Cold email

Cold email is one of the few channels where volume is under direct control. Unlike search or referrals, it does not wait for demand to appear. A sender can write to a hundred well-chosen prospects on Monday and have real conversations by Friday. That makes it a common first outbound channel for a small business selling to other businesses.

The risk is also direct. Bad targeting and careless copy damage the sending domain, and a damaged Domain reputation sends every later email, including ordinary customer mail, to spam.

• Build a narrow list. A few hundred well-fitting prospects beat thousands of loose matches.
• Open with something about the recipient's situation, not a description of the product.
• Mention a detail that shows the email was not sent to everyone.
• Ask for something small, such as a view on one question, before asking for a call.
• Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC on the sending domain and warm it up before sending in volume.
• Include a clear way to opt out, and check the email rules of the countries the recipients are in, since they differ.
• Track bounces and replies together. Many bounces point to the list, not the copy.

A cold email goes to a stranger who has not signed up, enquired or met the sender. What separates it from spam is fit and relevance. A cold email goes to a person whose role makes the message useful, says something specific about their situation and offers an easy way to decline. Spam goes to everyone and says the same thing to all.

• Sending from the main company domain instead of a separate one.
• Writing long emails with several asks.
• Stopping after one email. Most replies come from follow-ups in an Email sequence.