Why Cold Emails Won't Work (Real Life Evidence)

dude you are killing me-thanks for early morning comedy

doing bussines with local market is really good I think
as my experience,
sending email 10 K, already get respon about 3% of them
so keep trying and make your template looks really interesting
just my suggestion

I think emails don't always work because the owner thinks you have nothing invested in their business by sending an email. A direct mail piece can be better because at least you are into their business for a few cents. A call is a bit better because at least you have the guts to call and a walk in the best because they are thinking (if you use the "Hey, I'm a fellow business owner trying to drum up some business" method), that you are investing your valuable time in them. If you're their customer, even better. It's like a line of hierarchy of investment in them. Can backfire a lot tho. Sometimes owners dont care they just need a service and you happen to be at the right place at the right time...

Also, back to your original observation, I am seeing a lot of email marketers using friendship ques to get the attention of the recipient now. To me it's deceptive and will likely backfire as for me, it may get me to open them but I can guarantee you are getting marked spam or whatever if it was not really a friend.

As a guy on the other side ie someone that offliners are marketing to I agree 100% and have been saying it forever.

Cold Emails are basically worthless. We get loads of them. We know they didn't cost you anything. So they normally just get deleted.

Cold calls are better as is direct mail because we know you at least put time and money into it. You are a real business. But even with all that most cold calls are polietly hung up on and most direct mail is thrown away.

The take away from this is that email is worthless. Don't use it. Cold calls and direct mail can and should be used but make sure your script or copy is good or it stands no chance.

And finally if you are truly doing local marketing how come you are not cold walking? So few do it and I have never personally seen someone do it for offline internet marketing. Why not? If you need business now you need to stand out. Guess what no one else is doing?

I have to disagree with you. I have made a TON of money using cold emails. It's not just about sending out a bunch of non-qualified emails. It's an art just like any other form of marketing.

I have to disagree.
Cold emails do work. It doesn't always require sending hundreds either.
I send 50.

But, everything is an important factor, as noted above.
1. The recipient
2. The subject line
3. The message
4. The sender

If you structure all 4 of these the right way.... then getting a response the to initial cold email isn't a problem.

@njenyus and @vndnbrgj

I was just about to re-iterate my experience with cold calling and how it doesn't work, but found it rather interesting that you're saying it does. I've had a worker send out thousands of emails to e-commerce websites and have had little success with responses. We know that ppl need our software, but the biggest problem is probably that ppl do not open the emails.

Can either of you spare a few minutes of your time to give a few suggestions? I can't PM so you can Skype me at alankong310 or I'll just check back up on this thread.

Let me know - I appreciate it

Why planes won't work, real life evidence

It's all about the "hook" / Title. If you have that you are 80% there.

I got my first client through an email cold call. So it's hit and miss but it does work

Cold emails dont work. Aweber and Get Response are filing for bankruptcy... Yahoo give away email lists to companies in exchange of bagels... and nobody receives spam anymore...

I've made $3,700 this year from emails. One client is paying me $1,500/mo. I also got a referral from one of the client's for a $2,300 website. Another client referred me to a big cosmetic dentist in town.

Cold emails works. It takes some time, but I am happy with the payoff

Instead of marketing to a big pond with a few fish, dedicate your time and efforts on small ponds of many fish. Your selection of fish will have to be targeted, but at the end of the day,

Having a good hook and getting them to actually respond to a phone call and/or email pays off them.

Persistence and patience it is. Truckin' forward - thanks for the motivation boost today warriors

target, target, target
value, value, value
urgency, urgency, urgency

get those 3 right and its just a numbers game..It works if done right..

Meh... opt in lists are not cold emailing, apparently some of you don't understand what the OP is talking about. Scraping emails, is a good way to get your domain blacklisted and to tarnish your reputation.

For those of you saying you make XXX amount of dollars through cold emailing, who cares? Maybe the OP should have said why cold emails aren't EFFICIENT instead, but the point remains the same.

Does email marketing work? Yes
Is email marketing efficient? Yes
Is cold emailing businesses efficient? NO.

