Steal This Cold Email Structure That Gets Results

In our last blog post, we talked about how variable cold email response rates can be.

A broad campaign with generic messaging can see sub 1% replies. But data we pulled from the past 12 months of our customers’ emails shows an average response rate of 8.9%. What accounts for that difference?

Targeting and personalization.

Tell us if you’ve ever seen a sales email that looks like this.

It’s long. It’s generic. It crams too much information into the first outreach.

If you got this email from a total stranger on a hectic day, be honest, would you read it? The answer is almost invariably no (hence those sub 1% response rates).

Now, what if you received this email?

When our customers send emails like this, they see reply rates spike.

Obviously, it’s a totally different approach. But what, exactly, works here? Let’s examine the structure so you can steal it to improve your own cold outreach.

1. Keep it short

The average person devotes less than 9 seconds to reading an email. If it’s cold outreach, assume their attention span is even shorter.

If your email is 4 paragraphs long, it’s not getting read — simple as that.

Start with an eye-catching opener that will appear in the preview text in someone’s inbox. Then, once you’ve inspired them to click in, limit yourself to 3-4 sentences. Yes, really.

This cold email should be the first in a series you send. There’s no need to share your entire story, mission, ingredient list, and product catalogue. Focus on the one value prop that’s most likely to resonate and leave it there.

2. Personalize your message

What is that resonant value proposition? It depends on who you’re emailing.

This is why we recommend creating campaigns that are hyper-specific: ideally 100-400 targets per campaign. This allows you to segment and send a message that’s actually relevant to their business.

A mission-driven mom and pop might react positively to a message about your commitment to supporting the smallholder farmers who grow ingredients for your products. 

A giant chain with 7,000 doors will be more interested in the bottom line. Talk to them about how you can drive average check value or improve gross margin.

3. Be authentic

Does your message look like an actual email, or a super-polished branded campaign?

Believe it or not, even bigger manufacturers see greater success when they send emails that look like they actually came from an individual, rather than a perfectly designed email that clearly came from a marketing team’s HubSpot.

When your recipient feels like they’re hearing from an actual person who’s equipped to help them and remain their point of contact throughout the sales process, they’re more likely to respond. This goes double if the sender is seen as high status (e.g., sales director, CEO, etc.).

So take the time to really infuse your message with your voice. Is there a turn of phrase you use every day? Put that in there! Then, when you connect with your prospect in real time, they’ll feel the continuity between the email and the real you.

4. Focus on them, not you

You’re proud of your product, and you want each person you connect with to know everything that makes it incredible and unique.

But this first email is not the place to tell your entire story. Remember, people are busy and you’re a stranger. Would you go up to someone on the street and start monologuing about your offering? No. So don’t do it in your email.

Instead, keep the focus on the one value prop that will resonate with this segment. What can your product do for the operator who’s reading your message?

We’ve found these selling points to be especially effective:

• You can drive traffic.
  
  • You have a cult following on social media, and people line up around the block at restaurants that carry your product.
  • Your product is part of a buzzy category (protein coffee, adaptogen-infused beverages, kelp anything).
  • You’re doing something totally novel that the operator’s customers won’t find anywhere else.
• You can increase what they charge. 
  
  • Your elevated truffle fries cost the operator $0.20 more, but they can up-charge customers $1.
  • Your premium gin commands a $3 up-charge per cocktail it ends up in.
  • Your perfectly-crispy chickpea snacks catch customers’ eyes at the register and have increased check averages at the QSRs that sell them.
• You can reduce prime costs.
  
  • Your fancy iced tea blends come pre-mixed and save baristas an average of one minute of prep time per drink.
  • Your packaging keeps your product fresher for longer, which reduces waste and extends shelf life.
• You help them build brand equity.
  
  • Your compostable packaging is perfectly aligned with the mission of the vegan chain that’s all about sustainability.
  • Your product makes the restaurant’s menu items tastier or more unique, which can drive more positive online reviews and media attention.

5. End with a question mark to drive action

This might seem silly, but trust us, it matters.

Always end your email with a question. “Would you like me to send you some samples?” or “What do you think?”

People are hard-wired to respond to questions. And that goes double for operators, who are in the business of serving customers and providing great hospitality.

When you ask your recipient a question, you invite them to respond to your email right away. When you add another sentence, like, “I look forward to hearing from you,” that’s a momentum-killer. That gives them wiggle room to say to themselves, “I’ll respond to this later” (and then forget to do it).

***

If we could sum up these points into one, overarching piece of advice, it’s this: Your cold email should seek to start a conversation, not close a deal.

This opening cold email is the first of many points of outreach. You don’t need to say everything in this one message. In fact, if you try, you’ll likely cause your recipient to glaze over and toss your message.

Instead, hit them with the one most compelling point and follow up with a question, inviting them to take the next step. Then, have a plan in place for managing their response.

Want to see how First Bite makes your cold outreach process faster, smoother, and more effective? Get a demo with our team.