Let’s talk about how to write email content that is most likely to gain traction for for cold leads. First, it is useful to use social media to warm leads up—priming them for first personal contact. Social media channels are ideal for raising brand awareness. This is also the best way to direct traffic to your website. And it is a surefire way to turbocharge your sales pipeline. This can be generated by Facebook Ads, Twitter Lead Gen Cards, Linked In Profiles, or a general PPC disseminated across various social media channels.

Something crucial to understand about cold solicitations via email is that one must be careful not to risk damaging one’s IP reputation by eliciting a profusion of rejections. If the prospect has never been to your website and indicated an interest in your products or services, then they may mark your overtures as SPAM, thereby damaging your IP reputation. So it is imperative that you do not come off as anything but sincere and worthwhile.

Insofar as phrasing goes, lets look at some ideas for how to first approach a cold lead: Be as direct as you can (less is more):

Hello [target name],

I have an idea that I can explain in 10 minutes that can get [target company] its next 100 customers. I recently used this idea to help our client [competitor] almost triple their monthly rate. Let’s schedule a brief call so I can share the idea with you. Just let me know which days / times work best for you.

— [name]

The email’s body quickly describes what the sender can offer the prospect and what they need from them (10 minutes of their time). It uses social proof as evidence of how this proposition has worked for others. When you’re unsure whether you’re emailing the right person, send something like this:

Hi [target name],

I’m [name] and I lead the business development efforts at [company name]. We have recently launched a new solution that [one sentence sales pitch]. Based on your online profile [profile link], it appears that you might be the right person, or at least point me to the right person to talk about [what your product / service does; how it solves problems]. I’d like to speak to someone from [target company] who manages these solutions. If it’s you, would you be open to a 10-minute call to discuss how [product / service name] can help your business? If it’s not you, can you kindly point me to the appropriate person? Thank you for the help!

—[name]

The aim here is to ask the target to point the sender in the right direction of the most relevant person. The trick is to give the target a reason to help you (the sender). By phrasing your request in this manner, you demonstrate that you’ve at least done a bit of research into who you’re contacting. This conveys that you understand them, the concerns they have, and that you genuinely care. You show that you have matched your product to their business model; you’re just not 100% sure whether the person you’re reaching out to is the best person to deal with. Busy people will appreciate the courtesy

Another effective way to generate extra leads is to simply share an offer, special deal, exciting announcement, or limited discount to entice each target. These are effective tactics for CTAs (calls to action)

Make sure to limit the length of website forms. Asking people too much sensitive information can be off-putting. The initial capture of data and new leads should be quick and simple. So keep your website forms with five fields or less. Your sales team can then ask them any other information that is required once they have built a good rapport…and gained their trust. Once at ease, people are more likely to share information. The moment someone feels uncomfortable, you’ve lost them.

Again: If the target never explicitly requested to receive messages specifically from you, then there’s a chance they could flag your messages as spam—putting your reputation in peril. Not only does this prospects train to filter out emails from you, but it also indicates to their email provider which emails to filter out

Once enough people flag your messages as spam, you go on a blacklist; which is then shared with other email providers. Once you get on the blacklist, it’s really, really hard to get back off of it. If there are too many rejections or bounce-backs (from invalid addresses), then your email deliverability and IP reputation will likely be harmed. You can break down a lot of barriers to a conversion by offering complimentary trials of your product / service. Once a prospect is using your product, you can entice them with additional offers to encourage them to buy. Another good practice is to include your branding in your free versions so you can capture other potential customers. At the end of the day, you need to provide tangible incentives for cold leads if they are to take you seriously.