Is Cold Email A Good Marketing Strategy In 2023?
Is cold email still a relevant marketing strategy in the ever-evolving landscape of 2023?
In a world saturated with digital marketing techniques, it’s natural to wonder if cold emailing is still an effective way to reach your target audience.
Have you ever questioned whether your carefully crafted cold emails were hitting the mark? Or just ending up in the dreaded spam folder?
Well, you’re not alone.
In this fast-paced marketing era, where trends and tactics seem to change as quickly as the weather, it’s essential to evaluate the staying power of strategies like cold emailing.
In our quest to uncover the truth, we’ll explore the ins and outs of cold email marketing in 2023. Has it evolved? Are there new rules to follow, or is it time to bid farewell to this tried-and-true method?
Join us as we dissect the pros, cons, and potential pitfalls of cold emailing in today’s marketing landscape, helping you decide whether it’s a strategy worth pursuing your business goals.
What Is Cold Email & How Does It Work?
Cold emailing is a marketing strategy where you send unsolicited emails to potential customers or clients who haven’t necessarily expressed interest in your products or services. It’s like trying to strike up a conversation with a stranger.
Here’s how it works: First, you compile a list of email addresses of people or businesses you think might be interested in what you offer. Then, you craft a compelling email pitch that introduces your product or service and highlights its benefits. It’s crucial to make these emails personalized and relevant to your recipients to grab their attention.
For example, if you’re a web design agency, you might send a cold email to a small business owner like this:
Cold Email Example
The aim is to pique their interest enough to prompt a response or further conversation. Cold emailing can be effective, but it requires careful targeting, thoughtful messaging, and compliance with email marketing regulations to avoid being marked as spam.
How Relevant Are Cold Email Marketing Strategies Today?
Cold emails are a lot less pushy compared to cold calls.
With cold calls, you’re kind of putting people on the spot, expecting them to respond right away. But with cold emails, prospects can take their time to reply when it suits them. In fact, a whopping 8 out of 10 buyers actually prefer getting contacted through email.
So, the bottom line here is that people generally like cold emails more. But do they like cold emails in general? Well, nobody likes marketing-related messages, however, that doesn’t mean that cold emails are out the gate.
Here are some stats that will give you a much broader sense of how this area works.
Here’s what the stats say
1. According to a McKinsey report, emails give better results for customer acquisition than social media. This is surprising as emails, especially cold ones are considered more spammy than social media. And yet, emails are a better contender for lead generation.However, organic reach through your website or blog is the best way to get more clients. This seems obvious, as building a brand and organically attracting customers brings permanent results, compared to any outreach.
(source: McKinsey)
2. According to a study by Backlinko, sending a bunch of cold emails from the same email address can boost the chances of getting a reply by a whopping 93%.
3. Even though social media is a big deal for marketing, email marketing is the real winner when it comes to making money. To put it simply, for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you can make a mind-blowing $44 in return. On the other hand, social media marketing only gets you a 28% return on investment.
4. Email is also the preferred channel for business-related communication for most businesses. According to a study by B2B Marketing Zone, 59% of B2B marketers believe email is the most effective channel for generating revenue.
Imagine you’re a company trying to sell your products or services to other businesses.
According to the survey, 59% of companies think that sending emails is the most effective way to make money. They trust email more than other ways like social media or phone calls. So, it’s kind of like a vote of confidence for email as the go-to tool for making deals and growing your business.
And most importantly, cold emailing is pocket-friendly!
According to DMA, cold email campaigns are cost-effective, with an estimated average cost of $0.10 per email sent.
When we talk about it being cost-efficient, we mean that for every email you send as part of your marketing campaign, it typically only costs you around 10 cents.
Now, compare this to other marketing methods, like running ads on social media or TV, where you can end up shelling out a lot more money for each person you reach.
Surely we can see the pattern that cold emails are useful, even though perceived as spammy. But is emailing the best marketing strategy?
Not really.
Let’s compare the best marketing strategies with cold emailing to give a clearer view of where this stands in the marketing space.
Is There Nothing Better Than Cold Email?
When it comes to lead generation by outreach, cold email marketing stands out as a powerful and cost-effective strategy. Unlike its counterparts, such as social media advertising or pay-per-click campaigns, cold emailing offers distinct advantages.
Firstly, it’s budget-friendly, with an average cost of only about 10 cents per email sent, making it an efficient choice for startups and small businesses.
Secondly, cold emails can be highly personalized, increasing the chances of engaging potential leads.
In our upcoming discussion, we’ll delve deeper into the pros and cons of cold email in comparison to other lead generation methods, helping you make informed decisions for your marketing endeavors.
Pros & Cons Of Cold Emailing vs Other Outreach Methods
In this section, we will compare cold email with other outreach methods for lead generation. This will be eye-opening to most, as you’ll get an entirely new perspective on cold outreach.
What you need to note is that all the methods that we’ll discuss here will be related to cold outreach, not warm. So if you want to reach out to new people to grow your business, this is the section to be at!
Cold Email vs Cold Calling
Nobody likes being called by a salesperson. Period.
If you think, cold email is spammy, wait till you hear this: “The perception of calls from unknown numbers as scams are widespread, with 94% of people holding this belief.” (source: Marketsplash)
As we discussed above, people generally prefer being emailed rather than called for a sale.
People are busy.
So, best to email them. Cold email wins this one over cold calling.
How does it compare with WhatsApp marketing?
Now one thing’s for sure: WhatsApp has a much higher open rate than emails. This rate is at a whopping 99%!
As an instant messaging platform, it’s more probable for customers to reply to WhatsApp messages compared to emails or any other communication method. On average, users tend to check WhatsApp about 23-25 times daily and typically spend around 38 minutes on the app each day.
The only downside is that WhatsApp marketing is more expensive than cold emailing.
But as far as results go, WhatsApp takes the lead over emails in this one.
LinkedIn is actually the king!
Yes, when it comes to cold outreach, overall speaking, LinkedIn will get you the best results. This is a platform made especially for networking with business professionals.
Just like WhatsApp, LinkedIn also has a near 100% open rate, compared to less than 50% for emails. Adding to that, according to a Breakcold study, LinkedIn has a 39% reply rate compared to email’s 15%.
The only thing remaining is the cost, which is almost the same for both emails and LinkedIn messages. If you’re to send personalized messages to your leads yourself, without any marketing agency or a tool, then they’re both free to use.
However, when automation tools come into the picture, the efficiency will increase along with the cost.
We believe that the costs for both LinkedIn and email marketing are at par with each other.
So overall, LinkedIn wins this one.
So, is cold email still a good strategy today?
In a world filled with marketing options, it’s a question worth asking. We’ve all had our doubts about whether those carefully crafted cold emails were hitting the mark or just getting lost in the spam folder.
In this fast-paced marketing era, where trends shift like the weather, it’s vital to assess the staying power of strategies like cold emailing.
Cold emailing isn’t out of the game. It’s less pushy than cold calling and aligns with people’s preferences. It may have its challenges, but it’s proven effective for customer acquisition and revenue generation.
However, it’s not the only player in the game. WhatsApp marketing boasts impressive open rates, and LinkedIn offers tailored networking opportunities. So, while cold email remains a strong contender, exploring multiple avenues in the ever-evolving marketing landscape is a smart approach.
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