I don't understand some of you who seem to be pretty successful but vouch for cold emailing like it is a tactic that can be used long term to really grow a business efficiently.

If you use aweber, you are not cold emailing.
If you are hosting with any reputable host and using phplist or another way to send out mass email, you are not cold emailing and if you are you will be shut down quickly.

There is a big difference between email marketing, and spamming businesses.

I laugh at anyone trying to scrape emails, sending screen shots and yada yada yada just trying to drum up business because the phone is intimidating them. Aw.. Someone lied to the babies and told them business was easy.

Tim, I respect you, you seem to be pretty successful, but how many of your current clients do you get from sending spam emails? Probably not many.

Adam, you said you made $3,700 this year from cold emails, but how much did you make from cold calling? I've made a chunk of money from cold emails as well, but nothing in comparison to other forms of sales acquisition.

The reason I hate it when people talk about how great cold emailing is for them, is because of this... people come on here see a thread and think they can send 100 emails and receive 1 or 2 sales. People think they can send out 1,000 and get even more. I'm an addict for my business, I'm up late and when I'm not cold calling, I WILL send emails out and I WILL get sales from it eventually. The ratios are nowhere near what they are with cold calling. I'd much rather spend time calling businesses than emailing 10,000 just to get a sale lol.

The OP is EXACTLY right. Most business owners already get bombarded with spam. Tons of people are sending out emails, doing the same thing some of you are looking to do, and many owners are receiving propositions 25-50 times a day from SEO companies.

You want to succeed in business? It isn't about cold calling... that isn't the only technique... it isn't emails... It is having a marketing plan of several techniques that compliment each other and get the wheel in motion. If all you are doing is cold calling, then you aren't reaching your full potential. Is it just emails? You're definitely not reaching your full potential. Now combine cold calling, with emails, direct mail, PPC, classified posting, and other forms of advertisements, then you have a marketing machine that will make you more money than you can imagine.

It depends on your market, your offer and if you can gain someones attention from the beginning.There is no way to say bulk emailing does or doesn't work. The question is where do you get the emails...that is the sticky area.

I had a meeting last week with a home improvement company off a cold email.

It works for some, doesn't for others. Must we beat this dead horse?

We know for sure won't work for the OP's Dad.

Last week I'd have said it wouldn't work on me. Guess what? Yesterday (Sat) morning, I called a local pest control company off....wait for it.... a cold email. Damn little ants.

The absolute statements are silly. This is marketing people....nothing is absolute.

Like any marketing it's rarely accurate to say it doesn't work without looking as many factors which others address above. I remember a print shop owner announcing to a network group a few years ago that direct mail didn't work. Blanket, absolute assumptions and statements like this are reckless and irresponsible. If cold calling and networking didn't work direct mail wouldn't exist. If direct mail didn't work email marketing wouldn't work and so on.

It is a numbers game and business owners and marketers have differing opinions about the cold emailing (not email marketing as mentioned above).

I personally respond like your dad and never give credibility to anybody doing business with a free email account, including gmail. Timing is often the tipping factor for myself, if I happen to have an interest or need for the subject listed. But even then I discount those using free email accounts.

I got my first mobile site client from email...so it can work just not as well as other marketing methods i've noticed.

Of course if you test and tweak your emails, you may improve response.

Yep B2B email is just not working. 1 biz say hey receive 200-300 emails a day offering all kinds of B*S* then marketers wonder why they are "being rude in not replying " LOL

Waste of time.

So I've read cold calling doesn't work, cold emailing businesses doesn't work and direct mailing doesn't work. Looks like nothing works! haha I'm only kidding of course!

But reality is all of these work for some people ppl while others find they don't work for them. You just have to find what works for you and go with it.

Like others I've done very well with cold emailing businesses. It's all about who you email and what you email them. I personally don't like cold calling. However, I know for a fact it works because common sense says its a numbers game.

Keep Hustling!

Sean

It works for me, not all the time but there are some sales I get from it!

I work it on a basis of 50 - 100 emails a day from my own hosted email addresses, I spend an hour a day looking for businesses in a subject area and locality that look like they could do with my services and then bang them out.

