Cold Emailing

45 cold email tips to generate more replies [2024]

Guillaume Moubeche
LAST UPDATED
August 28, 2024
READING TIME
7 min.

You've started your cold email campaigns but they're not performing as they should?

Check out these tried-and-tested cold email tips and solve your issues.

⚠️Take it step by step, spend some time on every tip in this checklist for the best results.

Research & Targeting

#1 Define your ideal customer profile (ICP)

Why?

It ensures you target the right people - maximizing impact & ROI.

How?

Use our free ICP generator, or start from scratch with this B2B persona guide.

#2 Research all there is to know about your prospects

Why?

It's the secret to pinpointing the perfect way and place to personalize your pitch with every outreach.

How?

Touch ground on…

  • Who They Are (their role, company, interests, and recent achievements.)
  • What's Up in Their Industry (news, challenges, and trends.)
  • Their Problems & Needs (pain points and desires.)
  • Past Interactions (conversations or engagements you had with them.)
  • Social Media Activity.
  • Shared networks or contacts.
  • Company Goals (ongoing projects or initiatives.)

#3 Segment your email list

Why?

Segmenting your lead lists sharpens your marketing focus, ensuring tailored, relevant messaging that resonates and converts.

Segmented emails drive 30% more opens and 50% more click-throughs than unsegmented ones.
- Hubspot

How?

After you find their email addresses, break them up into sub-lists.

You can use criteria like demographics, professional roles and previous engagements.

Or you can segment them into value-tiers (least to most revenue potential) based on past sales trends.

Use this G-Sheet addon to get clean, enriched and segmented email lists.

Alternatively, segment your list automatically using lemlist's new AI Variables feature. It could save you hours of manual work.

Say you have a set of leads, and you want to segment all leads that work for SaaS companies, you can use the following prompt:

Based on the following company description, determine if the company is very likely a Software as a Service (SaaS) company. Output 'True' if it is very probable that the company is a SaaS. Output 'False' if the company is not a SaaS. Output 'N/A' if the company description is empty. Input company description: {{companyDescription}} The output should always be 'True', 'False' or 'N/A'

* This prompt assumes that there's a column called companyDescription.

Let AI do its magic, then push the leads to a campaign aimed at SaaS companies.

#4 Verify emails before you send

Why?

This is immensely important as it will prevent bounces, thereby improving your email deliverability score!

How?

You can use a tool like Bouncer, or try a few free email verification methods to make sure you have valid addresses.

Make sure you're getting your contact information from a reliable source, so as not to waste time going through an endless list of undeliverable emails. Check out lemlist's +450 lead database and gather valid.

Best Cold Email Sending Practices

#5 Organize & format

Why?

Properly organized and formatted .csv files are the backbone of personalized, error-free email campaigns.

They ensure seamless contact import and targeted messaging.

How?

Clean and structure your data: Remove duplicates, standardize fields (like names and emails), and sort into clear columns.

This makes for smooth importing and effective personalization.

#6 Mind your volume

Limit it to 50-200 messages per sender daily; for larger campaigns, consider distributing emails across multiple senders.

Why?

It boosts delivery rates - ensuring your message gets through.

How?

You should aim for a natural cadence increase over time.

lemwarm can automate the trouble of gradually increasing your sending cadence, and will monitor your deliverability.

#7 Don’t send it all at once!

Why?

Sending all your emails (newsletters, cold emails etc.) can trigger rate limits that block your emails.Go with staggered sending instead.

How?

Email automation tools, like lemlist, can help you send emails sequentially, preventing bulk sends that trigger rate limits.

Technical Components & Email Deliverability

#8 Set up your SPF

Why?

SPF authentication helps prevent email spoofing, ensuring your emails are trusted and more likely to reach the inbox.

How?

Configure SPF for Google accounts and Exchange accounts by adding an SPF record to your domain's DNS settings.

#9 Set up your DKIM

Why?

DKIM adds a digital signature to emails, verifying the sender's identity and increasing deliverability.

How?

Implement DKIM for Google accounts and Exchange accounts by creating and configuring DKIM records in your DNS.

#10 Set up your DMARC

Why?

DMARC protects your domain from unauthorized use and improves email deliverability and security.

How?

Implement DMARC by adding a DMARC record to your DNS and configuring it according to your policy preferences.

#11 Set up a custom tracking domain

Why?

A custom tracking domain enhances brand consistency and email deliverability, reducing the risk of being marked as spam.

How?

Create and verify your custom tracking domain following the guidelines provided here, then integrate it with your email campaigns.

#12 Optimize your Google Profile

Why?

An optimized Google Profile ensures your emails are recognized and trusted by recipients, boosting open rates.

How?

Ensure your Google Profile has accurate and updated information, including your name, logo, and contact details, to maintain consistency and professionalism in your email communications.

