Personalized Outreach: Key Elements of Successful Cold B2B Emails

It’s a tricky balancing act that requires a hyper-personalized approach, a lot of patience and a bit of luck. Statistically speaking, the majority of cold emails end up in the trash or, worse, the spam filter. If you are hitting a 30% to 40% open rate, you are doing pretty good.

This may sound disheartening, but here's the good news: automation makes connecting with potential customers easier and faster, and, more importantly, it frees up sales reps to work on more pressing issues. Sales Booster's outreach tool sends out personalized emails and follow-up sequences on your behalf and presents you with a list of prospects eager to work with your company. 

Automating this process will save your sales team a lot of time and frustration. Moreover, you’ll begin to see a sharp uptick in your monthly revenue stream within days of setting up an effective outreach campaign. So what are the key elements that make up a successful cold email? Let’s take a closer look at some of the best hacks on the market today as well as how to deploy solid follow-up sequencing that will boost your deal volume.  

Attention-grabbing subject line

This is possibly the most important element of any cold email. Whether your prospect opens and reads your message hinges on how well you construct your subject line. Your prospect probably gets dozens of “Last-Minute Offers” and “Great Deals” in their inbox every day. Those are easy spam markers. Don’t fall into this trap. 

Keep your subject line short, clear and personal. Admittedly, that’s a lot to pack in on such a short line — sales experts suggest three to five words as ideal — but it’s doable. One of the best ways to personalize a subject line is to include the recipient’s first name or company name. Hyper-personalization will inevitably increase your open rate and help your email avoid the spam folder or trash bin.   

Concise, compelling message

Congratulations, your email’s been opened. Now it’s time to hook your prospect by appealing to their pain points. Offer them strategic, data-driven solutions that will allow them to swiftly achieve their goals. Your message needs to be compelling and concise and personal. 

Start off not with introductions but by asking them, for example, about the results of their latest project or commend them on their recent LinkedIn post. Let them know this message simply isn’t a copy-and-pasted version of the same one you sent to two dozen other people within the last hour. Prospects will be more receptive to cold emails if they feel the sender has actually taken time to understand the specific business challenges they are currently facing.               

Eye-catching CTA

You’ve clearly laid out how you can add value to your prospect’s business; now end with a CTA that encourages them to take action. Think of your call-to-action as a way of keeping the conversation going with a potential client. You want to tell them what steps they need to take next, whether it’s setting up a demo or scheduling a meeting. 

If you’re embedding a CTA button, use contrasting colors to make it stand out, and, as with your subject line, remember that less is more. CTAs should be short and directive, encouraging interactivity and redirecting them to your brand’s website where they can find additional information.    

Professional signature  

Sign off with a straightforward, professional-looking signature. Don’t overwhelm with one that’s big or flashy. It should not be the focal point of your email nor detract in any way from your key message. Keep it simple and make sure it includes all your key contact information, like your email, phone number and links to your company website and Linkedin profile.   

Follow-up sequencing: How it works and when to deploy it

You’re crafted the perfect cold sales email and sent it off. The question now is how long do you wait for a reply? In all likelihood, you will have to follow up with your prospect at least once, if not multiple times. Studies have suggested that a prospect typically needs between from five to 12 brand interactions before they’re willing to invest in a company’s offer or service. With this in mind, it’s to your advantage if you have a solid follow-up sequence set up and ready to go. 

One common approach used by veteran B2B sales reps is the BASHO sequence, which uses a five-email sequence to bring in more prospects. In effort not to overwhelm a prospect, your follow-up emails are space over several days: 

• Send initial personalized email: Wait 24 hours
• Send follow-up email: Wait 48 hours 
• Send next follow-up email: Wait 72 hours 
• Send next follow-up email: Wait 5 days 
• Send final personalized email

Follow-up sequencing requires careful management. You want to stay on schedule, which is why automating this process is crucial. Sales Booster can take care of all this for you. Our unique AI will make sure your emails steer clear of the spam filter and end up in your prospect’s inbox during regular working hours no matter where in the world they are situated, guaranteeing a higher response rate. 

Are you ready to automate? Get quality deal-flow with Sales Booster. Learn how to close deals smarter – request a demo in the form below!