How to Improve Your Email Prospecting

From the moment you click "send," any email you send a potential client is fighting for attention. Unfortunately, the competition is stiff— according to a  recent Radicati report, the average person sees 76 emails related to business every day. 

What does that mean for you? Well, there are 75 other emails that are also clamoring for that person's attention. How do you set your email apart from the crowd? We've got some tips to help you improve your email prospecting, ensuring that your email is the one among the dozens that actually gets opened. 

Do Your Homework

Before you start to compose your email, do a little research. Learn about your prospect's business as well as the challenges that they might be facing. Don't spend hours deep-diving into the intricacies of your prospect's business, but take at least fifteen to twenty minutes to learn enough to make it clear that  you're truly interested in that person and their needs.

It's an easy and effective way to prove that you have some knowledge about their business, and it also offers a great personal touch that many others won't bother to do. People respond to commonalities; when you point out a similarity that you share with the person, they're more likely to find you trustworthy. You won't have a point of reference that will get their attention if you don't do the legwork required to obtain this knowledge. 

Sensational Subject Line

You know that the subject line is the enticement that encourages the reader to open your email. You're not going to get very far with a boring, impersonal subject line. Instead, keep it casual. 

An informal subject line that sounds as if it's coming from a personal friend is far more appealing than a stiff and proper sentence that sounds as if it were generated by a robot. (And an unfriendly robot, at that.) According to HubSpot, an email with a personal, casual subject line had nearly twice the open rate of a more sedate one. 

Keep it Short and Sweet

Your reader's time is valuable. Recognize and respect that by keeping your email short. Nobody wants to wade through a thousand-word email, regardless of how valuable the content might be. 

More and more,  people are reading their email on their mobile device; your email needs to be able to be read in seconds, or it won't get read at all. Be sure that you get to the point quickly, making it very clear what kind of response you're seeking from the reader. If your reader can get through the email in record time, and respond just as quickly, they'll be even more likely to continue to open your correspondence in the future. 

Keep it Cool

Nobody likes to be sold to— it makes you feel like a task to be accomplished, not a person in whom the company has interest. If your client closes the email feeling like all you're interested in is their money, you've clearly not done your job. 

Downplay the push sales tactics of old. Email is a step in the right direction— it's certainly a step up from cold calling, the popular method uses by sales people in the past— but just sending an email isn't enough. You need to address the client's needs in a relaxed and engaging manner, casually pointing out the way that you can help them resolve their pain points and starting a discussion that engages them.

Avoid sales-y speech that leaves clients feeling unimportant and unheard. Instead, leave them wanting to hear more about what you have to say. If you can make the client laugh, or leave them with an interesting thought, you're in. They're going to be ready to learn more about what you have to offer. 

Timing is Everything

As in so many things, timing counts in email prospecting. A recent study shows that it's best to send emails on Tuesdays, followed closely by Thursdays, at 10 am 8 pm-midnight, or 2 pm. 

Sending your email on the right day at the right time will only improve your chances of breaching the fortress that many people erect around themselves to avoid reading their email. When you couple this tactic with the ones mentioned above, you're bound to get the response you're hoping for.  

Is your email up to the challenge? If you're not sure, let us help. Get in touch for a free marketing strategy session today. 

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