by Will Rotondi
There is a right and wrong way to use email marketing for prospecting.
Sometimes it can be difficult to decipher what’s real when it comes to digital communication. Not all spam emails are obvious, so most people are typically cautious when they hear from someone they don’t know.
Yet the opposite is true when you’re the one who’s doing the outreach. Instead of being understanding when your leads are initially quiet, the tendency is to get impatient and think what you’re doing isn’t working. We’ve had clients say before, “I’ve emailed 6,000 people. I can’t believe not one of them has a need for my services right now.”
You’re right, they probably do have a need. But what gives them reason to think that you’re the solution to it? Would you immediately call up someone you didn’t know as soon as you got an email from them? (If you said yes, you’re either one of the few trusting people out there, or you’re lying to yourself.) That’s why email needs to do two things right off the bat.
Two things you can do to use email marketing effectively
- Emails have to be non-threatening. Identify what you want to talk about in the context of the lead’s services. For example: I’d like to learn about customer service training at your company, not I’d like to see if our customer service training package would be right for you.
- Don’t try to sell. There’s a good chance who you’re writing to isn’t the decision-maker, and if you push the points on why you’re a great company for x number of reasons, they are going to think you’re just another automated email that went to the wrong person – and delete it.
Even meeting these requirements doesn’t guarantee that most of the people you reach out to will respond to you – but it’ll improve your chances that some will, and lay the groundwork you’ll need as you warm those cold leads up to the idea of a phone call.