I offer solutions to peoples problems they didn't know they had. Also don't include any question marks or exclamation marks as these go straight to spam.

It works for some people but not everyone - just do what works for you

Silly gripe meant to validate the OP’s inability to effectively use 90’s technology.

Does Cold e-mailing work? Yes, but results may vary. It depends on content and what you are selling.

1. What business you are in. Common sense man, some products sell better over email then others to complete strangers.

2. Subject line - I've gotten good at deleting spam from "friends" wanting me to try something that changed their life. My subject line is direct to the point, I don't use deception.

3. Template. You want something to look good, but as the OP posted, some people don't have html and graphics enabled.

4. Pitch. The most important. Your opening lines should grab the attention of the reader and tell them what your product does and why they need your product. Try to keep this to a few lines. Don't write a book.

Cold emailing can be very effective, for those who know how to use it. There are a variety of software and services that cut down on the amount of time spent on sending mass emails. You should not, however, rely on this as your sole source of marketing. It is important to measure how effective your pitch is, some companies offer ways to track how many emails were actually opened or clicked through (i.e. Vertical Response, Constant Contact).

It’s cheaper to send emails yourself, but I would use the above companies to send a small subset of emails to test how effective your pitch and subject line is on getting click-throughs.

I sent out 170 cold B2B emails this morning to service provider I thought I could work with and asking for referrals. I've gotten 6 replies so far (that's more than a 3% return in several hours over memorial day weekend, I expect more over the next couple of days). Of those six replies, I got:
3 - won't work
2 - would love to work with you
and referrals to 7 other companies that might be a good fit.

All very pleasant, business like replies. The list wasn't random. I have something in particular to offer. I targeted businesses that offer a complementary service and excluded from the list businesses that identified themselves as offering a competing service. I sent an "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" note and included my web address (and my website has a fair amount of very positive reviews).

Here are the verbatim replies:

Hi Tim,

I haven’t done xxxxxx for quite some time (need to update the website). I would suggest you contact a friend of mine, xxx xxxxxx who is a very experienced and skilled xxxxxx.

[website address]


good luck,

Chris
++++++++++++++
Hi Tim,

Thank you for emailing me. I do not see a fit with us. Most of my clients need xxxxxxxxxx to support a product they are selling, either an iPhone app, desktop app, etc.


Sincerely,

Todd A. Sherman
+++++++++++++++++
We would LOVE to open dialog about this- we are a VERY collaborative business with many associates, and LOVE to partner with other businesses.
-Dave

+++++++

Hi Tim
I would love to chat with you about working together. Maybe we can do a Hangout next week? I have my xxxxxxxxxxxxxx packages and pricing on my website here: [web address] Next WEd I am open after 11:00 if there is a time that works for you.

Dotty
+++++++++++++++++++

xxxxxSystems does not do xxxxx. WE DO PROVIDE a technology to help business close more sales!

Check it out: [web address]


Cheers
Michael
+++++++++++++++++

Tim,

Our xxxxxx service is very basic and probably won't meet your needs.
You may check with the following designers for bigger projects:

xxx.com
xxx.com
xxx.com
xxx.com
xxx.com
xxx.com
xxx.com


Thank you,
David xxx

Cold emails do work but in my experience they have to come off as personalized (even if they really arent).

Every time I do a campaign I get a good amount of calls/emails back with interested prospects.

Thanks for the post. I think it's too broad of a brush to say that all cold emailing doesn't work. With any form of marketing, there will be winning campaigns, break even campaigns, and losing campaigns. The devil is in the details. Effective emails should focus on one thing: The benefit for the reader. Marketers often make the mistake of emphasizing features over benefits. The headline should speak directly to the benefit that the reader receives.

As an example, let's say you were selling some sort of online service to businesses. You don't want to focus on the service itself but rather on how the service is going to help the business. So, if the service will help the business get more customers, your emails must focus, front and center, on the fact that you're looking for a business who is in a position to take on more customers. Your email should not focus on the actual service you're providing, because the service is simply the vehicle for helping the business get more customers. Businesses don't care about how you help them get a specific result. Businesses just care about the actual result.

