Understanding Cold Email Marketing Ecosystem for Lead Generation

What is Cold Email Marketing?

Cold email marketing is the process of sending emails to a list of contacts who haven’t opted-in to receive communications from you.  A cold email intends to grab someone’s attention and get them to act (sign up for a webinar, agree to a meeting, buy a product, etc.)

Think of direct mail as an example. Have you received any unsolicited coupons or offers from companies when you didn’t ask for them?  Think of all the refinance letters you get from lenders or coupons from retailers.  Cold email marketing is similar, except that people get more emails than direct mail.

Cold email marketing is used by most companies in some shape or form.  Here are a few use cases of how businesses are leveraging cold email marketing:

• Sales team uses it for prospecting to fill their sales funnel with hot leads
• Marketing team also uses it to generate leads to keep nurturing the prospect
• HR uses cold emails to recruit talent
• Marketing uses cold emails to introduce a new product to prospects or potential news channels
• Non-for-profit organizations leverage it for soliciting money from potential donors
• Schools and universities use cold emails to engage potential students

No matter what the use case is, the main reason businesses use cold email marketing is because it works!

Difference between “Cold” Email Marketing and Traditional Email Marketing Systems

The difference between the two is in the name. Cold email marketing is about reaching out to “cold” prospects.  These are typically prospects and not your clients, followers, or subscribers.

The other Email Marketing Systems are for opt-in contacts (people who agree to receive email communications from you).  These systems are used for engaging your existing clients and subscribers.  Once someone subscribes to receiving emails from your business, you’re free to send them almost anything (coupons, offers, updates, invites, etc.).  Platforms such as Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, and 99% of other systems are all built for these types of opt-in lists (I’ll explain why later).

The difference between the 2 platforms isn’t about content – it’s all about the EMAIL LIST.  One only allows opted-in contacts, while the other allows ALL email contacts (such as purchased lists).

2 Different Types of Cold Email Systems

Bulk Email Marketing Software

These platforms are built to handle large lists, typically from 20,000 to 100+ Million emails. A platform such as MailClickConvert is best suitable for large volume email blasts because it provides you with your own IP addresses, domains, and has a separate SMTP server dedicated to sending high-volume emails. 

But again, not all bulk email platforms allow cold contacts.  Before signing up with another system, make sure you ask if they allow cold or purchased email lists.  With MailClickConvert, you can safely and effectively send bulk email blasts to cold and purchased email lists. 

Cold Email Automation Software

If you have a smaller targeted list, consider using a cold email automation software like Automailer.  These platforms allow you to schedule a series of email messages to your cold contacts in the sequence you desire.  The best part about these cold email automation systems is that it makes it look like you’re sending out these emails personally.

Which Type of Cold Email Software is Best for Lead Generation?

Take a look at the table below for a short comparison between the two types of systems.

If you can acquire a large email list that serves your business, I recommend using both types of cold email platforms. 

Why?

Because bulk email marketing gives you the ability to reach a large audience while cold email marketing nurtures a lead further.

In an optimal setting, you’d send email blasts with a bulk email marketing software and then further nurture the opens & clicks via a cold email automation software.

But don’t just blindly send emails and hope for a response or a lead!

Make Data-Driven Campaign Decisions

For the ecosystem to have maximum yield, the nurturing campaigns in your email automation tool must be set up strategically. When you extract openers/clickers data from your bulk campaign, look at the data and make a note of the following:

1. What day and time are most of the engagements on
2. If you are using multiple subject lines, which one has the better results
3. If you have multiple CTA/links in your email, which one has the more clicks

When you’re setting up your follow-up campaigns in your automation tool, have the campaign send during the days and time you have seen the most engagement based on your bulk campaign. This goes for the subject lines and CTA/links. Implement subject lines and CTA/Links similar to your best-performing ones in your bulk campaign.

Once you’ve implemented these best practices, you’ll see a substantial increase in leads from your cold email marketing campaigns. 

What are your thoughts on the cold email marketing ecosystem? Leave your questions and comments below.

Want to send high-volume cold emails to potential customers? Check out MailClickConvert at mailclickconvert.com