After adding prospects to your lists, the next step is to write email and message templates. In this guide, we will explain how to make your communication better personalized and effective.
Step 1: Research your target audience
Step 2: Use effective personalization methods
Step 3: Add key ingredients of a powerful email
How to approach writing an email copy
The process of writing emails can be broken down into two key phases: preparation and writing. For preparation, start with the basics:
- Define your email’s goal:
Define your email’s goal: In a cold email, the main goals are to spark interest, get a response, and lay the foundation for further communication.
- Define the value of your offer:
You’re not just selling a product; you’re offering value. Clearly define how your product benefits your target leads (ICP).
Step 1. Research your leads
To better understand your potential customers, identify their pain points and goals. Find out what are the specific issues your prospects face in achieving their goals. It’s even better if you can find common issues among different prospects, allowing you to address them with the same offer.
Brainstorm the issues your potential customers might have: “What issues do sales reps have when acquiring clients?”
Explore industry reports, articles, or social media discussions to get answers.
For example, in the SaaS industry, sales reps often focus on metrics like monthly revenue and customer churn. Their main challenges include building an effective sales pipeline and competing with strong rivals. Understanding these details will help you personalize your offer.
Step 2. Use effective personalization methods
If you focus more on personalization, instead of just emailing more prospects, it will bring you more positive results long term. Use the insights you’ve gained from your previous research.
Targeted value
Different people respond to different offers. For example, CEOs might care more about how your product helps the company grow, while sales reps might want to know how it can help them sell more.
When your offer has clear benefits to the recipient, they are more likely to be interested and respond.
To make your offer more valuable, present it in a way that addresses the specific needs and goals of your leads. The more value your offer provides to the specific person, the higher the chance of getting a response.
First, determine what the value in your offer is. What value can your service or product provide to your leads?
Then, knowing who you are selling to—your target leads—think of how this value is relevant to them. Always remember your ICP when writing an email.
Use that knowledge to make your offer feel more personal:
- Mention how your solution can help solve their problems or meet their objectives.
- Mention important things or metrics that they care about—this shows that you understand their situation and can provide a solution that fits their needs.
Remember, the same value won’t work for everyone, when reaching out to different lead segment’s, adjust your offer to fit their needs.
Even if you offer the same service, you can choose an angle that will look like it can help them specifically. This way, your emails will feel personalized, even if you send the same message to 100 different leads that are within the same lead segment (like having the same position).
Example for the CEO:
When emailing a CEO, focus on how your service can help them make more money and grow their business.
“Our lead generation service helps software companies find new customers and get high-quality leads. This means more sales and more money.”
Example for the Sales rep:
When talking to a sales rep, mention how your service can save them time.
“We will take care of finding leads and automating the initial contact. This gives you more time to talk to promising leads.”
Unique personalized lines
Here’s another good method: start your emails with a sentence that mentions something specific about your lead.
- Research the prospect:
Even brief research can bring significant results. Visit their LinkedIn or website and try to find anything relevant that has to do with their work, interests, or achievements.
You can access a prospect’s LinkedIn page or their company website directly from their profile in Snov.io. Click on a prospect in your list to open their profile and find a social URL under their name.
Write a compliment or comment on their recent activities, achievements, or experience. Open your email with lines such as, “Heard about your recent promotion…” or “Your company’s latest launch is a success…”
- Research the company:
Visit the company’s website and try to find useful information, such as recent major features they’ve launched or big clients they’ve aquired.
If you already have successful uses cases of clients from companies who share the same field of work, tell how you’ve already helped them.
Step 3. Create an email template with key ingredients
After doing the initial prep work, it’s time to prepare email templates. Sending emails that resonate with your recipients is the key to getting more responses, meetings, and closed deals. For higher engagement, send short emails where you focus on benefits and clear value for the recipient.
Make the email text concise and to the point—include only the most crucial information that conveys your offer’s value. This approach helps capture the recipient’s attention.
Aim for 100-120 words. This makes it more likely the recipient will read it to the end. If more details are needed, include a link to a document, a landing page or other resources.
Now, let’s look at important email ingredients that make your email more effective.
Ingredient 1: Subject line
The subject line is the first thing recipients see in their inbox, making it crucial for getting your email noticed and opened. Keep it short so it doesn’t get cut off, especially on mobile devices.