#13 Use A Simple Email Signature

Why?

It can overwhelm your recipient.

How?

Steer clear of  intricate HTML; opt for simple, lightweight designs.

Use lemlist's signature generator to get the best email signature in seconds.

#14 Avoid attachments

Why?

It can get you flagged for spam real quick!

According to F-Secure, 85% of all malicious emails have a .DOC, .XLS, .PDF, .ZIP, or .7Z attachment.

How?

Opt for Google Drive links instead.

If you have to include attachments - limit it to one or two per email & ensure your email isn’t filled with spam words.

#15 Add an opt-out option

Why?

This isn’t a tip, it’s mandated by the law in a lot of places.

How?

For US readers, the CAN-SPAM law states that opt-out mechanisms are non-negotiable.

#16 Don't worry too much about perfect timing

We tested this - timing doesn’t make a big difference.

Focus on write a great email instead!

Although timing may not be too much of a factor, you can slightly increase your chances of getting your reply by sending your emails on the right day.

#17 Use a dedicated outreach domain

Why?

Protects your main email reputation and avoids deliverability problems.

How?

Create a secondary domain for cold emails, especially for larger sales teams.

Cold Email Personalization Tips

#18 Experiment with subject lines

Why?

Effective subject lines boost open rates.

How?

Find what works for your audience by playing with variations & track the results!

#19 Address your prospect by name

This is the starting point of every personalization tactic.

What if I don’t have their first name?

If you're working with bigger lists and worry if some prospects don't have the first name, lemlist has a nifty feature called the ‘fallback value’ to curb this concern.

Simply use {{variable|fallback}}. In our case it would look like this: {{firstname|lemlister}}

#20 Leverage Tiramisu Intro Lines

Why?

First impressions matter.

Your intro line sets the tone of your email and decides if the reader stays engaged.

How?

Focus on the prospect in your intro lines.

Avoid talking about yourself or your company initially.

Use the Tiramisu Strategy for a layered approach – check our CSV file for guidance.

#21 Delay Your Pitch

Why?

Rushing to the pitch can turn off prospects.

Start with a conversation to build rapport.

How?

Focus on establishing a connection first.

This makes pitching more natural and effective later.

#22 Use a Powerful CTA

Why?

A clear, singular call-to-action (CTA) is more effective than multiple, confusing ones.

How?

Craft one strong CTA for your email. It should be direct and easy to understand, guiding the reader to the next step without any ambiguity.

#23 Follow Up

Why?

Persistence pays off.

Many responses come from follow-up emails.

How?

If you don't get a reply initially, don't hesitate to send a follow-up email.

It can be the nudge that turns a prospect into a conversation.

#24 A/B Test Everything!

Why?

Testing beats guessing. A/B testing reveals what truly resonates with your audience.

How?

Implement A/B testing in your campaigns. Experiment with different elements like subject lines, email body, or CTAs to understand your audience's preferences and improve your approach based on data.

Leveraging ‘LinkedIn x Cold-email’ outreach campaigns? Check out our guide to personalize them at scale.

Cold Email KPI’s To Track

#25 Open Rate > 50%

If you're seeing open rates over 50%, you're doing well; your emails are getting noticed.

If not, there could be deliverability issues.

This deliverability checklist might help you identify and fix the problem.

#26  Click rate > 40%

If your click rate is hitting above 40%, you're definitely connecting with your audience, leading them to take action.

If it's lower, it's time to reevaluate your content or call-to-action to make sure they're compelling enough.

#27 Reply rate > 8%

A reply rate above 8% is a strong indicator that your emails are resonating and engaging.

If you're falling short of this, it might be worth revising your email's tone, content, or personalization to encourage more responses.

#28 Bounce Rate > 5%

If your bounce rate is over 5%, that's a red flag.

It suggests issues with your email list quality or outdated contacts.

Remember to clean up your list regularly.

General Tips

#29 Don’t spam

Why?

Spam complaints damage your sender reputation and email deliverability.

How?

Focus on sending relevant, valuable content to the right audience.

Monitor engagement and unsubscribe rates to ensure your emails are well-received and never verge into spam territory.

#30 Create cold email templates

Why?

Templates streamline your email process and maintain consistency in successful communications.

How?

Identify and save your best-performing cold emails as templates.

This not only saves time but also allows you to replicate successful strategies across different campaigns.

Need inspiration, use the most 🔥 cold email template hub ever created!

Bonus Hacks For lemlisters!

Not a lemlister?

We'd be honored to welcome you to the family!

To join:

  1. Sign up for a free trial (no credit card required) to play with lemlist’s powerful email features.
  2. Join the Outbound Hub - for genuine connections, real support, and first-hand sales knowledge!

Back to the tips…

#31 Add dynamic first names onto images

Why?

