- Leveling Up
- Posts
- How to Write Cold Emails That Always Get Read
How to Write Cold Emails That Always Get Read
Welcome back to another edition of Leveling Up!
In today’s email:
How to write cold emails that always get read
The secret to a $1M+/year SEO profit engine
5 evergreen SEO tactics that just work
And much more…
Sponsored:
Want to Decrease Your Cost Per Lead By 41.37%?
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/6bfe741c-9489-4356-a8bf-e020ec63b504/image.png)
This client decreased their cost per lead by 41.37% on paid ads by working with Single Grain.
And now they are accepting applications for new paid media clients.
(Single Grain’s other past clients include: Amazon, Uber, Lyft, and Salesforce)
Here are the top 10 most interesting links to check out this week:
🎥 This AI video editor creates viral content (automatically)
🆕 LinkedIn changed its algorithms. This is what works now
🧑💻 How to leverage any website with ChatGPT to increase sales
💤 4 (not boring) ways to name a new product line
🌲 5 evergreen SEO tactics that just work
😔 The REAL reason why your business isn’t growing
🎨 8 visuals that will teach you to invest better than 90% of books
📡 Do your PPC and SEO teams need upskilling or reskilling?
💲 Now you can launch influencer ads directly on LinkedIn
👾 Deep Dive
How to Write Cold Emails That Always Get Read
Cold emailing is a powerful way to reach out to potential customers and generate leads.
But a study by QuickMail found that the average cold email open rate is 44%. Said another way: less than half of all cold emails are ever opened.
So how can you increase your chances of getting your cold emails read?
We had outbound expert Alex Berman break it down for us:
Always Think From the Recipient’s Point of View
Your recipient has received cold emails in the past.
And it’s obvious to them when they’ve received a bad email.
A couple of things will hit them right away:
1. They’ll see the subject line
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/24ed44f9-d62d-4cce-93ec-ab4f02e1d252/image.png)
2. They’ll see a little bit of the first line of the email
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/e1958139-e94f-47c6-aa77-3bb00bee31bf/image.png)
Those two bits of copy will determine if your email gets opened.
That’s why your first focus should be this:
Make Sure Your Subject Line Is Intriguing
Alex is a big fan of generic subject lines.
For example:
Hi, from {your first name}
Quick question
Question about {their company name}
The reason why these generic subject lines work is that they don’t turn somebody off.
If you had pitched your product in that subject line, there’s a much higher chance you’ll get deleted, which means they won’t read the body of the email.
Next up:
The First Line of the Email Needs to Be Very Specific About Their Business
You can accomplish this by using a compliment.
Here are a couple of winning templates:
Hey {name}, came across {company name}, congrats on {case study}!
Hey just looked through your website, love the {photography/descriptions/etc.}
The combination of an intriguing subject line plus a customized first line will give your email the highest chance of being opened—for (1) your email will look unique—and (2) you’ll avoid the spam folder.
This means you’re already beating out most of the bad cold emails.
Alright, so now your email is open.
How can you get a response?
Tell Them Something They Already Think Is True
Present yourself as the expert and tell them the solution.
Let’s continue with our previous example.
This time, we’ll fill in the blanks as if we’re contacting agency owners:
Hey Eric, came across Single Grain, congrats on working with Uber!
My name is Alex, and I run Facebook ads for digital agencies.
Right now I see you’re only running video ads, but in my experience, video ads sell 15-35% worse for agencies than ads with optimized still images. That’s why I recommend launching a split test using my winning templates.
Notice how this is a very niche idea.
The more specific your recommendation is to your recipient’s pain point (in this example, low-performing Facebook ads)—the better your response rate will be.
Then finally:
End Each Email with a Clear Call-To-Action (CTA)
It can be as simple as:
Let me know if you find this interesting. I’d love to hop on a call with you and discuss further. Would you mind if I sent over a few times?
The CTA doesn’t really matter as long as it is a question they can understand that ends with an actual question mark.
You’d be surprised how many emails go out that end in a period.
Now you know how to write a winning cold email. Once again, special thanks to Alex Berman for the breakdown (you can book a consult with him here).
And we’re curious:
Have you had success with cold email in the past? Why or why not?
Hit reply and let us know!
The SEO Profit Engine: How One Page Can Generate $1M+/Year In Profit
Watch to learn:
Why SEO is not dying despite AI domination
How to rank on Google with strong domain authority
Why keyword volume is not everything
Plus more!
Sponsored:
How to Skyrocket Your Landing Page Conversions
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/d0f30c6f-2614-405b-921a-4e06b4ada96c/image.png)
Does this sound like your landing page?
You put a lot of effort and money into building a landing page for your new product, but your search traffic is near zero.
You’re driving plenty of traffic to your landing page, but you’re not seeing the conversion rates you’d like to.
Your landing page looks great, but you’ve got too many CTAs that make the next action unclear for prospects.
Single Grain has helped major brands such as Amazon, Airbnb, and Uber grow with high-converting landing pages — and a spot just opened up to become their next client— all you have to do is request a free consult.
Top 3 Available Marketing Jobs
Paid Media Manager (Single Grain). Remote | F/T | Manage and optimize ad campaigns on Google and Facebook, develop and lead strategic presentations to clients, including media strategies, QBRs, and year-in-reviews. (Full job description here.)
SEO Manager (Single Grain). Remote | F/T | Perform ongoing keyword discovery, content strategy, expansion, and optimization. Audit client websites to identify optimization opportunities and prioritize work based on SEO impact. Develop and implement link-building strategies using competitors as a baseline and more. (Full job description here.)
CRO Manager (Single Grain). Remote | F/T | Analyze web data to monitor website performance and identify areas of opportunity. Execute CRO activities to help achieve overall marking goals and objectives for assigned clients and more. (Full job description here.)
How did you like today's newsletter? |
Until next week,
The Leveling Up Team
P.S.
Here are more ways we can help your business grow:
Listen to our Marketing School podcast for daily marketing tips
Subscribe to the Leveling Up YouTube channel
Read the Single Grain blog for actionable marketing playbooks