Key points:
- Make it clearly reflect the email’s purpose and hint at its value for the lead.
- Don’t promise something that isn’t in your email; this can push your lead away.
- Use the {{first_name}} variable to make it stand out—people are more likely to notice emails addressed to them.
Examples:
1. Hi, {{first_name}}. I have a solution for {{leads_pain_point}}.
2. We know how to achieve {{leads_goal}}. Curious?
3. Struggling with {{leads_pain_point}}? Let’s talk.
Ingredient 2: Intro
Begin with a warm greeting followed by the {{first_name}} variable. Recipients see the opening line in the email preview right after the subject line.
Make sure this introduction draws them into reading the rest of the email. This is where you add unique personalized lines to show your lead that this is not just another bulk message.
Examples:
The first two have a casual tone and acknowledge the recipient’s skills or achievements.
- “Hi {{first_name}}, I noticed your impressive track record in sales.”
- “Hey there, {{first_name}}! Your expertise in sales strategies caught my attention.”
- “Hello {{first_name}}, I see you’re interested in expanding your sales pipeline.”
The last one shows that you are aware of their goals and creates an opportunity for further discussion.
Ingredient 3: Offer/Value proposition
In this part, highlight your product’s strengths and tell your lead what you do best, but avoid talking too much about yourself.
Keep the focus on the value your lead will receive and describe how the solution you have can help them.
They will be more interested in hearing about what you can do for them, not just what you can do.
Key points:
- Make your offer relevant to the lead by using a personalized value approach.
- Show how your solution can help them overcome their challenges and reach their goals.
Ingredient 4: Call to action (CTA)
A CTA is a part of the email at the very end that motivates your lead to take the action you want them to take.
Here’s how to use it effectively:
At the end of your email or message, intrigue your recipients by suggesting that there’s more to come, making them curious about it.
Key points:
- Don’t add links as your primary call-to-action in your first email.
- Ask open-ended questions at the end of your email to start a conversation and confirm their interest.
Example questions for a CTA:
- Can I provide additional information?
- Would you like me to share a Loom video for more details?
- Please reply with “Yes” for more info or “No” if it’s not the right time.
- Can I share a link that explains how it all works?
- Let me know if this sounds like something you’re interested in?
- {{first_name}}, is it a priority for you right now or not really? Let me know.
Ingredient 5: Variables
Personalization is key to improving engagement. Besides targeted value, add details from a prospect’s profile or any other relevant information. To personalize your campaigns in bulk for each recipient, incorporate variables when writing templates.
Variables are placeholders that will be replaced with details from the prospect’s profile when the email is sent. You can use a variable for every prospect field (both default and custom).
Examples of custom variables:
- {{leads_pain_point}}: Something that addresses the specific challenges your lead faces.
- {{leads_goal}}: This allows you to align your message with what the lead is trying to achieve.
- {{ice_breaker}}: This can help you start the conversation on a friendly note or with a relevant anecdote.
- {{unique_intro}}: This gives you the flexibility to create a personalized opening that captures attention.
Remember: to make custom variables work, the corresponding fields in the profile should contain data. Refer back to this chapter in the previous guide.
When adding email content in the campaign editor in the next guide, you’ll have access to variables for every default and custom prospect field.
Prepare templates for follow-up emails
You would also need additional templates for follow-up emails. Here are some tips for writing effective follow-ups:
In each follow-up, remind your lead of the benefits they will get from your offer. Make it clear why it’s valuable to them. Keep personalizing each follow-up email. Use information that relates specifically to the lead to keep them engaged.
Wait some time (2-3 days) between each follow-up email or message. This gives your leads time to respond without feeling rushed.
Learn more tips about writing follow-ups (with templates).
Final tips
To find out what works best for your target audience, be flexible with the emails you send:
- Keep improving your email copy.
- Create different versions of your emails by changing one part at a time. Use A/B tests to see what works.
- Try different ways to personalize your emails and different angles for your offer to see what works best.
What’s next:
Get ready for the final and exciting step – launch your automated multichannel campaign!
How to launch a converting campaign.
Elevate your cold email writing skills to the next level with these additional resources:
Join Cold emailing course on Udemy.
If you encounter any uncertainties or questions not covered in this article, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at help@snov.io. We are committed to supporting you at every stage of your journey.