-Terry

I just received a cold email. Must be from someone up north. It's like 80 degrees where I live!

Ya know...I can't help but notice a lot of sarcasm in responses.

I'm not going to be a hypocrit so it's just an observation.

#1 Rule of How To Win Friends and Influence People is

"Never Criticize, Condemn, or Complain"...

If I may, and I used to own a top 100 restaurant in Orlando, FL (over 10k food establishments in this MSA) I'd like to add that an email that looks like it was not copy/pasted to 100 people works quite effectively.

Those fancy graphic emails never get opened (I will agree with the OP's point that their father didn't open/just deleted them). In my local friends group (80%+ are massive business owners) they do the same.

However, if you personalize things a bit so they aren't "cold" (I hate that terminology) but rather you "warm up someone you didnt' know previously" you'll improve your results.

Let me give you a few examples of what I received when I owned my restaurant.

BAD EMAIL
=======

Dear Manager,

My name is Bob Smith with Dynatec (or other anonymous bull**** named business) Processing and we have the best prices for Credit Card Procession in the US.

We will beat Any Price.

Our company services 10 gazillion restaurants all over the US, Canada, Mexico, and Europe and we want your business.

Feel free to call me at 1-800-WE SAVE MONEY for a free consultation.

Sincerely,

Bob Smith

=====

Here's why this sucks

1. Bull**** salutation- umm...do you think the manager reads this email or the owner? Why did you assume when you could've just said "hello"?

2. Your company name sounds like something from Office Space and doesn't elicit trust...

3. You misspelled processing (misssspelings happuned all the tyme en emalls I got evary day)

4. I don't care what YOU do (servicing tons of restaurants) and I assume you want my business or you wouldn't be emailing me (keep in mind most processors have contracts and no one offers to buy out your current contract...this is like $300 so not chump change for small biz)

5. I won't call you b/c you want to offer me a "free consultation" (of course it's free b/c you want my money every day...ughhh...) and you gave me some bogus phone number that I have to look up to know what #'s those actually are.

Now if someone wrote me the following email I'd probably have responded.

GOOD EMAIL
=========

Hey,

I hope you're having a great day! My name is Bob Smith and I know you're busy so I'm going to get straight to the point.

We specialize in credit card processing for restaurants and we have lots of clients. We know your average tickets are probably small since you're a deli and we'd like to process your cards.

Here's why that's a benefit to you...

1. No set fees
2. 2% of receipt price on most transactions
3. No minimum volume
4. 24/7 Quality North American service for any problem.

If you choose us I'll be your representative to answer all your questions and make sure you're 100% satisfied. My phone number is 123-456-7890 and you can email me at bobsmith@gmail.com any time and I'll reply back as soon as possible.

I look forward to speaking to you. I'll call you in a few days to see if you have any questions or if I can be of service to you.

Thank you for your time!

Cheers,

Bob Smith

======

1. Personal
2. Speak my problems/language
3. Youre not a pain in the ass.
4. YOU follow up with ME since YOU want MY business.
5. This is all about me and my deli not you and your service company.

Guys...from a business owner...don't be a fool. Use common sense b/c even if you had the power of God and got a 100% success rate on emails to new clients...you couldn't service 1000 or 10,000 new clients...so stop using methods that rely on that in a best case scenario.

Referal business is really the only competitive advantage you can have.

Have a wonderful day

Cheers,

Brad

I always try to find the human connection, my offering something of specific and significant value to them, a specific compliment tied with a suggestion or referral that could help further THEIR goal (not mine) when I email someone I don't know, whether as part of an offer or as an initial contact before I offer something. This has always worked well when targeting local clients, long before people became obsessed with their "list" or cold-email-calling. I never treat anyone like their on a list.

I like to call people at their workplaces at night when I know they're not there, leave a compliment and an intriguing message, and wait for their return call the following day. They ALWAYS call. I never really thought about why, but obviously I'm leaving them messages so personal and valuable to them that they feel they must speak to me directly, even if just to says thanks for compliment or referral. If I have to send an email, I try to "speak" it just as I would if leaving that night-time message. Personal. Precise. Intriguing. With both a compliment to them, and a direct benefit for them.

