9 Cold Email Mistakes That Kill Conversion Rates

It has been proved time and again that email is one of the most powerful tools used in marketing and cold emails are still considered a powerful sales technique. An email campaign is a cost-efficient channel of communication that can generate leads, and drive sales and conversion as well. Along with email marketing, cold emails are here to stay as the ROI from both is high.

Cold emails are efficient when you have to initiate a conversation with your prospects and expect them to respond. Given below are 9 Cold Email Mistakes That Kill Conversion Rates every marketer must avoid to increase open and click-through rates.

#1 Cold Subject Line

If you want your email copy to be read by people first and foremost ensure it has an attractive subject line that is inviting, specific, explanatory, promising, etc. that will force people to open your email. Today, most emails are read on mobile devices hence you should make sure it should be right to the point and not long to capture attention.

Personalized subject lines grab the attention of your prospect and increase the probability of your email being opened. Make sure your email body should match with your subject line.

#2 CTA, or Call to action

This small but crucial detail is one of the most powerful words in your cold email marketing that can influence potential customers to take the necessary action. Your CTA should be brief, clear, visible, and clickable so that it takes the customer to a specific landing page. CTAs enable potential customers to seal deals by bringing them one more step down the sales funnel.

Using multiple CTAs may confuse your prospect so make sure to add one CTA that is specific and another more generic. Nevertheless, statistics show that emails with a single call-to-action increased clicks and sales.

#3 No Grammar Check

The first impression of your cold email should be good on prospects. So, ensure there are no spelling mistakes and typos. You can also use a spell checker, and readability checker. Also, make sure to read your email before clicking on the send button to avoid coming across as unprofessional.

#4 Long Body Text

If you want your emails to be read keep the body copy of the email short and sweet with only the most important points or the response rate reduces if the email body is lengthy. Sending emails with a lot of text causes readers not only to stop reading but also abandon any further contact from the sender.

So, make your email in short paragraphs of text with headings and subheadings in larger fonts. Use bullet points and lists and also include links to click on. Get to the point quickly without taking too much of readers’ time. Also, avoid using generic opening lines and mention why you are writing to your prospect right away giving them a reason to read the rest of your email.

#5 Email body contain product features and not benefits

Prospects are interested to know the benefits of your product than its features. So, you can highlight a specific problem that might be important to your target audience and is consistent with your subject line. The body of the email should inform your prospect how they can benefit from your product in simple language encouraging them to read more. You can also mention how you can solve their challenges.

#6 Opening Line Speaks about You

It would be a mistake if you start the email copy with your name or your company’s name. It shows it is a sales email and your open rates will crash. Prospects don’t care about you or your company so, address them directly to catch the recipient’s attention.

Sending a personalized message depicts that you have has taken the trouble to get to know about them. This will break the ice and connect with your prospects urging them to read the rest of your mail.

#7 Fewer Visuals

Make your emails a treat for the eyes of your prospects by making them visual and more than just text. Your email visuals should include clear images, infographics, colourful design, interesting fonts, and brand colours as it reflects your company and may speak for you. So, choose the right visuals for your campaign as they are pleasing and easy on the eyes. Visual content can hold most of the message as they create an expectation on what is being offered before customers read the text-based information.

#8 Sending Attachments

Attaching documents to your cold email means a quick trip to the spam folder, so, add hyperlinks instead of attachments. These will take your prospects to specific pages where they can find additional information about your products and services. Most companies have strict IT security policies hence they often tell their employees not to open attachments from external sources. When your email reaches your prospect’s inbox, they will not risk opening your attached files and might even delete them or will block them as an extra precaution.

#9 No Follow-ups

Marketers should not give up after sending just a single email to their prospects. If they have time your recipients will read your email however, if they are busy at the time they may respond later or might forget. That is the reason why you should always send follow-up emails to remind them of your previous email.

By increasing the number of follow-ups you will improve open and reply rates when compared to a single email. You can also try scheduling follow-up emails at a different time of the day, or week. In this way, you will increase the chance of catching your prospect’s attention when they are less busy and are more likely to respond.

Conclusion

Cold emailing will always remain as one of the powerful sales techniques. By avoiding the above-mentioned mistakes, you can stop serious damage to your sales rate and your emails can be an irreplaceable piece of content. So, avoid them to make better email marketing decisions giving a huge jump in your open and reply rates and also improving your cold email success rates.