Agencies are constantly searching for new lead generation strategies and tactics.
Because every campaign eventually sees diminishing returns. And when the inevitable happens, you definitely want to have some replacements lined up and ready to go.
But coming up with a constant stream of new ideas is tough. To make your life easier, weâve rounded up 11 of our favorite tried-and-tested email marketing lead generation tactics, inspired by real campaigns run through QuickMail (including some of our own outreach campaigns â thatâs right, we practice what we preach).
Letâs get into itâŚ
Tactic #1: Hit Prospects Via Multiple Channels
Okay, so this article is about using cold email marketing for lead generation.
But you can still use other comms channels to level up the performance of your email outreach.
For instance, in one of our recent campaigns for QuickMail, we achieved a reply rate of 30%, of which two-thirds were positive. We even received some compliments from cold email experts â nice!
While all of these replies came via email, the first two steps happened on LinkedIn:
Step #1: A LinkedIn profile view
Step #2: A LinkedIn connection request
The connection request message was super simple: âHeard I should talk to you about [X], wanted to connect :)â
However, the fact that we reached out on LinkedIn first meant our prospects were already somewhat aware of us when we followed up via email. And the more places they see your name, the better.
Tactic #2: Humanize Your Outreach Automation
Picking up where we left off, weâve warmed up our prospects by viewing their LinkedIn profile and sending a connection request. Now itâs time to take the next step and send our first cold email.
But we didnât stop at just one email.
After the first email in our outreach sequence, we added a 15-minute wait step, followed by a second email (pro tip: QuickMail makes it easy to add custom wait steps to your campaigns).
The second email basically says: âOops, I hit âsendâ too quick, I meant to tell you [X].â
There are two big benefits to this tactic:
It makes your outreach feel less automated and more human (everyone makes mistakes, right?).
If your prospect doesnât have threading enabled, it means you take up two spaces in their email client, right next to each other.
As you can see, thereâs nothing especially complicated here. Itâs about using simple tactics to give yourself the best chance of being noticed, while ensuring that your prospects feel like theyâre dealing with a real person, not an automated campaign.
Tactic #3: CC a Colleague Mid-Sequence
On the topic of humanizing your cold email marketing campaigns, another favorite tactic of ours is to CC a colleague midway through an email sequence.
For instance, you could send an initial email (or two), then send a third email saying something like: âBy the way, Iâm adding our founder Jeremy to the conversation.â
Again, itâs super easy to do this with QuickMail.
Fact is, most cold email marketing software canât do this, so it makes your campaign look more natural.
And potential customers are far more likely to reply if they think theyâre speaking to a human.
Tactic #4: Offer a "Bribe"
In an ideal world, your offer and product would be so incredible that every prospect you contacted would be desperate to reply.
But, letâs be honest, this isnât an ideal world. Your potential leads are busier than ever, and theyâre also more savvy about cold outreach. All of which makes it hard to boost your conversion rate.
Hard, but not impossible. Plenty of our customers are still seeing reply rates of 20%+ while running campaigns on autopilot.
Often, these are the folks who are most prepared to take a punt on a new out-of-the-box lead gen tactic.
One tactic that weâre noticing more and more effectively involves bribing prospects to respond.
For instance, one campaign with a 27% reply rate offered recipients a $20 Amazon gift card. You know what they say: everyone has a price.
The more you think about it, the more this approach makes sense. Assuming only the people who replied actually claimed their gift card, this campaign cost $540 per 100 leads contacted (plus the cost of a QuickMail license).
So if a client pays you $3k a month to share one lead every business day, you could essentially generate a full monthâs worth of leads for just $540 â and youâd still have seven leads to spare for the following month.
Which makes that $20 gift card seem like a small price to pay.
Tactic #5: Make Prospects Feel Special
Whether or not we admit it, we all have an ego.
Thatâs good news for lead gen agencies, because you can use a little well-directed flattery to capture more replies and leads.
To be clear, weâre not talking about the sort of meaningless, spammy ego-stroking thatâs all too common in the world of cold email (like saying youâre a âhuge fanâ of someoneâs podcast, despite never having listened to it).
