Why your cold emails get ignored (and how to fix it)

Cold email is one of those channels that is hard to crack but can drastically change your business and personal life if you’re able to so.

We’ve reached a point in the SaaS industry where it feels like everyone and their dog is slinging cold emails, posting content and trying to build a brand. This level of sophistication is to be expected considering how AI has changed GTM and some of the tools we’ve seen launch. Not so long ago it was normal to send 30 cold emails per day and get replies, whereas today you need to 5-10x that.

This is bad news if you’re looking for an easy ride. It’s fantastic news if you’re cracked - there has not been a better time to stand out and dominate.

When people think of improving channel performance they always revert to tactics. In the context of cold email this means:

• Tweaking subject lines

• AI-generated ice-breakers

• Testing 10 different versions of salutations at the end

I’m not saying that tactics are bad, but they often ignore the elephant in the room: a weak, generic offer. This is the first reason why your cold emails get ignored.

Remember: these are cold emails. This means the recipient has likely never heard of you nor do they like or trust you. In their eyes, you’re an annoying spammer just like the other 20 people who emailed them today. To first of all get their attention and then secondly get them to respond positively, you need to put something in front of them that is of interest.

To do this you must understand the person you’re targeting, you must know what they’re interested in and you must be able to match that desire with something suitable.

In practice this means less hard CTAs that ask for the prospect’s time and less focusing on how your product is great. More focus on how you can help the prospect and giving them a low-friction way to opt-in.

The second reason your cold emails get ignored is because you don’t test enough.

Whatever you think is the appropriate volume of experimentation, multiply it by three. Especially if you’re new to cold emailing and are still figuring out.

It’s extremely rare that your first at-bat will be a winner. This doesn’t happen on any marketing channel, ever. So it’s not going to happen with cold email either.

I’m validating a new offer and within the last 2 weeks i’ve already tested 7 different campaigns with varying messaging and targeting. I’m about to ramp up volume over the coming weeks and test several more variables.

Often overlooked, yet equally critical, are hidden barriers:

• Deliverability: Landing in spam is the single biggest killer of cold email success.

• Trust Indicators: Domain forwarding if using secondary domains, profile pictures, and signatures.

• Online Presence: Prospects will likely research you before replying. The best and most efficient way to establish presence is via content.

If you want an in-depth, tactical playbook of how to succeed with cold email then I recommend watching my free 2-hour course.

And if you want someone to work directly with you on cold email - building targeted lists, scriptwriting, optimisation and scaling - then book a call with us. You’ll be working directly with me.

Cheers,

Liam

P.S.

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