How to leverage social proof in a cold email (Cold email teardown)

With no reviews or social proof, your leads might turn their attention elsewhere. 

So, how can your brand leverage social proof effectively?

If you're targeting customer service managers, you'll need a pitch that completely resonates with them.

In this article, Sacha, CEO of Growth Room, shows how social proof helps you transform a cold email into a powerful tool that books meetings!

Cold email mistakes to avoid if you want to book more meetings

Here's an example of a cold email that targets customer service (CS) managers in e-commerce to sell an AI-powered CS platform 👇

Here are Sacha’s insights on what needs to be improved to get more replies:

Mistake  #1 → Too promotional subject line

Avoid using popular marketing and sales keywords such as “boost”, “customer service”, or “AI”. These words will make your emails sound too salesy, and your leads will stop reading them.

Mistake #2 → Self-centered intro line

The intro line should catch prospects’ attention by talking about them and what you can do for them. Talking about yourself won’t bring them value and interest them in reading the rest of your email.

Mistake #3 → Not-visible CTA

Because your prospects usually scan emails before reading them, adding a space line before the ending line will make their next step clear. Also, get more conversions by writing an eye-catching CTA that aligns with your email's content.

Mistake #4 → Spam words

If you want to ensure your messaging gets through, avoid using spam words like “free”. Those words trigger the spam filters and land your emails in the spam folder, where your target audience can’t read them.

How to write a cold email for a high conversion rate

Here is how Sacha would rewrite the previous cold email and his tips for booking more meetings!

Tip #1 → Focus on your prospect

If you want to get replies to your cold emails, talk about their company, compliment them, and ensure that most of your email focuses on them and how to achieve their goals.

Tip #2 → Give a glimpse of the value you bring

By leveraging social proof, you can showcase prospects’ desired outcomes and tease them into replying. Mention clients and their results from relevant industries to build trust and credibility.

Tip #3 → Position yourself as an expert

Position yourself as a problem solver. Showing your leads that you understand their pain point and know how to solve it will make your product/service more relevant.

Tip #4 → Non-intrusive CTA

Instead of talking about demos, ask for less effort and talk about catching up over a call/meeting. It will sound less salesy and push your prospects to reply.

Cold email template to replicate for more replies

Subject line: How to increase [prospect company]’s customer service

Hello #first_name,
[Icebreaker]

As a flourishing company, I can imagine you must be facing challenges regarding customer service.

At [my company name], we’ve worked with dozens of companies operating in [prospect’s industry], like [company example 1] or [company example 2]. Within a few weeks, we have helped them boost their customer service by X%.
If you want to see how, here’s a sum up.

Having studied [ prospect’s company] on my side, I really believe we could have the same kind of impact working together.

Will you be available [today +3 open days] @3:00 pm to discuss this together ?‍‍

The key takeaways

Here are Sacha’s tips for effective cold emailing to sell AI-powered platforms to e-commerce CS managers:

-> Focus on the recipient, highlighting their company and goals.
-> Utilize social proof relevant to their industry to establish trust.
-> Position yourself as a solution to their specific challenges.
-> Use a non-intrusive call-to-action, like suggesting a casual call or meeting instead of demo.

You can watch Sacha's complete cold email teardown here!

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Not sure how to write your emails? Try lemlist's free cold email generator!