When I quit being afraid of them NOT responding and started thinking of what could I say to my dearest friend to help them get something they really want... that's when it became easier, much more fun... and my voice and emails reflected that effervescent positivity... and I stopped sounding or reading like I was trying to sell something.

Just my rambling thoughts...

According to me dud. You must have done something wrong. Yes your dad may have done something like this because he is not intersted in doing something like seo for his business. But if someone is looking to buy a shoe and you have a mail campaign saying cash on delevery for you shoe. Or no need to pay in cash try like and pay.
You mail campaign should be catchy then only you would get more conversion but if you have campaign saying good to my website having good shoes. just forgot to get even clicks.

Try some catchy titles in your mail campaign and try not to use image if you can as you dad may have done not to show images like that lolz.

Local business is personal and you have to be personal to if you want to be noticed. Sending out thousands of Emails is not personal and not good for local business. I would suggest you use a more personal aproach like look at what they need and adressing that matter in a letter or getting permission to send them information through Email.

It is easier to call on the phone and get new customer than Emailing blindly. Checkout some of the many local business ideas and training here some are very good. Try to get to talk with them and offer them a free service or consulting or something a little more personal and valueable. Value is always good. If it is just an Email or message they will not respond.

Good luck.

I saw something interesting today when doing some e-mail marketing. I know a lot of you are fully aware of how much competition there is, however being fairly new to things I only caught a full glimpse of things today.

Anyway, there I was sending some e-mails out, website after website (so boring!). Eventually, I stumbled across a shocking looking website, very poorly ranked and no evidence of any SEO. Instantly, I thought "hey, they could really do with what i'm offering!"

So as standard practice I looked up the contact details ready to give it shot, and in bold flashing yellow letters at the top of the contact page (it looked horrid, but it got my attention) were the words "If you are contacting us from an SEO company looking to offer your services, then please do not, as you will be wasting both my own and your own time."

Now, this wasn't the most professional thing for this person to include on their website, but it did get the point across, and it was fairly obvious that this guy has been, and probably still is getting e-mail left, right and centre.

I'd say i've sent about 300 e-mails altogether. Probably around about 10 hours o was invested, spaced evenly over the course of a few weeks. Out of these 300 I got only about 2 or 3 leads as a result (and believe it or not I actually got one sale, which I massively undercharged for.)

Reflecting upon things i'd 10 hours is a lot of time to invest for one sale, regardless of what I charged, and although my e-mails were far for great, i'm confident that when I start calling i'll be looking at a much higher success rate for the amount of time invested.

I think sending 1000's of emails is useless, but if you spend time personalizing the emails and follow up with a phone call it works. Most people just want to send out an email and never talk to the business owner.

I always send emails first and two days later follow up with a phone call. I use the email to get through the gate keeper. I just call and ask if I can speak with name of owner to follow up on our email conversation.

When I first started out I sent tons of copy and pasted emails and got very few responses. Once I started taking my time and writing a detailed email of whats wrong with their marketing and how I could help them it was much easier when I spoke with the business owner on the phone.

Also my personal experience with sending out emails offering something or other haven't been successful, it doesn't mean it won't work. After all, 1 out of 50 is 2% conversion - not too bad if you are sending a stock email to large numbers.

Plus it gives you a great way to follow up with a phone call. Instead of the usual "My name is so and so and I'd like to sell you some stuff" you get to open with "Hi, my name is so and so, I've sent you an email a few days ago, have you had a chance to take a look at it" yes/no "well, what we offer is blah blah"

It turns a cold call into a warm'ish call and gets the other person more engaged and paying more attention to what you say.

I do agree with you. Cold emails doesn't work. Buddy emails work because you are always sending emails to them to let them know how you are progressing in life and teach them how to improve their lives. I wrote an interesting article in how to write effective email marketing. Check it out. www.AdrianeOng.com