Personalizing images with the recipient's first name dramatically increases engagement and shows attention to detail, making your emails stand out in a crowded inbox.

lemlist Tutorial: How to add the {{firstName}} tag onto the image

#32 Include their company logo

Why?

Using a prospect's logo personalizes your email, boosting relevance and engagement.

lemlist Tutorial: How to add company logos to your emails

#33 Add web screenshots

Add screenshots of your prospect’s websites to hook them from the start!

lemlist Tutorial: How to add personalized website screenshots

#34 Use video thumbnails

A failproof strategy to instantly build trust & ramp up reply rates!

lemlist Tutorial: How to create a personalized video thumbnail

#35 Send unique links

Depending on your cold email strategy, you can personalize and send unique links to prospects at scale to enhance engagement.

lemlist Tutorial: How to personalize your links

#36 Leverage liquid syntax

to adjust your message to fit the context.

lemlist Tutorial: How to use liquid syntax in your cold emails

#37 Utilize spin syntax

Adapting your message with liquid syntax ensures contextually relevant and highly personalized emails (e.g. deliver 5 different types of intro lines.)

lemlist Tutorial: How to use spin syntax in your cold emails

#38 Create dynamic landing pages

Dynamic landing pages tailor the user experience, increasing relevance and conversion rates.

lemlist Tutorial: How to use dynamic landing pages in lemlist

#39 Review before you send!

Before you send cold emails in lemlist, you will enter the review stage.

This allows you to check the campaign one last time.

Use this opportunity to further customize your emails (e.g. change intro line for a prospect you've met before.)

#40 Auto-extract LinkedIn emails

Use our Phantombuster integration or the new lemlist Chrome extension to target LinkedIn prospects, extract their emails and send outbound campaigns on auto-pilot!

#41 Work with Google sheets

Utilize our Google Sheet integration to send campaigns on auto-pilot as soon as you add a new prospect in your sheet.

#42 Automate notifications!

Hook Slack into lemlist & automatically get notified when replies roll in.

#43 Connect your CRM!

Browse our integrations here.

#44 Organize your campaigns

Use lemlist labels for clearer insights and focused reports.

Label campaigns by clients or objectives for better tracking.

#45 Keep trying!

Key takeaways

Big ups! If you've made it this far, it means you're one persistent cold email player.

I sincerely hope these cold email tips brought you pure value.

Here’s another checklist that will bring fire to your outbound campaigns!

