When to consider cold emails to generate leads

It's no rumor that cold email marketing is back as the main option for sales and marketing teams when it comes to generating leads, or maybe they never left. This outbound strategy has proven to be one of the most effective and the one that maintains the best ROI rate, with an average return of $36 for every dollar invested. In some industries, it is a little higher.

• Media, publishing, events, sports, & entertainment: 32:1
• Software & technology: 36:1
• Marketing, PR, & advertising agency: 42:1
• Retail, ecommerce, & consumer goods: 45:1

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And it is no coincidence that for marketers it is the number one choice, its numbers speak for themselves. Several studies have shown that Cold Email is 40 times more effective than social media campaigns. To achieve this level of conversions you have to follow certain rules and create a link between your different types of campaigns.

The truth is that by following the parameters that make up an effective cold email you will realize how effective it is; email is the perfect medium for sales, it is not intrusive, it maintains immediacy and you can reach a large number of people.

Will the use of cold email be effective for me?

Not all businesses and products are suited for cold emailing. 

B2B

If the Lifetime Value is high, it's time to do it. Your ROI rate will be highly effective.

If your Lifetime Value is low, it may not be your best option, but you should consider the development stage of your company or product: if you are in early development or about to launch a new product, the use of cold email can help you test your suitability to the market. 

If your Lifetime Value is low and you are a company already positioned in the market, the use of cold email will not be your most effective strategy and you should look for alternatives that better suit your situation. At Skief we offer other types of solutions for your marketing and sales teams, such as the use of Market Data or Automation. 

B2C

In this type of business, you have to consider two important aspects: that your LTV is high and that your prospects have given clear purchase intentions. Under that situation, the use of cold email can be very beneficial for you. 

If you don't comply with both aspects, then your product or company is not suitable for the use of cold email, both because of the low return on investment and because of different legislations depending on your geographic area. In the United States, it is allowed under explicit and implicit consent, in Europe it is not.

When to start using email marketing?

One of the qualities of a cold email is that you can start right away, at any time.  Because of its efficiency, you can make several efforts in the same amount of time it would take you to make a single cold call. Although you should consider that there are different strategies to increase its effectiveness, such as choosing the best day and time to send cold emails or prioritizing the personalization of your lead.

A big part of the trick is not only to do it but to do it well. If you manage to structure a good cold mail, you will know how effective it can be. It is no coincidence that it is the main channel for B2B Marketers ranking according to its ROI, ahead even of SEO Optimization and Content Marketing.

How to launch an effective cold email campaign?

Any advertising strategy in this day and age requires planning focused on your ideal customer, so take the time to research whom you intend to contact. Avoid mistakes that can automatically land you on the SPAM list.

Keep in mind 3 key points, which complement each other and will prevent you from being automatically rejected:

Data

You have to know to whom your message is addressed, the data are essential to know your audience and know what is the relationship they may have with your product or service, thanks to this you will achieve the correct positioning of your product in the market. 

In addition to this it is important to have an updated database, because all your efforts may be in vain if your message arrives to an email that is no longer in use, is false or has a full inbox. Skief Labs has decades of experience in market data, so that your message gets to where it needs to go.

Content Market Fit

Once you have the right audience, you must send the right message. This means that your email must necessarily provide value to the recipient, this is composed of a consistent, assertive, and engaging discourse.

Consider that it will be more effective for you to raise several audiences for a single product, this will give a greater personalization to your messages. A B2B product may have different interests within a company. Avoid sending the same speech to talk to the head of IT, the head of sales or marketing, as the needs and approaches are not the same. 

Tool / Tech Stack

Making effective use of your data and your messages is easy thanks to the implementation of the right tools. If you integrate automation technology, email verification, and distribution tools, you can be sure that your emails will arrive on time and through the right channels, thus avoiding your great messages staying in the SPAM folder.

If the content is great, the audience is well chosen but the emails don't get to the right inbox, then there is no point. Technology serves humans in their tasks, make use of it! 

‍Skief Labs is a Digital Innovation Lab with a specialty in Marketing and Sales. We support founders and sales leaders in streamlining and scaling their customer acquisition process with:

• Fully managed lead generation campaigns to support your internal sales teams and fuel your pipeline.
• Training of the sales/marketing teams for growth hacking techniques and tools
• Audit of existing processes and implementation of tools and workflows to automate the acquisition

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