Is outbound marketing / cold emailing adapted for B2C

Many of us internet users are consumers of products and services, and there are several means through which we can get in touch with companies, people, or brands. One of the most profitable means is email marketing, but it has also been one of the most regulated.

Before embarking on an outbound or cold email campaign, three important aspects must be taken into account so as not to die in the attempt:

• Legal aspects.
• Technical aspects.
• Return on investment

Although they may seem unrelated, these three axes complement each other, since good technical management can help you to comply correctly with legal considerations. As well as ignoring the legislation can cause large fines, which will directly affect your investment.

Do you have doubts about how to carry out a correct cold email marketing campaign? Don’t hesitate to contact Skief Labs, in the meantime, here are a few pointers that can help you get started.

Legal Requirements For Email Marketing 

In most developed countries, laws put limits on the uses that companies can give to commercial emails, such as the case of the European Union with GDRP, the United States with CAN-SPAM, and Canada with CASL.

Control of Unsolicited Pornography and Unsolicited Marketing Assault Act (CAN-SPAM)

This law was passed in the United States in 2003 and established that email marketing should not include misleading content, clear identification of the sender, and contact information. 

Although it did not establish parameters for defining explicit or implicit consent, it did oblige senders to include unsubscribe mechanisms.

Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)

Said law was passed in 2014, being more objective with the guidelines in which unsolicited promotional communications by users could work. It establishes concepts such as explicit and implied consent and the different conditions under which these recipients have to operate. On the one side, explicit consents have no expiration date, while contacts with tacit consent are limited to two years.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

As part of the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union (GDPR), several provisions were established that put limits on the way email marketing campaigns operate.

The GDPR also established regulations for the collection of personal data, in order to make its use transparent.

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

This is one of the most influential pieces of legislation in U.S. marketing. It proclaimed the right of users to know who was collecting and using their data, as well as the full ability to request the deletion of this data or to opt-out of campaigns that use this type of method.

Technical requirements of email marketing

Although it may seem that getting into email marketing is like entering a minefield, it is far from it, it is possible to create successful campaigns that are respectful of user data. For this, it is important to be clear about what you can and can't do and to have some technical knowledge and a stack of tools that facilitate the optimization of emails. 

Do you need the perfect partner to manage your email marketing campaigns? Skief can help. 

It is important to consider that for email marketing campaigns you will need more specialized tools than MailChimp, as venturing through these platforms can result in your account being blocked or your domain being blacklisted.

Due to the characteristics of a cold email, made up mostly of text and personalized messages, the use of HTML templates and very visual formats would not be very beneficial to reaching your final goal.

In order to get out of these issues unscathed, where personalization and mass mailing are involved, there are different technological tools that will help you with your automation process.

Having good advice in the case of email marketing campaigns for the B2C sector is of vital importance to know which of the two main ways to take:

Using sender mailboxes such as Gmail or Outlook

This path allows us to use text templates that can be combined with automation tools, which provide us with personalized mass messages that combine with the high open rates offered by the most widely used sender mailboxes worldwide.

Build a customized email server

This alternative will help you skip the use of email marketing tools that can cause your campaigns to crash such as Mailchimp or Hubspot. This can allow you to reach a large number of recipients by offering an eye-catching email thanks to the use of HTML templates. However, open rates often drop and even the deliverability of your emails can be at risk.

Pay attention to your ROI

A functional strategy must take into account the costs and benefits that the campaign is generating. As attractive as it may seem, in some situations, it does not make sense to opt for an email marketing campaign since the acquisition cost will be far above your profits.

To venture into the world of the cold email you must be attentive to the expenses of your campaign, mainly those generated by the acquisition of data and the technological tools you decide to use.

Situations you should consider if you want to start with a cold email in B2C

High acquisition cost or Lifetime Value

This is an indicator that delves into your ROI index to find out the level of client consumption and its continuity in the long term. Thanks to this information, you can correctly decide which audiences to prioritize.

To calculate your Lifetime Value, or LTV you only need to apply the following formula: LTV ($) = (Average ticket [$] × Total or average purchases in the period) × Average time of relationship (in years or months) (Graph)

This is an average between the cost of the average ticket, the total purchases, and the time of relationship with the customer.

Startup validating Product Market Fit

If you are an early-stage company or trying to validate the success of your product or service in the market, as well as in the scaling phase after achieving your Product Market Fit, or PMF. In these cases, the acquisition costs are usually higher (to the point of losing money), however, it is an indispensable step to validate your Minimum Viable Product or Product Market Fit.

Thanks to this process it will be easier for you to scale your startup through Venture Capital funding.

Obtaining a quality audience

Accessibility to high-quality information sources such as databases is usually a considerable expense, however, getting an audience of that level can define your strategy.

Consider a website that converts

All the stages of cold campaigns must be crucial, from generating a good message, taking the necessary platforms, taking care of the data, and even providing the potential client with a route of accompaniment to feed their interest in our services. With this, the sales funnel will come full circle and achieve your goals successfully. 

As you have seen, starting a cold email campaign requires certain knowledge and the use of various tools to achieve maximum ROI. If you need the perfect ally or have any doubts about this topic do not hesitate to contact us. At Skief we will be happy to guide you.