Instead, itâs about making a prospect feel special.
One tactic is to tell them that youâd love to feature them and their company in your next blog post/newsletter/podcast (delete as appropriate). If youâve got a following thatâs large â and relevant â enough to make your offer seem attractive, it can be a super effective way to get the conversation started.
6 Bite-Sized Email Lead Gen Tactics (Backed By Data)
Looking for even more tactics to try in your next campaign? No problem.
From analyzing recent high-performing B2B email campaigns sent through our cold outreach platform, weâve identified a bunch of shared traits in successful emails.Â
Use the following for inspiration, or just as a heads-up:
Feel Free to Use Bullet Points
Generally speaking, when it comes to formatting cold emails, the simplest approach is always best. To that end, thereâs plenty of advice online arguing that bullet points donât belong in your cold email marketing efforts:
Relax â weâre here to tell you thatâs totally wrong. Our data shows itâs fine to use bullet points; just donât get carried away with listing endless features and benefits.
Focusing on a single âhookâ or action is the most effective way to get more email replies.
Add an Emoji (Where Relevant)
Likewise, there are some so-called sales experts who insist emojis have no place in a cold email.
Our data shows thereâs nothing wrong with adding one emoji to your email copy. But donât overdo it, and make sure it actually relates to the valuable content in your email.
Explain Why Youâre Reaching Out Now
Sure, we know youâre reaching out because you have targets to hit.
But you need to give prospects a more engaging reason why ânowâ is the right time for this conversation.
Maybe itâs because a mutual connection just mentioned their name to you. Maybe theyâd be a fantastic guest for your clientâs upcoming podcast (remember, flattery will get you everywhere). Or something else entirely.
Whatever the case, just make sure itâs timely.
Pinpoint an Acute Problem
The better you know your clientâs ideal customer base, the easier it becomes to understand the business challenges they face.
Which allows you to pinpoint a key problem and present a solution.
For instance, say theyâre using a particular software tool. You know itâs expensive or generally bad. So you reach out with a message like: "Can I show you a better alternative to [X]?"
Localize Your Emails
Localization makes cold emailing feel more personal. For instance, if the prospect is in a non-English-speaking country, make the effort to write in their language â you can always use Google Translate â then pivot with a follow-up email saying: "I'm jumping in, Jane isnât here this week, sorry I only know EnglishâŚ"
Run Two-Part Campaigns
Potential buyers are more likely to reply if they've seen you before.
Thatâs why it pays to run two-part campaigns. Try reaching out with a âregularâ initial email, then follow up later with a special offer â like a free gift or a compelling lead magnet.
Generate More Email Marketing Leads With QuickMail
Sadly, thereâs no such thing as a cold email template or campaign thatâs guaranteed to get replies for any company or audience.
Thatâs because the best outreach emails feel human â and itâs hard to seem like a real person when youâre copy-pasting someone elseâs campaign steps.
QuickMail can help. We offer powerful tools to help you build more natural-sounding outreach sequences, such as enabling you toâŚ
Reach out to prospects via multiple channels
Add custom wait steps throughout your sequence
CC a colleague midway through a series of emails
âŚand much more besides.
Find out what we can do for your lead gen agency by booking your QuickMail demo call.
FAQs
What is email marketing lead generation?
Email marketing lead generation is a method of generating leads through email marketing by sending high-quality content to your target audience. It comes in two varieties:
Inbound email marketing, where prospects share their email address with a brand via an email opt-in form
Outbound email marketing, where a brand or agency reaches out to prospects on a cold email list
What are cold email leads?
Cold email leads are potential customers who receive one or more cold emails from a business they donât know. These emails are designed to attract the recipientâs interest, strike up a conversation, and encourage sales leads to learn more about the brandâs product or service.
Is email lead generation effective?
Yes, email lead generation is one of the most effective outreach tactics, enabling sales and marketing teams to reach relevant prospects at scale, with lower costs and a higher average return on investment than other lead generation channels. The ability to write personalized email content can make the channel event more effective, leading to higher reply rates and more leads.