➡️Cold email mistakes to avoid if you want more replies

P.S. Make sure you spread the word. ❤️

Guillaume Moubeche
Co-Founder & CEO @lempire | Sharing outreach tips for growing business & leveraging sales AI
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G2 Rating
Price
Best for
Standout feature
Con
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/mo
$75/mo
$2,999/mo
Large, distributed sales teams
AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs
Lack of tracking system
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Sales operations and finance teams
Powerful configurability
Limited training resources and complex to navigate
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Mid-market and enterprise businesses
Comprehensive incentive management
Potentially high cost and steep learning curve
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$15/user/mo
$40/user/mo
Enterprise: custom price
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Collaborative teams
Connected planning
Complexity and steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with complex sales structures
Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy
Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts
Simplicity and ease of use
Lack of features like redirection
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$30/user/mo
$35/user/mo
Custom: upon request
Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software
Ease of use and adoption
Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs
4.8
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights
A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility
Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/user/mo
$50/user/mo
Smaller sales teams
Powerful automation
Lesser user base and average user interface
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with scalable needs
Automated Commission Calculations
Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app
ERP vs. CRM
ERP
CRM
Summary
Backbone of a business's internal operations.
Backbone of customer-centric interactions and operations.
Goal
To centralize and streamline core business processes in a company.
To increase customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty, and boost sales.
Focus
Internal operations and processes across departments (finance, accounting, inventory, supply chain, HR, and sales).
All interactions with leads and customers.
Manages
Internal business data like financial data, inventory levels, production details, supply chain, HR info.
All customer data like contact info, purchase history, communication history, customer preferences and more.
Users
Finance, accounting, operations, supply chain, and HR departments.
Customer-facing teams like sales, marketing, and customer service.
Benefits
Streamlines operations, improves data accuracy, enhances decision-making, boosts collaboration, increases productivity.
Improves customer relationships, increases sales, strengthens customer service, personalizes marketing campaigns, provides insights.
Price
$150 per user per year on average.
$10 to $30 per user per month on average.
PRM Tool
Rating
Feature
Pro
Con
Mobile App
Integrations
Free Plan
Pricing
4.65
star
star
star
star
star-half
Org-wide alignment
User-friendly layout and database
Suboptimal as a personal CRM
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-check
Team: $20/month
Business: $45/month
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Social Media Integration
Easy contact data collection
No marketing/sales features
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-xmark
7-day trial
$12/month
4.75
star
star
star
star
star-half
Block Functions
High customization capability
Not a dedicated CRM
square-check
Limited
square-check
Plus: €7.50/month
Business: €14/month
N/A
Open-source
Open-source flexibility
Requires extensive manual input
square-xmark
Limited
square-check
Self-hosted
$9/month or
$90/year
3.1
star
star
star
Simple iOS app
Ideal for non-tech-savvy users
iPhone only
square-check
iOS only
Limited
square-xmark
1-month trial
$1.49/month or
$14.99/month
3.6
star
star
star
star-half
Smart Contact Management
Feature-rich and flexible
Reported bugs
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
7-day trial
Premium: $13.99/month
Teams: $17.99/month
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Customizable Interface
Customizable for teamwork
Pricey for personal use
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
Standard: $24/member
Premium: $39/member
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Integrated Calling
Integrated Calling
Too sales-oriented & pricey
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
Startup: $59/user/month
Professional: $329/user/month
4.8
star
star
star
star
star
Business Card Scanning
Business Card Scanning
Mobile only
square-check
Limited
square-check
$9.99/month
4.45
star
star
star
star
star-half
160+ app integrations
Comprehensive integrations
No free app version
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
$29.90/month or
$24.90/month (billed annually)
Capterra Rating
Free Trial
Free Plan
Starting Price (excluding the free plan)
Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan)
Best for
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-check
€15/month/seat billed annually
€792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat
Versatility and free plan
4.2
star
star
star
star
square-check
30-day
square-xmark
But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations
€25/user/month
€500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI)
Best overall operational CRM
4.3
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-xmark
square-check
Limited to 3 users
Comprehensive incentive management
€52/user/month billed annually
Small-medium businesses and automation
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-xmark
€14/seat/month billed annually
€99/seat/month billed annually
Sales teams and ease of use
4.1
star
star
star
star
square-xmark
square-check
Limited 10 users
$9.99/user/month billed annually
$64.99/user/month billed annually
Free plan for very small teams up to 10
CRM goal
Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months.
SMART Breakdown
1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation).
2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking.
3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements.
4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives.
5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date.
Actions
Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation.
Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior.
Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads.
Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up.
Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization.
Outcomes
Increased sales and revenue
Improved marketing automation ROI
Marketing and sales alignment
Data-driven marketing optimization
Table
CDP Software
CRM Software
Approach
Data-centric
Customer-centric
Focus
Interactions across various channels and touchpoints, both online and offline.
Sales, marketing, and customer service interactions.
Functionality
Automatically collects, organizes, tags, and makes data available in real-time.
Helps businesses track customer interactions, sales pipelines, prospects, and service requests.
Goals
Personalized customer experiences across all channels.
Better customer relationships, streamlined processes, and improved profitability.
Benefits
Data integration, management, and accessibility, allowing for detailed analysis and segmentation.
Better communication within teams and with customers by organizing information about customer interactions and history.
Data Handling
Handles both identified and anonymous data, stitches together various data points.
Deals primarily with identified customer data.
Use Cases
Personalized marketing campaigns, targeted advertising, content customization across multiple channels.
Managing campaigns and leads, enhancing customer service, providing better customer support, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Examples
Insider, Bloomreach, Salesforce Marketing Cloud CDP
HubSpot, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM
CRM
Free plan
Best feature
Best for
Con
1. HubSpot CRM
square-check
Sales automation
Sales teams
Up to 1,000 contacts
2. Insightly
square-check
Custom fields
Basic needs
Not enough info about the free plan
3. Agile CRM
square-check
Deal and sales pipeline tracking
Small teams
Up to 10 users
4. Zoho CRM
square-check
Lead and contact management
Businesses of all sizes
Limited to 3 users
5. ClickUp
square-check
Unlimited tasks and unlimited members
Personal use
Up to 100MB storage
6. EngageBay
square-check
Live chat
Small and midsize enterprises
Up to 1,000 branded emails per month
7. Bitrix24
square-check
Unlimited users and 5 scrum teams
Big teams
Up to 5GB of cloud storage
8. FreshSales
square-check
Easy to use and simple setup
Beginners
Up to 3 users
9. Mailchimp
square-check
Very beginner friendly
Marketing teams
Send up to 500 branded emails per month
Type of Affiliate Marketing
Unattached
Related
Involved
Format
Paid advertising
Social media or YouTube channels
Dedicated website or blog
Focus
Quick income
Your niche
Your audience
Engagement with your audience
square-xmark
square-check
square-check
square-check
square-check
Very close connection with your audience
Pro
Little effort
Higher credibility thanks to your niche
Long-lasting and scalable
Con
Paid ads cost a lot
Potential for bias since you don’t use the thing you promote
Require time, effort, and dedication

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