Should you ever consider writing a prospecting email with an emoji in the subject line? What is the best way to grab attention when email prospecting, and how to avoid your efforts going straight to spam? These are just a couple of questions you may have when it comes to reaching out to prospective customers via email, and we’re here to answer them all. 

In this episode of our podcast, we speak with Stephen Harlow, Chief Sales Officer at Sopro, about his winning email marketing strategy with a 15% response rate.

Join us as we discuss:

• Email marketing’s goal to start conversations
• How to write a short email without fluff but with personalization
• The relationship between email and LinkedIn
• Optimizing email timing and frequency

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

• The State of Prospecting by Sopro

Getting the Best out of Email Prospecting

Be honest. You’ve deleted thousands of marketing emails without even opening them. Because the subject line wasn’t compelling enough to bother opening it, or it didn’t seem relevant, or any number of reasons. 

So how do you stop your audience from doing the same to your emails? 

If you’re trying to make initial contact with a customer or a prospect, you only have a few options. You can use social media, you could send something in the mail, you could show up at their front door, pick up the phone, or send an email. That’s it. Those are really your only options. 

And which of those is the least intrusive way for you to show up? 

Email. 

Because social media relies too heavily on algorithms. Messages get missed, deleted, or ignored. Direct mail seems to be dying. Fewer and fewer people are physically in the office these days, and we all get dozens ofphone calls a day. 

The trick with email prospecting is personalization. Ideally, you want to email everybody with a personalized, one to one message that shows that you think you can help, or solve a problem, for that particular person. 

Email Prospecting: Getting Rid of the Fluff

We’ve all read the emails that meander and take forever to get to the point. You’re busy, your prospects are busy, and there’s no quicker turn off than an email that wastes everybody’s time. 

So if you’re going to get the attention of your target audience, your email prospecting campaign should follow a few guidelines, and contain no more than 4 paragraphs:

1. Who you are

Nobody is going to read an email if they don’t know who it’s from. 

2. Why you’re contacting them

What’s in it for THEM? This email isn’t about you, it’s about their problems and how you can show up to solve them. 

3. What you’d like to do

Set a meeting? Grab a coffee? Tell them what you’d like to do as a result of this email. 

4. Call to action

This is where you reconfirm what you’d like to do. It’s asking them to do something, whether it’s pick a time, a coffee shop, or whatever the case may be. 

When you take all of the fluff out of emails, your emails become readable. They become a call to action. What are the key benefits, and why do you want to speak to them? Don’t use five hundred words where one hundred will do. The name of the game is simplicity. 

Don’t be dismayed if your best laid plans fail. For Stephen’s team, throughout the world last year, 80% of all replies that came back from prospects back to their clients were from second, third, and fourth emails. 

Be persistent when undergoing an email prospecting campaign, and show your value. 

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe to The B2B Revenue Acceleration Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

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