{"id":20620,"date":"2022-05-13T18:56:36","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T18:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/?p=20620"},"modified":"2023-02-06T23:31:28","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T23:31:28","slug":"better-cold-emails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/better-cold-emails\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Cold Email Ruining Email for Everyone? (+5 Tips for Better Cold Emails)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The average office worker receives more than 120 emails per day. And that\u2019s as of a\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0conducted nearly a decade ago. With the\u00a0increased email volume<\/a>\u00a0since, it\u2019s realistic to estimate we\u2019re getting 140, 150, or more emails on a daily basis<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

On the bright side, it\u2019s not just endless spam; spam messages account for a\u00a0smaller percentage<\/a>\u00a0of emails than they have in a decade, if not longer. Email clients have also become better and better at filtering out spam. But the downside is\u2026 that means you\u2019re getting more than 100 real emails in your inbox on a daily basis. And that can be overwhelming.<\/p>\n

While not all of those emails coming in are\u00a0cold emails<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 plenty of them are.<\/p>\n

So we have to ask: Is cold email ruining email for everyone?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For this article, we\u2019ll take a look at the downsides of the rise in cold email volume. And we\u2019ll also discuss five ways how you, as a cold emailer, can do your part to send better cold emails and prevent cold email from ruining email for everyone.<\/p>\n

Avoid Ruining Email with Better Cold Emails: Table of Contents<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • The 5 Ways Cold Email Could Be Ruining Email for Everyone<\/a><\/li>\n
  • 5 Ways You Can Send Better Cold Emails to Prevent Them From Ruining Email for Everyone<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Better Cold Email Takeaways<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The 5 Ways Cold Email Could Be Ruining Email for Everyone<\/h2>\n

    Cold email isn\u2019t the only culprit in the rise of email volume. Not even close. But it\u2019s one of the contributors \u2014 especially for business people who receive a daily dose of cold solicitations to set up meetings, listen to pitches, take job interviews, add links to their website, and on and on and on.<\/p>\n

    Here are five ways cold email could be ruining email for everyone.<\/p>\n

    Cold email tends to be high volume email<\/h3>\n

    If someone cold emails you once \u2014 and you ignore it \u2014 there\u2019s a pretty good chance they\u2019ll cold email you again.<\/p>\n

    Cold emailers rarely just send one email<\/strong>; instead, most will send a sequence where emails continue until a recipient takes a desired action (e.g., replying or clicking).<\/p>\n

    As cold email experts here at GMass, we\u00a0recommend<\/i>\u00a0sending an auto follow-up sequence<\/a>, since studies have shown campaigns with four or more emails garner three times more replies.<\/p>\n

    But that volume of email can clog up recipients\u2019 inboxes. According to our stats from the past month (via GMass\u2019s\u00a0Email Deliverability Wizard<\/a>), cold email campaigns with GMass had an average open rate of 35.3% and an average reply rate of 4%. So that\u2019s\u00a0a lot<\/i>\u00a0of cold emails unopened or not yielding replies \u2014 which means, in most cases, their recipients are due for the next email in the sequence.<\/p>\n

    Side note: Great job, GMass users \u2014 both those open rates and reply rates are significantly above industry averages<\/a>. You\u2019re sending great cold emails! And now, back to talking about the potential problems with cold emails. Sorry for the emotional roller coaster.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Cold email can distract us\u2026 and temporarily make us dumber<\/h3>\n

    There\u2019s a fine art to writing\u00a0cold email subject lines<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 and many senders have become quite good at crafting irresistible subject lines that drive up open rates.<\/p>\n

    But every time we get an email notification \u2014 especially one that catches our eye and pulls focus from what we\u2019re doing \u2014 there\u2019s a mental cost.<\/p>\n

    It can\u00a0take<\/a>\u00a0more than 20 minutes to refocus after we\u2019re distracted by an incoming email<\/strong>. And when we\u2019re bombarded with email notifications, it can temporarily\u00a0reduce<\/a>\u00a0our IQ by 10 points.<\/p>\n

    As inboxes grow more crowded, cold email becomes more aggressive<\/h3>\n

    As email volume goes up (and the volume of cold emails and marketing emails goes up in parallel), it becomes harder to stand out. That means cold emailers have evolved to become more aggressive.<\/p>\n

    According to the GMass\u00a0Email Deliverability Wizard<\/a>, of the cold email campaigns sent in the past month, only one out of seven had no automated follow-ups. More than half of campaigns had 2+ follow-ups, and 6% had 4+ follow-ups.<\/p>\n

    Some cold emailers will go even further \u2014 and keep going back to a contact even after a sequence ends. Here\u2019s someone who\u2019s been after me for close to a year now.<\/p>\n

    \"This<\/a><\/p>\n

    Cold email makes us suspicious<\/h3>\n

    Mail merge personalization<\/a>\u00a0is essential if you want to maximize the results you get from cold emails \u2014 but the push for personalization can lead to cold emailers doing things that are creepy and\/or raise suspicions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    There\u2019s a new wave of\u00a0cold email AI personalization tools<\/a>\u00a0that will research your prospects for you (often via their website or LinkedIn) and write intro\/icebreaker lines. Could be effective if done well\u2026 but could be very creepy if done wrong.<\/p>\n

    \n

    What is everyone’s thoughts on this type of cold outreach?<\/p>\n

    Although it made me stop and think “how do you know that?” I felt a little stalked & it’s a bit creepy\/invasive lol pic.twitter.com\/r8hD1LqFKi<\/a><\/p>\n

    \u2014 Bradley Hillier (@bradley_vast) May 9, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n