When you have a good list, email outreach is indispensable for providing a direct line to potential leads and partners. The most effective email outreach tactics depend on knowing your audience, choosing the right moment, and scaling personalized messages.

We’ll examine current email outreach methods to help you stand out, forge significant relationships, and meet your communication objectives. We'll also discuss improving your emails, from tailoring content to effective follow-up strategies, to boost impact and responses.

1. Research Your Prospect

Your prospect can tell in an instant if you did your homework or not. Understanding your prospect's business, role, and challenges allows you to craft a personalized message that addresses their specific needs, which sets your pitch apart from generic emails and builds trust and relevance.

LinkedIn is a great tool for researching prospects, offering detailed profiles, mutual connections for warmer introductions, and updates on their latest activities for more targeted engagement. It’s a gold mine of jumping-off points for cold emails.

2. Craft Irresistible Subject Lines

The content of your email is important, but the subject line grabs the recipient's attention first. A subject line that sparks interest or suggests urgency can significantly increase the chances of your email being opened.

You only get one chance. Without a good subject line, the rest of these email outreach tactics fall flat. That's why the subject line is crucial. If it's weak or dull, your prospect will scroll on.

To stand out in a crowded inbox, customize your subject lines to reflect the recipient's interests or achievements. Personalizing shows effort and helps your email seem less like a bulk message.

Here are a few examples of short subject lines that are similar to a friend’s email (with lowercase formatting):

  • contrats, Alex!

  • you crushed it!

  • nice keynote, Jordan!

3. Personalize Beyond First Names

Customizing content is essential for engaging prospects on a personal level. It starts within your subject line and continues by tailoring the email to the recipient's specific interests and past interactions.

Personalize your emails beyond standard templates to show a genuine grasp of each person's needs and achievements. This kind of personalization fosters a stronger, long-term connection rather than just seeking a quick sale.

Below is a cold email sales template that takes this into account:

Subject: {{company.name}} YouTube

Body:

Hi {{prospect.first_name}},

I caught the conversation with [podcast guest], the stats you shared in the back half are a game changer!

I'd love to see [podcast name] have more reach.

We recently worked with [similar company] to increase their YouTube subscriber count by 3k in just 3 months.

Could I send over a case study with more details?

Thanks,

{{inbox.friendly.name}}

4. Provide Value Upfront

Providing value through links to videos or useful research upfront is a great email outreach tactic. This approach not only captures their attention amidst a flood of generic communications but also establishes credibility by showcasing your expertise. 

This strategy positions you as a resource since you’re giving the prospect something useful whether they respond or not. If they see the value in what you provide, they’re more likely to continue the conversation.

Below is a cold email template that incorporates a video link:

Subject: {{company.name}} content

Hi {{prospect.first_name}},

Nice job on helping over 5,000 people land tech jobs, what a milestone!

It’s awesome your blog contributed much of that growth.

My team recently scaled [example company]’s blog leads by 5x. I recorded a quick video on what I think we could accomplish together, check it out here:

URL

What are your thoughts?

{{inbox.friendly.name}}

5. Leverage Social Proof

Incorporate social proof, like testimonials or endorsements, in your cold emails to capture your recipients' attention and build trust from the start. Mentioning mutual connections or well-known clients you’ve worked with is a tried-and-true email outreach tactic that can increase your response rate.

Using social proof in your email subject lines helps differentiate your message in a full inbox, indicating you are a credible sender with a track record of providing value.

Even simply including your social profiles in your signature can help increase response rates. According to a Backlinko study, including a link to an Instagram profile increased response rates by 23.4%. Similarly, having a LinkedIn link increased rates by 8.2% and an X (Twitter) link increased rates by 8.2%.

Source: Backlinko email outreach study

6. Inject Some Humor

Use a touch of humor in your email campaigns to stand out among the daily deluge of 347+ billion emails. A witty email, especially in content-driven industries, can set a positive tone for customer relationships.

Humor can make your emails more relatable and build rapport with recipients, setting you apart from both professional and personal competition in their inboxes.

But, use humor carefully. Inappropriate or misjudged jokes can backfire. When in doubt, save the humor for your friends, not your outreach prospects.

7. Use Call-to-Actions That Convert

When it comes down to it, your call-to-action determines the success rate of transforming recipients into active participants. Remember, your prospect is getting a cold email. You have to have a great CTA if you want them to go against the natural instinct of ignoring the message.

Your CTA should guide your recipients with clarity on the next steps. Eliminate ambiguity: the objective should be crystal clear. Tailor your call-to-action so that it resonates with the recipient's preferences or hurdles.

Dive deep into CTAs with our CTA Swipe File.

8. Follow Up

A solid follow-up strategy is integral to the success of email marketing. When you send emails to potential customers, it's not just about making a cold call through a digital medium; it's about fostering a connection. Your initial cold outreach email might get lost in a bustling inbox, but a well-timed follow-up can differentiate your message from the many emails a recipient gets daily.

Having an effective email outreach strategy means understanding that emails don't always get opened or acted upon the first time. Sending your email once might not be enough – which is why having a personalized follow-up sequence is important.

We analyzed 1.7 million emails sent by our users and found something counterintuitive: follow-up emails can actually be more fruitful than the initial message. Our data shows 55% of all responses came from a follow-up email. We also found the average number of follow-ups needed is three. So don’t sweat it if you hear crickets with the first email, good things can come later.

9. Test and Analyze Campaigns

Regularly testing and adjusting email templates and subjects is crucial for enhancing outreach and boosting email engagement. Tools like QuickMail provide valuable data on open and click-through rates, highlighting what grabs attention and prompts recipient action.

Incorporating tests into outreach strategies shows you which aspects of a campaign work best. For instance, certain subject lines might boost open rates, or a particular email design could lead to more responses.

By sending out various versions of emails and analyzing the outcomes, you can identify successful elements and pinpoint those that hinder performance.

Types of B2B Cold Email Outreach Campaigns

There are dozens of ways you can approach cold email campaigns, but a few methods are known to have great results. These include offering a service, a consultation, a case study, and helpful content.

Offer a Service

Offering a service and in particular, a discount on that service, is a popular sales outreach tactic. The focal point of the email is your service. You might run a special for new clients or simply focus on how your service beats out incumbents in the market.

Offer a Consultation

Another effective outreach marketing tactic is to offer a consultation. This gets your foot in the door and gives you an opportunity to prove your expertise in the prospect's situation.

Share a Case Study

Many companies use cold email outreach to share case studies with success. Sharing an example of how you've helped someone in a similar situation as your target audience is a great way to stand out of the crowd and get your email read.

Share Original Content

Another way to reach potential leads is to share original content like exhaustive guides or articles showcasing your own market research. This gives your content marketing strategy a second life as you can highlight great pieces of content in your outreach process.

Use QuickMail for Better Email Outreach

As you start using different email outreach tactics, you’ll find it helps to have a platform that can help you organize your workflow. QuickMail automates personalized email campaigns for better efficiency and response rates. You can take advantage of advanced tracking, LinkedIn outreach, A/B testing, and inbox rotation to scale effortlessly.

QuickMail also integrates seamlessly with thousands of apps through Zapier to streamline your workflow. At the end of the day, QuickMail helps you put your best email outreach tactics to use. Start a free trial today and test out all our outreach features.