What if I told you that it’s possible to make the (sometimes) dreaded, challenging process of cold emailing a much simpler task? Here, we take you through everything you need to know about how to write a great cold email by breaking down what goes into one and which call-to-actions work best for different types of content. In some cases, one CTA had a 31% lower CPC than the average price for that content vertical. Crafting a cold email without the cringe has never been easier. But don’t take our word for it — let’s dive in.
What Makes A Strong Cold Email
When it comes to cold emails, you need to remember that you’re not just trying to get people’s attention — you’re trying to get them to take action. And that’s the tricky part. Sure, a lot of subscribers might open up your email, but what’s going to get them further down the funnel? Let’s dive into some tips on how to improve your cold emails to make them even more attractive to your customers.
While all of these key factors play an important role in your cold emails, we’ll dive a bit deeper into the ones we think can really elevate your messaging.
Personalization
The most effective cold emails are personalized. The average reader isn’t going to resonate with a generic, copy-and-paste email. And so, it’s in your best interest to add in some personalization wherever you can.
How should you go about adding some personalization into your cold emails?
- Always use your customers’ names when you can.
- Mention something relevant to their industries/needs/pains.
- Bring up anything new about their company or their professional achievements.
Now, of course we know that this is hard to achieve when you are sending out cold emails to the masses, but small personal touches can make a huge difference too. At the very least, use your marketing email software to address your customers by name to get you started on the right path.
Positive Emotions
… Specifically excitement! People resonate with content that makes them feel something. And when you are encouraging your audience to either make a purchase or sign up, it’s important to focus on the positive.
And positive emotions can come in many forms. You can play on excitement, FOMO, joy, curiosity, passion and more!
Strong Call-To-Actions
Next, we have CTAs. Call-to-action buttons are what we click when we want to make a purchase, sign up for a free trial, or view something interesting. This is your golden opportunity to get subscribers moving in your direction, so don’t hold back! Keep your call-to-action simple and clear. Witty CTAs work well too, but the general rule of thumb is to keep things as clear as possible.
Top CTAs for Commerce Emails
And speaking of CTAs, it’s time to discuss which call-to-actions work best for different types of content.
If you’re running a business or ecommerce website, there are two types of CTAs you can use in your cold emails: soft and hard. The former is an invitation for someone to sign up for a newsletter or mailing list — this can be done after they complete a purchase, join an email list, or subscribe on social media. Hard CTAs , on the other hand, are designed with more urgency. They encourage people to take immediate action by purchasing something right now.
But now let’s get a bit more granular and start talking about specific CTAs that work best for ecommerce cold emails. Using data from thousands of ads, we looked at a wide range of commerce topics (such as fashion, shopping, gifts, retail, etc.) to see which call-to-actions came out on top.
- Shop Today
- Shop Now
- Enter Now
- Shop Below
- Shop The Roundup
- Get XX% Off
Out of all of these CTAs, Shop Today took the top spot, with a CTR 2X higher than the average CTRs for the rest. Similarly, Shop Today had a 31% lower CPCs than the average cost in the vertical.
Top CTAs for News and Business
When it comes to emails that are more business or news-oriented, the best call-to-actions to use are going to be more content-focused, rather than product-focused. A lot of publishers and marketers rolling out this type of content are looking for subscription leads and sign ups. This brings us to our list of the top CTA options for news and business verticals.
- Buy Now
- Check Out
- Find Out More
- Sign Up To [Name of Newsletter]
- Catch Up
The leader in this group, Buy Now, had a CTR nearly 2X higher than the average of the other call-to-actions. It’s also interesting to note that this CTA, although the data had been filtered out for new and business content, is a very commerce-driven phrase. While that may seem strange given the topics, a lot of business-oriented content still leverages the power of commerce. For example, businesses will sell guidebooks, subscriptions, or other informational materials to their audience — which brings in the importance of the Buy Now CTA.
How AI Comes Into Play
If you’re able to come up with a great subject line and email body that aligns with your business goals, how do you ensure your emails are opened? A/B testing. Instead of spending hours crafting an individualized email for each prospect, send out a few different versions of your cold email and analyze which approach is most effective. This way, instead of relying on personalization or guesswork, you can tap into data-driven insights to determine what works best.
But creating all of the different copy is time-consuming and expensive. That’s where AI writers come into play. AI copywriting platforms like Anyword allow users to generate quality and effective marketing copy all in just a few clicks.
Use Anyword From Start To Finish
Anyword’s AI Copywriting Platform leverages a unique data-driven approach to all content creation. This AI writer offers a wide range of tools to let its users create everything from social ads to landing pages — and you guessed it, cold emails. But Anyword goes far beyond the creation stage of the marketing realm. The platform also provides a unique Predictive Performance Score with each piece of copy generated. These “grades” give users a better idea of that piece of copy’s conversion and performance potential — meaning you can know how well your content will resonate with your audience before even going live. And the result? Smarter content choices that lead to higher conversions, more sales, and overall better performance.
What does this look like in action? Let’s take a look at how Anyword’s AI platform creates entire cold emails from start to finish — in minutes.
Step One: Give Anyword Some Background
Here’s where you fill out your Cold Email project brief. Tell us your industry and provide us a link to what you’re promoting. Then, you’ll enter in your product description, which can be a short paragraph about what you want to sell in your email.
Step Two: Create Your Subject Line
Now it’s time to start pumping out some copy! The first step: creating an enticing subject line. Have Anyword’s powerful AI generate a subject line from scratch or rewrite and tweak an existing one you may already have written. Use Anyword’s various style templates and rewrite styles to further fine-tune your messaging.
Step Three: Create The Body of Your Email
Let’s move on to the meat of your email. Creating the body of your email is similar to that of the subject line, in which you can either start from scratch or rewrite existing copy. Anyword also allows you to use its built-in templates, or you can create a custom template catered specifically to your audience.
And just like that — you have your cold email ready to go! Turn to Anyword to change (and improve) how you reach out to prospective customers and watch the leads roll in. Test the waters with this AI writer by booking a demo with us today.
