It's a pretty broad question (cold calling for what?) - but in general, avoid it if you can.
Ideally find someone who can introduce you. Cold emails are very hard to pull off, yet a warm introduction always gets a response.
If you have to send a cold email, KEEP IT SHORT, make sure you are clear on what you can do for the person reading the email, and what it is you are asking for.
Get them asking relevant questions, and you are now in a conversation.
Cold emailing doesn't work that well. If you can't get an intro to someone, a neat trick is to start using social media to communicate with them. Use twitter to reply back to one of their tweets etc. Once you get their attention then you can gradually shift it over to email/coffee etc.
Yet another cold email ignored?
Before of writing your next one, don’t forget about these 9 points:
1. Make it about them, not about you
2. Generally speaking, the longer the email is, the lower the response rate will be
3. Write it like your writing to a friend, or at least, using a conversational style. Marketers who do cold email never use stuff like “Hope this finds you well.”
4. The smaller the ask, the more natural to answer. Qualify your leads merely asking: Would it be interesting for you? Or something similar. Don’t ask immediately for the call, or even worse, for sale.
Also, the CTA should be clear. Are you contacting a new potential mentor? Write “Would you mind meeting up for 10-minutes? I’m free on Friday at X and on Thursday at every time.”
5. Make use of an outbound email automation tool to optimize your process. From my experience, the best are Quickmail and Mailshake. If you care about your time, don’t spend days on trials as I did, just use one of these two
7. The more personalized, the better. Did you attend the same University? Is it raining in the city of your prospect? Tell them to grab their umbrella this morning.
8. Always follow-up. Don’t be shy. Your prospects could have been busy when you sent your initial email. Don’t be ruthless, even forwarding the 1st email and add “In case you missed my email last week” it’s enough. But a general rule is, if they ignored your first 3 emails, they would ignore your first 5. So send 7 :-D
9. Add humor if you can. Check Jon Buchan’s work for more!
Here is some advice for cold calling via email:
The subject line is crucial. Make it informative yet intriguing enough to get attention. Avoid vague or misleading subject lines.
Personalize the email; address the recipient by name if possible. Use their company's name. Show you did research on them.
Clearly state your purpose; be upfront about who you are and why you're contacting them in the first paragraph. Don't ramble.
Offer value; explain how your product or service can specifically benefit them or their business. Don't just list features.
Call to action: Ask them to schedule a call or meeting to discuss further. Provide your contact details clearly.
Proofread carefully; no spelling or grammatical errors. Have someone else review it as well.
Timing: Research the best days and times to email for your industry. Avoid weekends if possible.
Format professionally. Use a clear layout and formatting. No blocky text walls.
Attach relevant assets; include case studies, brochures, and reports if helpful to support your pitch.
Follow up persistently. If there is no response, follow up once or twice more politely. Then stop pursuing.
Track metrics; note open and response rates. Adjust the subject lines and content accordingly.
Personalize follow-ups; refer back to previous emails in a respectful way.
The goal is to stand out from the noise with a targeted, value-driven message that compels them to respond. Keep testing and improving your email scripts.
