once a day
- Remove email notifications off your phone
- Outsource your inbox ASAP
- Use canned responses when possible
Why use canned responses?
You’ll find that with cold email, you’re sending the same responses over and over again.
That’s how canned responses can help you – just create a bank of them.
Here’s how to do that:
Mistake #5: Email Deliverability
Finally, when you’re running a cold email campaign, deliverability will make or break your results.
Fail to fix this and your campaign is ruined.
Why?
Because you have to ensure that your emails are ACTUALLY seen.
And with email spam filters getting smarter than ever, that’s not so easy.
So be very careful about the words you use – and avoid words that trigger spam filters.
What can you do to avoid this? Don’t use words like:
- Free
- Special offer
- Sale
Words like these will trigger spam filters and land you in the junk inbox.
There’s also a few technical ways to boost your email deliverability including:
- DMARC Records
- SPF
- DKIM
- Custom Tracking Domain
To sum it up
When it comes to cold email outreach, these are my top 5 cold email mistakes to avoid:
- Boring copywriting
- Not following up
- Not sending enough emails
- Wasting too much managing your emails
- Not tweaking your email deliverability
